White Dog

Movies Reviews Samuel Fuller
White Dog

DVD Release Date: Dec. 2
Director:
Samuel Fuller
Writers: Fuller, Curtis Hanson
Cinematographer: Bruce Surtees
Starring: Kristy McNichol, Paul Winfield?Studio/Run Time: Paramount, 90 mins.

Canine race exploration finally released on DVD

Even with the presidential election behind us, America’s issues with race won’t be going away anytime soon.
Take, for example, Samuel Fuller’s 1982 film White Dog, previously only available as a bootleg until this Criterion edition. Over his 30-plus-year career, Fuller never shied from brutal topics, always challenging the studio system—whether with films about prostitution, insane asylums or the savagery of war. But this story about a dog trained to attack and kill black people was unceremoniously shelved by Paramount for over two decades. Past the shock of its premise, it’s a relatively straight-ahead tale, wherein a dog, rescued by McNichol, turns out to be a savage racist. Animal trainer Winfield is determined to re-program this four-legged killer and prove that a change can come.

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