film
of the month Oct 2000The Dead Pet Page
updated 1 February 2007
There aren't too many really good dead pet films so we dutifully watched them all and selected these as the very best:
Barking Dogs Never Bite Yoon Ju hates dogs, or at least he hates barking dogs. To help preserve his calm, he kidnaps dogs in his building and dispatches them in various ways. A cute little chow eaten by the superintendent while another he flings off the roof. A woman in the management office, is wise to him and sets out to thwart his dognapping. There is a disclaimer at the end which says "No puppies were hurt in making this film" but you may question that statement after you've seen this film. Oh, yeah, it's a comedy. This was a runaway hit in Korea, honest. Directed by Bong Joon-Ho. Korean w/subtitles 2002 rated IIA 110 minutes
Dead Pet
While Jake was away at Harvard, the family poodle has displaced his parents
affection . They regretfully inform Jake, he can't finish school as his tuition
went for experimental surgery on Miko, their 13 year old poodle (played by
Raindrop). He retires to his room only to find it has been converted into a pink
poodle recovery room. Soon after, the poodle dies while in his care. He leaves
home, but that is just the start of his problems. Kevin Cotteleer, wrote
directed and stars in this funny spoof on just how tough it is to be a twenty
something. Reminiscent of "Spanking the Monkey", but far more light
hearted. Music by SubLunar 93 minutes unrated1999 film
of the month Oct 2000
Rubin and Ed Howard Hessman (of WKRP in Cincinatti fame) is an outright bozo who is a member of an evangelical get rich real estate religion. While trolling for converts, he stumbles over Rubin, who lives with mom ad keeps a dead cat in the freezer. These two hold their own losers convention as they head out into the desert to bury Rubin's cat. I seriously doubt you can find this one, but it does have special effects by the immensely talented Chiodo Brothers. 1991 rated PG 13
Cold Dog Soup If you liked "Rubin & Ed", here's another dead pet movie to round out your weekend. Michael gets picked up at a health club and invited home to dinner. He's in for a 'pressure cooker" of an evening until Jasper, the family mutt chokes to death on an anchovy. Being a nice guy,our hero volunteers to bury th pooch in the park. He bags the dog, leaves Sarah and her mom, and hails a cab for the park. This is not just any cab, this one is driven by Randy Quaid. Quaid talks Michael into selling the dead dog rather than burying him. The rest of the film is spent careening through the city (what city?) trying to get a few bucks for Jasper. In a stupid sort of way, this is all very funny. From Handmade films (What happened to them?) Frank Whaley is Mike, Christine Harnos is Sarah and Mushroom the dog is Jasper. 1989 PG 13 90 minutes
Gummo A white trash holiday, this is one strange ass film about life in a lower class Xenia, Ohio. By carefully weaving real interviews and fictional scenes, the director Harmony Korine, leaves you wondering if there is a line between the two. The opening scene is a little kid in rabbit ears and shorts, pissing off an overpass onto cars on the interstate. Then it goes into a series of slightly disconnected vignettes. The lead, Gummo, picks up cash by shooting cats with BB guns, so he can sell the meat to the local Chinese restaurant. Technically, they try not to kill pet cats, just strays, but sometimes they goof. Brilliant. 1997 Rated R Thanks to Ola Lundin
Baxter The star of this movie is a dog, a French speaking bull terrier who always gets what he wants. His first owner is an old woman whom he kills to get more interesting and active owners. His new owners are great fun until they have a child. Baxter is put up for adoption after he tries to kill their son. His third owner is a disturbing Nazi obsessed little boy who puts Baxter through his paces. Slightly disturbing. Thanks to Dustin Miller for the recommendation. French/Dog w/subtitles 1991 Unrated
