A BOY AND HIS DOG(1975)
R
91 Minutes
Director: L.Q. Jones
Writers: L.Q. Jones (screenplay), Harlan Ellison (novel)
Don Johnson, Jason Robards, Susanne Benton, Tim McIntire
Cast
Don Johnson-Vic
Jason Robards-Lou Craddock
Susanne Benton-Quilla June Holmes
Tim McIntire-Blood (voice)
Opening: 'World War IV lasted 5 days.'
The year is 2024, and thanks to Ted Kennedy IV, we find ourselves in a post-nuclear world.
Meet Vic
Vic is in his late teens; he's 'a boy and a man', like that Alice Cooper song. He walks around in the desert all day with a rifle; like Josh Brolin in NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN. In his travels, he finds a suitable human female to sleep with. Her name is Quilla June Holmes; she is from the land down under. And no, I'm not going to make a reference to Outback Steakhouse®...or Paul Hogan, for that matter.
Quilla goes back into 'the land down under', and Vic follows her home. There is a society below the Earth's surface called Topeka. Topeka is a Norman Rockwell scene that's gone completely haywire. We'll call it an interesting mix of: Hitler Youth Camp, that city in CHILDREN OF THE CORN, and Topeka, Kansas.
But it was all an elaborate rouse. More on that later...
Top Pic: Tiger Brady/Bottom: Buck Bundy 1983-1996**
The dog from THE BRADY BUNCH, 'Tiger', stars in this movie. This dog communicates telepathically, in English, with Vic. Like 'Buck' on MARRIED WITH CHILDREN; he is similar-looking, and he has a plentiful arsenal of witticisms.
Stranger in a Strange Land
See, we've been underground too long.
Our women can't get pregnant.
Every once and awhile we need new blood.
We, need a new man.
The head chairman talks with Vic. In the land down under (if you'll pardon the pun), men are omnipotent impotent. This is where Vic fits in:
Happily Never After
Head Chairman: (We need a)..special kind of man...
Vic: Hahaha, you mean you want me to knock your broads? You talked me into it. Line them up.
Vic is strapped down to a sperm extraction device. No, this is not as good as it sounds; there is no happy ending in this tale. He was to be killed after they took what they needed.
But all didn't go as planned. Like a black widow spider, that two-timing whore seduced him, and left him for dead, and then ate him (metaphorically speaking). In the end, her conscience got the better of her. Quilla June falls madly in love with Vic, and they break out of Topeka together. She spends the rest of her life with him.
This movie is bizarre on multiple levels. None of the characters act like human beings. The dog acts like a hyper-rational sociopath. I don't particularly care for this film; it's offensive, and morally repugnant. Nonetheless, it's an interesting watch. You should check it out sometime.
Final Verdict: 50 out of 100
SPOILER, proceed with caution.
Bros Before Hos
Final Scene Dialogue:
Oh hell, it wasn't my fault she picked me to get
all wet-brained over.
Dog: Well I'd say she had marvelous judgment,
Albert
Dog: If not particularly good taste
[Blood chuckles]
[Vic laughs]
END OF SPOILER
**"Buck' Bundy, the character; died in 1995. The real life 'Buck' died on May 28, 1996, at the age of 13