Search - Monster Dog on DVD

It's a dog, all right

Brian A. Schar | Menlo Park, CA United States | 03/02/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"It takes 3 movies to form a subgenre. "Monster Dog" rounds out the subgenre of "rock band goes to an isolated location in the woods and encounters supernatural beings who kill most of them." Admittedly, this is a very specialized subgenre. The other members are Juan Piquer Simon's classic "Pod People" and Jon-Mikl Thor's "Rock and Roll Nightmare," both of which are much more over the top and entertaining than "Monster Dog." Having said that, "Monster Dog" is well worth adding to your bad movie collection.



Right after the reddest credits in the world, the movie begins with the cheesiest, and funniest, Alice Cooper song and video that you will ever see. I will sometimes pop in this disc and just watch the video when I'm feeling down. It'll perk you right up! Alice disagrees, though; when the movie cuts away from the video to a customized van in which Alice and his bad are being driven by their manager, he tells her that "it stinks!" This is a direct homage to the previous year's "Pod People," where Ian Sera's "it stinks!" after his recording session is perhaps the greatest moment of that film.



The band is in the van en route to Alice Cooper's childhood home, where he hasn't been for years. On the way, they pass through several police roadblocks. The cops are out there because wild dogs have killed several people, and as you know roadblocks are the most effective method of controlling dogs. After they arrive at the Cooper home, they find the caretaker dead (but only after they find the delicious sandwiches that kindly old man had made for them). Of course, they find the dead caretaker in the middle of shooting another video, one with a song that is actually pretty good.



Then the band is menaced by bikers who think that Cooper is behind the dog killings. You see, Cooper's dad was a werewolf, or had some kind of werewolf like disease, or something. The rockers dispatch the evil bikers, but then most fall prey to the evil dogs. I won't spoil the ending for you, but if you think you know who the titular monster dog is, you're right. Strangely, for all the stuff that happens, this is a movie that has a number of tedious and slow parts. It feels much longer than its 75 minutes.



"Monster Dog" gets 4 stars as a bad movie. If you own no other movies of this subgenre, I'd get "Pod People" and "Rock and Roll Nightmare" first. But don't neglect this forgotten classic."

BEST MOVIE EVER!

Walter | Maine | 04/27/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This film is a classic from Claudio (Troll 2) Fragasso. You have Alice Cooper as a werewolf in a creepy spanish mansion. I don't know what more you could ask for. My only qualm is that the dvd is not the uncut version or widescreen. Hopefully Blue underground will release this uncut, with other Fragasso treasures, like nightkiller and beyond darkness."

"Coop" Proves Decent Actor in His Single Starring (Scary) Ro

Jack Shatter | Chicago, Illinois | 03/28/2009

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Alice Cooper, making his first horror movie at age 36, in Torrelodones,

rural Spain, acquits himself as a star (never doubted), but also as an

acceptable actor in taking on this rather underwritten role. His dark,

gaunt, part-Sioux Indian looks and fluid movements are perfect for the

lead role of Vincent Raven, "The Hottest Rock Star In The World," which

Alice genuinely was around 1973-1976! Mr. Raven and young crew travel

to his family mansion in the California mountains to shoot a "rock-video."



It seems there are packs of big hounds running wild, and maybe a werewolf

too. As in "Daughter of Dr. Jekyll" and "Son of Frankenstein," the local

peasants are prejudiced against "Vince" and company, because his father had

unleashed terror on the countryside, twenty years before. This leads to

some excitement as a leathered-up, gunshooting Alice splatters bad guys

(like in his 1971 classic tune, "Desperado," itself inspired by Robert

Vaughn's dudified "Lee" in 1960's "The Magnificent Seven"). There are

also a spate of bloody attacks by a "Halloween-mask" looking lycanthrope.



As a "modern-era" horror movie, there have been plenty worse than "Monster

Dog." It makes little sense, but did you care? The writer-director, none

other than "Clyde Anderson" (must be Scottish!) coats the events in enough

fog to please even Sherlock Holmes (who also makes a brief appearance)!

If you want to see the legendary Alice Cooper portray "himself" in a

fun, schlocky horror movie, "Monster Dog" is not a total bow-wow,

although it's got a "VHS style" full-screen and picture quality. Included

in the action are two fun rock-videos of ultra-rare Cooper songs, "Identity Chrises," (sic),

and "See Me in the Mirror."



The actor playing the main bad guy, Ricardo Palacios, is a familiar

(ugly) face from Clint Eastwood's "Spaghetti Westerns."

Alice Cooper personally gives "Monster Dog" two stars, harsher than me!

He also has a sports bar-restaurant with much career memorabilia,

"Cooperstown," in downtown Phoenix, Arizona."

Rare footage of 80's Cooper Videos

Bobby K. Daugherty | The Seven Seas | 06/21/2008

(3 out of 5 stars)

"If your considering buying this movie it is probably because Alice Cooper is in. The best feature of this movie are the videos of a couple of the songs from his 80-83 years. I haven't seen this in awhile but I believe there were two songs from "Zipper Catches Skin" made into videos for this movie. The movie itself is a low budget South American affair and has been a cause of great embarressment for Alice."