A BOY AND HIS DOG

* * * ½

STARRING: Don Johnson, Susanne Benton, Jason Robards, Alvy Moore, Helene Winston, Charles McGraw, Tiger, with the voice of Tim McIntire

1975, 87 Minutes, Directed by: L.Q. Jones

Description: Adapted from a novella by Harlan Ellison. Don Johnson (Miami Vice) plays a young, libidinous loner named Vic who roams the postnuclear wasteland with his loyal dog, Blood, a remarkable hound with keen intelligence and the ability to telepathically communicate with his less-intelligent master. It's survival of the fittest, so food and sex are Vic's highest priorities, and he gets plenty of both when recruited into a mysterious underground society in desperate need of young fertile males. While Blood must fend for himself on the unfriendly surface, Vic realizes that he's an exploited prisoner and must escape to return to the canine friend he left behind. — Amazon.com

Black humour as we follow the travails of a young punk (Johnson), and his telepathic dog searching a post-holocaust landscape for food and women.

The only thing that lets this faithful adaptation of Harlan Ellison's novella down is the cheap production values. Otherwise this film deserves the cult status it has among more serious science fiction fans. It is definitely one of my favourite sci-fi flicks - don't miss it! However, note that the title is misleading: this is not a movie for kiddies!
 

• Hugo Award Winner (1976)
• Tagline: "The year is 2024... a future you'll probably live to see."
• Read an extended review of A Boy and His Dog.
• Read a review of A Boy and His Dog on DVD.
• Fact # 1: The screenplay was started by Harlan Ellison, who wrote the novella on which it is based. Ellison encountered writer's block, and so producer Alvy Moore and L.Q. Jones took over and wrote the script. Ellison praised the film after its premiere, to the relief of Moore, but there are rumors that Ellison later condemned the film.
• Fact # 2: Tim McIntire, who performed the voice of "Blood", sang the main title song, "A Boy and His Dog."
   

Sci-Fi Movie Page Pick: Must see - despite the cheap sets.
It might be gathering dust on your local video store's shelves, but this black-humoured movie made on a shoestring and based on a novella by sci-fi great Harlan Ellison is a must-see.