There’s something to be said for the low budget 70s sci-fi aesthetic. What they lacked in budget, they often made up for in weirdness. Heck, some of these movies might have even been big budget for all I know. I just know they often looked weird. To that end, there’s A Boy and His Dog, a post-apocalyptic sci-fi movie starring Don Johnson, so young that if I didn’t know it was him I probably wouldn’t have recognized him. Jason Robards is in it too for a small role, but the point stands: I don’t think this movie cost all that much, and it is very weird in places.
Oh, I found it on YouTube for the curious. There’s a channel called “Creature Features” which does a Elvira-style show for YouTube featuring these often bizarre older sci-fi and horror movies and bookended by a couple of eccentric hosts. They’re the reason I finally found the original Dawn of the Dead, and yes, A Boy and His Dog is also on my Fill-in Filmography poster.
Vic (Johnson) roams the wasteland that was once the American Southwest with his dog Blood. Blood is telepathic and voiced by actor Tim McIntire. Blood is the better educated of the two, and while the relationship is sometimes contentious, the pair work well together. Blood, when he gained the ability to “talk” and can only be heard by Vic, lost his ability to hunt for himself, but he and Vic work together to each get what the other needs. Vic provides Blood with food, and Blood points out where there may be women for Vic to, um…force himself on.
Neither of these two are exactly nice people even if one of them is a dog.
One night at an outdoor movie theater showing, well, adult films, Blood gets the scent of a woman, and she’s not a mutant or dying or anything. The woman, Quilla June Holmes (Susanne Benton), may be something new for Vic in that she may actually be a bit willing to sleep with him. However, she has other ideas too. She comes from the subterranean community of Downunder, and one of her jobs is to lure young men there to enjoy the communal aspects. Lots of women and food down there. Vic is up for it. Blood? Not so much. He doesn’t trust Quilla. Will Downunder provide the pair with the place they both desire, or is there something sinister and wrong about the place? And if push comes to shove, will Vic choose a woman or his (mostly) faithful dog?
Remember how I said this movie is kinda weird? Downunder is basically why it’s so weird. All the people down there dress like the farmers in a stage musical while wearing whiteface make-up. Why? I don’t pretend to know. There probably wouldn’t be much of a movie if Downunder was just a place full of nice, welcoming folks, and while Vic and Blood aren’t exactly the most endearing of characters, Vic especially since Blood does somewhat look out for the kid, there really aren’t any good people to be found much of anywhere. That tracks for a world like this, warped though it is. Director L.Q. Jones, best known as a Western character actor, sure did helm a weird one here, and it does have its mid 70s weird sci-fi charm. I mean, this is the decade that gave the world Soylent Green after all.
That said, it was an amusing enough way to pass about 90 minutes. I wouldn’t call it one of the best sci-fi flick of all time, but it is memorable with a cranky dog leading an idiot kid around the desert before the kid has to grown up somewhat and learn a thing or two about other people and what really matters in life. And if that life happens to be in the ruined wastes of what may have once been Topeka, Kansas, well…maybe what really matters is a much shorter list than it usually is.
Grade: B-
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