Play Dead (1986)

User Rating:

3.2/10   

Director:

Peter Wittman

Writer:

Lothrop W. Jordan (writer)

Release Date:

January 1986 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Horror

Tagline:

Play Dead... It may be the last thing you ever do.

Plot:

A woman uses her magic powers and a vicious Rotweiller dog to murder her relatives.

Plot Keywords:

Dog | Revenge | Strangulation | Relative | Murder

Cast

Yvonne De Carlo	...	Hester
Stephanie Dunnam	...	Audrey
David Cullinane	...	Jeff
Glenn Kezer	...	Otis
Ron Jackson	...	Richard
David Ellzey	...	Stephen
Jo Livingston	...	Pathologlst
Carolyn Greenwood	...	Monique
Jeff McVey	...	Eric
Robert Hibbard	...	Policeman
Desmond Dhooge	...	Dog Trainer
John Caroll Perry	...	Sam
Alex Bond Winslow	...	Clarisse
Harry Gibbs	...	Funeral Attendant

Also Known As:

Killer Dog (International: English title) (video title)
Satan's Dog

Runtime:

86 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

UK:18 | USA:Unrated

Company:

Rudine

Trivia:

Shot in 1981, not released until 1986.

Bad movie! Bad movie! Now, roll over...

Apparently a *construction company* produced this film? Well, that makes just about as much sense as anything.

The movie starts with shots of a Rottweiler attacking a person who is prostrate on the ground. Then, we're at the funeral of a woman. Hester shows up, and her voice is instantly recognizable as that of the actress who played Lily Munster: yes, it is she.

She is the late woman's sister, and she is not well liked by her sister's children.

Hester is rich, and she is angry at her sister and her niece and nephew, because she had had a relationship with her sister's husband prior to their marriage., and she feels she would have been better for him. He died years ago, but she has a place of honor in her house for a photo of him, and she likes to imagine herself dancing with him in slow motion in front of a mirror.

Hester owns a Rottweiler that she brought back with her from Europe. She also dabbles in black magic of some kind. She left a necklace with a pentagram on it in her sister's casket. The dog also has one on its collar. The dog also does things in slow motion.

Hester gives the dog to her niece, and pretends that she cares about her niece and nephew now that her sister has passed on. However, she does rituals involving blood and chanting Latin in order to remotely cause the dog to bring about the deaths of her nephew, her niece's neighbor and boyfriend and others.

The movie doesn't really have any resolution at the end. A real non-ending, not setting up a sequel, but just petering out without letting us know what happened to some of the main characters.