DEVIL DOG: THE HOUND OF HELL (1978)

 "SOMETIMES YOU JUST FEEL LIKE A DEVIL DOG". 

We venture again into the Made-For-TV horror film with this lovable little flick helmed by veteran director Curtis Harrington which brings in the ever-present Satanic cults of the 70's combined with the killer animal genre.  I mean, what can be more 70's than those things?!?!?  Martine Beswick goes to the Daisy Hill Puppy Farm (not) to buy a dog to mate with the Devil and produce a litter of 10 puppies from Hell!  Mike and Betty Barry (Richard Crenna & Yvette Mimieux) are driving home when they see their dog dead in the road. . . . on their daughter's 10th birthday, yet!  They break the news to their kids Bonnie & Charlie (Kim Richards & Ike Eisenman).  R.G. Armstrong drives his fruit and veg truck up to the Barry home and just happens to have a litter of (Satanic) puppies to give away and before you know it, the Barrys have a new dog named Lucky.  Maria the housekeeper takes an immediate dislike to the puppy and, while lighting candles and saying her rosary, the evil devil dog causes her to burst into flame.  But of course, it must've been an accident.  A year later, Lucky is no longer a puppy and nearly succeeds in causing Mike to shove his hand into a rotating lawn mower blade. 

The neighbour's dog, who senses something wrong with Lucky, constantly barks at him until it is found ripped apart; the distraught neighbour blames Lucky and threatens to shoot him until he is eventually found dead in his swimming pool.  Charlie runs for class president and the guidance counselor (Ken Kercheval) accuses Charlie of dirty tricks to discredit his opponent; the Devil Dog visits the guidance counselor and sends his screaming into the street to be run over by a car.  During all this time, Betty and the kids are acting stranger and stranger as the evil influence of the devil dog possesses them and Mike has to find a way to stop Lucky's evil reign of terror.  Mike takes Lucky out to a remote location to shot him but bullets have no affect.  After consulting the proprietor of an occult bookstore, Mike travels to Quito, Ecuador where legends of this 1000 year old demon dog originate.  Mike consults with an ancient shaman (Victor Jory) who gives him a handy tattoo which will defeat the hound of hell.  

No one's going into this expecting a masterpiece of gasping terror.  It's a Satanic dog movie from the 70s and as long as you're OK with that, you should have fun with this.  I will say that the devil/demon dog sets his goals rather low; besides killing anyone who threatens him, Lucky seems only interested in such deviltry as making Mike and Betty swim naked in the neighbour's pool and fixing a local school election for class president.  No other over-arching plan is mentioned or even hinted at by the Satanic Cult or the script; the devil is summoned back to Earth in order to merely commit some low-level hijinks.  Anyone who's not OK with that, Lucky will then kill.  It is also great to see some beloved faces from spooky cinema turning up for this movie:  Hammer Scream Queen Martine Beswick, veteran character actors R.G. Armstrong and Victor Jory are old favourites of mine and always welcome.  Funnily enough, Kim Richards and Ike Eisenman were both unaware the other actor was cast to play their sibling; the young actors of course had already worked together is Disney's WITCH MOUNTAIN movies.  I have a lot of time for 70's made-for-tv horror movies -- especially with so many beloved faces taking part -- and this one's pretty OK.