It's the same old story... Girl rescues dog from test lab, girl wants to keep cute and heroic dog as her pet, dog turns out to be a genetically altered killing machine that wants to destroy girl's fiancée by peeing acid on his face. Hm, on second thought, it's not that common at all! In fact, with its absurdly ingenious plot, tongue-in-cheek humor and excessive gore, "Man's Best Friend" is one of the best horror movies of the overall disappointing 90s decade.
It's been approximately 25 years since I watched "Man's Best Friend" for the first and last time. I loved it instantly, but due to my youthful age at the time, I only had eyes for the virulent dog-attacks and thus never really realized that writer/director John Lafia delivered a pitch-black comedy. Lance Henriksen is exquisite as the mad scientist who turned an ordinary cuddly Tibetan Mastiff into the undefeatable and super-intelligent Max-3000. When TV anchor Ally Sheedy sets him free, she doesn't realize she activated a drooling time bomb.
Name any cliché involving dogs in the movies; - "Man's Best Friend" features it! Max runs after paperboys on bikes, chases kittens up trees, bites sadist dog abusers in the crotch, fools around with dog catchers and fanatically grabs arrogant mailmen by the throat. The difference with Max is that everything is just a tad bit ...bloodier! For the skeptical viewers who then still don't believe "Man's Best Friend" is a parody, just look at the sequence where our furry anti-hero Max spots a cute blond Lassie, and a cover of Paul Anka's "Puppy Love" spontaneously begins to play. Delicious!
It's been approximately 25 years since I watched "Man's Best Friend" for the first and last time. I loved it instantly, but due to my youthful age at the time, I only had eyes for the virulent dog-attacks and thus never really realized that writer/director John Lafia delivered a pitch-black comedy. Lance Henriksen is exquisite as the mad scientist who turned an ordinary cuddly Tibetan Mastiff into the undefeatable and super-intelligent Max-3000. When TV anchor Ally Sheedy sets him free, she doesn't realize she activated a drooling time bomb.
Name any cliché involving dogs in the movies; - "Man's Best Friend" features it! Max runs after paperboys on bikes, chases kittens up trees, bites sadist dog abusers in the crotch, fools around with dog catchers and fanatically grabs arrogant mailmen by the throat. The difference with Max is that everything is just a tad bit ...bloodier! For the skeptical viewers who then still don't believe "Man's Best Friend" is a parody, just look at the sequence where our furry anti-hero Max spots a cute blond Lassie, and a cover of Paul Anka's "Puppy Love" spontaneously begins to play. Delicious!