A DOG CALLED... VENGEANCE (1977)
Label: Severin Films
Region Code: Region-Free
Rating: Unrated
Duration: 114 Minutes 44 Seconds
Audio: Spanish or English DTS-HD MA 2.0 Dual-Mono with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (1.66:1)
Director: Antonio Isasi (Assignment Terror)
Cast: Jason Miller, Lea Massari, Marisa Paredes, Juan Antonio Bardem
In the Central American hard labor prison camp San Justo political prisoner Aristides (Jason Miller, The Exorcist) makes a daring escape after the prisoner who he's chained to unfortunately has his arm cut off after it gets wedged under a truck tire. The prison's brutal tracker/hunter Zancho (Francisco Casares) is sent to retrieve him, bringing with him his viciously loyal tracker/attack dog "King". Aristides is eventually apprehended by Zancho but he eventually is able to turn the tables when he is distracted, killing him. However, Zancho's ultra-loyal dog King continues to chase after the escapee, seemingly hungry for vengeance for the killing of his master.
Aristides makes his way through the rugged countryside looking to get to the city to re-connect with his revolutionary pals, but the dog always seems to be hot his heels, catching up to him while precariously taking a nude swim/bath in a river, and again later when a woman named Muriel (Lea Massari, L'Avventura) who takes the escapee into her home, even making love to him, but then the dog shows up and kills her flock of sheep and her dog, and it attacks Aristides yet again. The escapee manages to once more evade the dog making his way to the outskirts of the city where he reconnects with a revolutionary connection at a factory, when the determined canine shows up again, Aristides just barely escaping a mauling after the dog is wounded by gunfire from one of his compatriots. At this point he meets up with professorial revolutionaries and finds himself not only still under attack from the almost supernaturally possessed canine but human threats by way of the authorities, and even some of his fellow revolutionaries who feel he needs to be gone. Also figuring into the equation is a former revolutionary lover named Guerrillera (Marisa Paredes, The Devil's Backbone, Cake of Blood) who will probably be familiar to anyone who has watched many flick by Pedro Almodóvar (High Heels).
The numerous dog attack/mauling scenes are very well done and quite vicious, particularly a scene at a lake where the dog catches him swimming nude, during which I saw a lot more of Jason Miller than I ever expected, and another inside the factory, I love it when Miller's escapee has to resort to biting the dog back! There's also an impressive burst violence and gunfire at a military checkpoint, and the finale is a real pulse-pounder with Aristides making a mad dash toward a plane on a runway to escape from both the dog and unfriendly revolutionaries who want him dead. The flick benefits greatly from the stark lensing by cinematographer Juan Gelpi (The Corruption of Chris Miller), and a complimentary score by Antonio Garcia Abril (Tombs of the Blind Dead) that help propel the flick.
The mash-up of tense political thriller and animal-attack terror is surprisingly potent, and Miller unsurprisingly is terrific, though I am not so sure the look of terror on his face during the numerous dog attacks was actually acting, I am quite certain there's some authentic fear on display during those attack sequences. The political stuff as it relates to reconnecting with his revolutionary "friends" was not as engaging for me as the man versus dog stuff, but it all comes together well enough, and if you're a fan of animal attack flicks this should be on your radar, it's quite a vicious Spanish entry in the sub-genre.
Audio/Video: A Dog called...Vengeance (1977) arrives on region-free Blu-ray from Severin Films, offering a new 3K scan of the OCN, framed in 1.66:1 widescreen. The source looks, grain is intact and nicely resolved, the sweaty visuals offers nice color range, strong blacks that occasionally get noisy with exposed grain, but with nice textures. Skin tones look good, colors are generally appealing with the sunburnt outdoor sequences looking slightly soft with anemic greens, but overall this is quite a satisfying transfer. There were a few photochemical blemish that appeared throughout but they were quite minor.
Audio comes by way of English or Spanish DTS-HD MA 2.0 dual-mono with optional English subtitles. I preferred the Spanish track, the English dub is muted my comparison, there's hiss on the track. The Spanish option is fuller, more nuanced, with better separation and fidelity. Dialogue exchanges sound natural, and the tense and haunting score by Antonio Garcia Abril (Dr. Jekyll vs The Werewolf) sound great.
Severin do good work offering some tasty extras for this one, we get a the 14-min A Film Ahead Of Its Time – Appreciation By Ángel Sala, Head Of Programming At The Sitges Film Festival the 21-min Memories Of A Guerilla Woman – Interview With Actress Marisa Paredes; the 13-min Daughter Of Titans – Interview With María Isasi, Daughter Of Director Antonio Isasi And Actress Marisa Paredes; and a 3-min Trailer. The single-disc release arrives in a black keepcase with a single-sided sleeve of artwork.
Special Features:
- A Film Ahead Of Its Time – Appreciation By Ángel Sala, Head Of Programming At The Sitges Film Festival (14:18)
- Memories Of A Guerilla Woman – Interview With Actress Marisa Paredes (20:57)
- Daughter Of Titans – Interview With María Isasi, Daughter Of Director Antonio Isasi And Actress Marisa Paredes (13:19)
- Trailer (2:36)
- A Film Ahead Of Its Time – Appreciation By Ángel Sala, Head Of Programming At The Sitges Film Festival (14:18)
- Memories Of A Guerilla Woman – Interview With Actress Marisa Paredes (20:57)
- Daughter Of Titans – Interview With María Isasi, Daughter Of Director Antonio Isasi And Actress Marisa Paredes (13:19)
- Trailer (2:36)
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