The Pack

On a small tourist island, a handful of people is besieged by a pack of wild dogs. What may at first appear to be a TV movie is actually an R-rated bloodfest, as the hungry canines tear into the folks and rack up an impressive body count. The movie has its share of scary moments, and is surprisingly exciting with carefully choreographed sequences of man versus beast. There is no hesitation on veteran action director Robert Clouse's part to show the dogs being killed in equal measure. One great scene has the hero mowing down several of the pack with his truck. Great musical score to boot. Joe Don Baker stars, and several familiar faces, among them Richard Schull, Bibe Besch and R.G. Armstrong, provide strong support. A must-see for action horror fans. Considering the film was made in the 1970s, it feels like it was shot yesterday.

Thanks to uncaring tourists, a pack of wild dogs has slowly been building on Seal Island. Tired of devouring horses, the dogs decide to wag...er, wage an all-out man vs. beast war against the island's inhabitants led by marine biologist Jerry (Joe Don Baker, who qualifies as both man and beast). A pretty darn exciting horror-action flick from director Robert Clouse that re-teams him with Baker after the equally entertaining GOLDEN NEEDLES (1974). Baker is affable, but the real stars here are the pack of canine characters, led by a mongrel that probably spent his later years terrified of mono filament line. The last 40 minutes is basically NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD with dogs and the attack scenes are well staged with some superior slo-mo. The only thing lacking is a higher body count (a paltry 4 human deaths here). There are also some dopey bits like people always running outside and the characters not being attacked as they carry a dead body out of the house because, as Baker puts it, "we have torches." I'm surprised at how much the recent killer dog flick THE BREED (2006) ripped this one off.

Robert Clouse's "The Pack" is mostly your usual killer pets movie. In this case, people buy dogs at the pound, and leave them on a vacation island. Sure enough, the dogs turn feral and go after the island's inhabitants. While most of the cast does the sorts of things that we expect in one of these movies, Joe Don Baker is quite cool as the leader. But the real stars are definitely the rabid canines. The people behind the camera probably fixed up the main dog so that he would look more menacing; I mean, I've never seen any mutt looking like that.

I notice that this movie was filmed in Bodega Bay, California. Film buffs know that town as the filming location of Alfred Hitchcock's "The Birds". Is every movie filmed there going to feature non-human fauna attacking people?! Another thing - and I may be the only person who thinks of this - is that "The Pack" was released through Warner Bros. When I was really young, I always associated that studio with Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, etc. I wonder: what would I have thought had I known that the studio behind the Looney Tunes/Merrie Melodies cartoons also released horror movies (they also released "The Shining", "The Awakening" and "The Nesting").

But I digress. This movie isn't terrible. Worth seeing maybe once.

Greetings and salutations, and welcome to my review of 1977s The Pack.

Before I get into the review, here are my ratings for the movie.

The story gets 1.5 out of 2: The Direction a 1.5: The Pacing receives a 1.25: While the Acting gets 1.25: And my Enjoyment level earns a 1.5 out of 2: The Pack, therefore, receives a total of 7 out of 10.

If you enjoyed Stephen Kings Cujo, either the book or the film adaptation, then The Pack will be for you. In all honesty, The Pack is a smidgen better than Cujo. Robert Clouse, who directed, also wrote the screenplay based on David Fisher's novel. And, since I enjoyed the movie, I am now on the lookout for the book.

Fisher and Clouse provide the audience with a fictional tale based on an all too real problem. What happens when people discard their pets like trash? The trash bites back. It's drawing to the end of the holiday season on Seal Island, and the last vacationers have arrived for their fishing hols. However, something isn't right. When Jerry and his family stumble across the remains of a horse, he notes the bones show bite marks. He quickly concludes the island has a problem with feral dogs. And, it's not long before his notion is confirmed, and the island's residents and last holidayers become dog food.

What is nice is the fact that all the characters are different. There is a broad and fascinating mixture: From the ditsy blonde to the domineering father. But it's not only the conflicts these people have, it's their changes in personalities that add depth to the story. When the father loses his son, he suddenly reveals a caring side: One that is willing to lay his life on the line. There's a crabby old bugger who hates holidaymakers. However, he likewise becomes a hero when he decides to aid them in the only way he can. You feel for them and can relate to them.

But the most dynamic thing about the story is that you equally feel for the canines. None of this is their fault. All they are seeking to do is survive. Whose determination and cunning will win out?

Clouse keeps up the excellent work with the direction. The Pack is superbly constructed and flows effortlessly. He uses everything in his arsenal to deliver the best picture he can. There are iconic shots. The one of the eaten horse is both striking and shocking. In part, this is due to the low camera shot. It shows the partially devoured head centre-screen; its lips are gone, only the teeth and gums are visible. To its rear, we can see the bloodied stripped ribs slightly out of focus. It's an image that stays with you. He's adept at employing shadows to build up the tense atmosphere. The lighting is witnessed best in the sequence where the ditsy blonde stumbles on the packs' roost. She is seeking shelter from the rain and enters the gloomy barn, and promptly falls asleep. A noise arouses her, and she awakens to discover the dogs in front of her, blocking any escape. The alpha dog at the head, growling menacingly and hungrily at her. Some modern directors would have produced this scene in almost darkness as they appear to believe the darker it is, the scarier it is. Wrong. Seeing the front row of the pack well lit is ominous. You can see the saliva dripping from their incisors. The deeper shadows behind them and blackness behind them make it hard to figure out how many dogs there are. There could be ten. There could be a hundred and ten. Way scarier.

But Clouse doesn't stop there. Two later scenes involve trucks, and both are choreographed and filmed expertly. The end credits state no animals were harmed in the filming, though watching the scenes made me wonder otherwise.

And still, Clouse adds more. The Pack delivers one of the most striking images of a war-torn, sick, and half-starved dog that I've ever seen in a film. The close-ups of the leader of the pack add so much. You feel sympathetic for the abuse this dog has received, but you're weary too because you know he's both a clever and dangerous killing machine.

Presently we arrive at the cast and thank god that they were all tremendous in their roles. Each one of them nailed their performances. I'm not a fan of Joe Don Baker. I find he can be heavy-handed in his portrayals. The Pack represents the best role I've seen him in to date. Jake possesses two caring sides. One is gentle, and the other is a tad more rugged. Baker pulls these off beautifully. I was surprised at how much I enjoyed his performance.

The one thing I can fault with the story and the film is the depiction of the kids. It would have been enjoyable to observe more interaction between the two boys as they were best friends and soon to be step-brothers. Clouse could have used this to add a reminiscent feel to the film. The "I remember when I was a kid" effect. Truthfully, the two lads are the only characters who aren't well constructed. They're a wasted opportunity. And I believe the two actors could have handled the extra depth.

The Pack is a delightfully entertaining, thought-provoking, and moralistic tale about being kind and considerate to animals. I genuinely enjoyed it and would recommend for everyone to at least check it out once.

Get in that rowing boat and start oaring your way over to my Killer Thriller Chiller, Monstrous, and Dramatisation lists to see where The Pack finally rested in my rankings.

Take Care & Stay Well. Get Inoculated.

The late film director Robert Clouse showed himself to be fairly versatile when it came to his projects. After having already made one bonafide classic with the martial arts actioner "Enter the Dragon" and the similarly fun "Black Belt Jones", he went on to do the futuristic sci-fi saga "The Ultimate Warrior". Here he tackles the "nature strikes back" sub genre with very enjoyable results.

It takes place on a resort island where the year round residents, and some visitors, now have to deal with the problem of a ferocious dog pack that is the result of vacationers having adopted these dogs for the summer and then abandoned them. Yeah, there's a real message in here about mankinds' callousness towards his fellow animals that gives this movie some appreciated (and not overdone) subtext in addition to its thrills.

There's no filler here, just a good, straightforward story (based on a novel by David Fisher) that moves forward at a decent pace. The rural scenery is, not unexpectedly, very nicely photographed and the booming music by Lee Holdridge is perfect accompaniment. The animal action is first rate - the principal trainer is Karl Lewis Miller, an old hand at that kind of thing for many years, and he gets utterly convincing performances from the canine stars, especially the primary antagonist, a mangy mongrel, and the pathetic straggler of the group whom we see abandoned near the beginning of the movie.

The human cast does not fare badly, either, with the ever solid Joe Don Baker, playing a marine biologist (!), as the kind of hero you can root for. (Of course, there are also the standard characters in this thing whom you pretty much *hope* are going to come to a bad end.) Hope Alexander-Willis is his appealing leading lady, and the supporting cast features such reliable performers as Richard B. Shull and R. G. Armstrong.

"The Pack" never gets too graphic, preferring to leave some things to the imagination, but doesn't skimp on the thrills, being genuinely exciting at times, especially in the last half hour. Overall it's more effective than the movie "Dogs" which was also released in that busy period, post-"Jaws", when a number of movies like this were coming out. It's entertaining all the way; that final sequence will just melt your heart.

Clouse returned to animal horror five years later with "The Rats", a.k.a. "Deadly Eyes".

Eight out of 10.