Leofwine_draca This is a silly and nonsensical monster movie which mixes sci-fi elements in with plenty of tired and predictable clichés, rounded off by an unbelievable plot which bears little resemblance to real life. The intriguing possibilities of a killer dog movie are quickly dissipated when you realise that this is a family-orientated movie, complete with lame jokes and so much sweet talk and sentimentality that it'll make you physically sick (it certainly made ME sick). After the initial set-up, the film is merely content to go through the paces, introducing one-dimensional characters who are set up just to be killed off.The many death scenes in this film are generally off screen and not very gory, although some of them will make you jump. Sadly they're shot in such a slick way that any suspense or terror emanating from them is destroyed, as they just look too unrealistic. There are so many plot discrepancies that it's impossible to list all of them, plot twists are based on contrivances and you begin to wonder if the story was written by a child.The acting - well, if you can call it acting - from Ally Sheedy as the film's lead is terrible, her character a simpering idiot who fails to see what's going on right in front of her eyes. Incredibly, Sheedy continues to love the killer dog despite the fact that its eaten a cat whole, mutilated her boyfriend (via acid urine, go figure) and devoured half of the minor cast. The ever-reliable Lance Henriksen is on hand as a cruel scientist, and incredibly he's vilified as the film's chief villain - even though his only sin is to try and get his own property back! This is definitely a movie that makes no secret of its distaste for animal experimentation, as you get the morals shoved down your throat at every opportunity, the intelligent character Henriksen plays a mean-spirited and bad, bad person - despite the fact that he himself mentions that his research is being carried out for the good of mankind! Elsewhere, familiar faces like that of Robert Costanzo pop up but fail to make much of an impact, although I did like William Sanderson's bastard scrapyard owner whose first action upon receiving the dog is to club it with a spade! Whilst the first half of this film is schmaltzy, feel good stuff - you could be forgiven for thinking that you're watching BEETHOVEN, actually - packed with silly humour and obnoxious characters, the second half - a violent string of brutal murders - sits oddly with the beginning. Indeed some of this film's scenes border on the deeply unpleasant, like one character burning the dog's face with a blow torch as he is attacked! It's not really necessary, just a reason to give the dog an ugly look to make it more frightening. It's not. Kevin Yagher's usually reliable special effects work are also below par, the animatronics instantly recognisable from the real dog(s) used.The final insult comes at the end of this movie. What an infantile, stupid, moronic way to end the film. Aside from the incidental pleasure of watching a dog rip a postman to shreds, MAN'S BEST FRIEND is an appalling and ugly film to watch, one that offended me deeply.

ltlacey Sometimes, a movie is so bad it's good. Anaconda, Lake Placid, and Man's Best Friend. Go figure. There was a book out eons ago that I read with the same title, and this story seems to be loosely based on the book. What we have is a mixed breed (sorry) between Cujo, Electric Dreams, and Short Circuit; the last 2 dealing with Sheedy's character. She seems to be repeating her performance in Short Circuit. Anyway, she's a reporter and she and her camera woman get into a secret lab to film the atrocities done against the animals inside. They come across Max, who is the most loving, and large, dog ever, and since he's smarter than anyone else (probably negotiated for more pay too since his performance was outstanding) he hops a ride with the girls and escapes from the evil clutches of the ever-popular mad scientist. Max then goes to live with Lori, but a boyfriend gets in the way. You see, Max loves Lori, and will do anything to stay with her. Of course we get to see Max in action, knowing what a brake line is, and of course the first time he sees Heidi. Though the music playing for any scene with Heidi (Puppy Love) was about as corny as it gets, the scene where Max closed the bedroom door, as Heidi tries to hide under a pillow, is pure Cary Grant. And then, of course, we have the rape of Heidi. How Heidi gets pregnant, since we do not think that she's in heat, plus the fact for some scenes it's kind of obvious that Max does not have all his "boy" parts, remains a mystery, but we let it go. We're all focused entirely on Max, the real star of this movie, and one of the best performances by a canine I have ever seen. Shoot. One of the best performances of a lot of human actors out there now. Try and find this one at your local movie rental place, or on Netflix. Well worth the watch.

slayrrr666 "Man's Best Friend" is a decent enough killer dog film.**SPOILERS**Attempting to do a serious story, Lori Tanner, (Ally Sheedy) and her camerawoman Annie, (Trula M. Marcus) sneak into a testing facility and find a wealth of caged animals undergoing illegal treatments. Discovered by Dr. Jarrett, (Lance Henriksen) they flee the scene and inadvertently free a dog from the lab's testing area. Bonding with him despite what her boyfriend Perry, (Fredric Lehne) says, she refuses to part with him and decides to keep him. When he discovers what is missing, he goes after the dog when she realizes that he's a genetically-modified killer dog possessing the traits of several animal species mixed together into a perfect killing machine and is out on the loose, forcing them all to come together in a showdown to stop the dog's rampage.The Good News: This one wasn't that bad and actually had some decent stuff to it. The fact that the silly premise is allowed to be so silly and entertaining is a true plus here. It's hard to really get more goofy than this premise, but the fact that the film never once feels dull or boring is a huge plus and is partly due to what all it includes within. The first issue is the attacks on display, which are really cool and really enjoyable. Though it's to be expected, the mailman encounter turns out incredibly well and satisfies due to the effective conclusion, the police chase away from the house is pretty thrilling, as it takes the place of a normal car chase complete with the crashing cars and the escape of the target away from them, and of course the encounter at the junkyard is great as it's a retribution murder that is nicely, and cruelly set-up well with the treatment of the dog that results in some admittedly-cool effects before the deadly resolution. The main one, though, is the sequence of attacks at the end, where it leads from a short but effective car chase to a cool crash and into a fun and incredibly tense stalking through the lab, and with the majority done through the dog's vision so that we're low to the ground, it adds a little more tension to it than it already has. The blood and gore isn't that spectacular, mostly concentrating on bites to tons of areas around the body, including the legs, crotch, throat and more, but there's also a decent-looking chest mauling, and a cool scene where it urinates acid on a guy's face and it melts away in a pretty nice effect, and it's an acceptable film in the gore department overall. The last good plus here is the fact that the film builds up to the dog's violent tendencies. It's going to be pretty obvious that the dog will be a raving maniac, but the way it's built up with the home-environment and it's different scenes showing off the dogs' abilities around the neighborhood illustrate the great build to how the killer's abilities come out. All of these here are what make the film enjoyable.The Bad News: There wasn't a whole lot here that didn't work. The main issue is that there's not a lot of time in here dealing with the dog actually going out and killing, which is the main thing that a film like this is built upon. The beginning to this, where he terrorizes the neighborhoods' animals, including an admittedly cool scene where it climbs to the top of a tree and devours a fleeing cat, are just not that interesting or exciting and are diverts away from the shots of the dog going after it's victims. The film also clearly has no idea of what it is talking about when it gets to genetic engineering. It seems to regard chameleon-like skin-changing ability and tree-climbing as instant abilities that one can just snip from another animal and graft onto dog genes, when it's widely known that the musculature in their legs renders them unable to use that particular trait, and with the relative size of the dog, becomes just plain impossible. The enhanced intelligence and strength bits were done right, but unfortunately genetically enhancing animals to turn them into chameleons is just taking it too far, as it's impossible believe the fact that a dog can blend into the background, especially when the background is a garage full of boxes and rusty metal. It really takes the viewer right out of the scene. The first flaw here is the love-scene on display. As a terrible, though appropriately titled love-song blares across the scene, the two dogs perform a pathetic people-pantomime sequence, such as looking shy while laying back in the bed or a ludicrous chase where she leads him into the bedroom, which is just overall atrocious. Then, as a neighbor woman searches for her cat, we hear the sonic resonance of her orgasm blaring through the neighborhood. It's just a totally unnecessary scene and serves just so as to provide something that makes the film's twist ending believable. These are what work against the film.The Final Verdict: Even though it's not exactly a bad film, nothing of real importance sticks out enough for it to be anything more than watchable. Give this a shot if it appeals to you or you find these kinds of films interesting, otherwise this one isn't all to special and won't be a big thing if it's skipped.Rated R: Graphic Violence, Graphic Language and a clothed sex scene

callanvass okay horror flick but nothing special that could have been a lot better if it wasn't for the uneven pacing and bland dog attacks the script isn't bad and it has some decent ideas but it' just isn't that thrilling. The acting is good Ally Sheedy is excellent here she's cute vulnerable and looks great with tears in her eyes Lance Henriksen is his usual solid self and delivers a good performance still i wish he would pick better projects Robert Costanzo is a disgrace to the acting profession (in my opinion) and i just wanted to beat him! Fredric Lehne is annoying and amusing at the same time he has his moments but he is off and on there SPOILERS!!!!! is a funny moment when the dog puts the steak tar tar in the toilet and flushes it overall nothing special what so ever only worth a watch if your really bored ** out of 5