Based on a novella by the same name, A BOY AND HIS DOG stars a baby faced Don Johnson (about 9 years before his days as scruffy Det. Sonny Crockett on Miami Vice) as Vic, a survivor of a nuclear holocaust, who roams the wasteland with his dog, Blood—whom he communicates with telepathically (that's right). Blood (voiced by Tim McIntire) is very wise and old enough to remember the 'before' times. As they search the barren lands (this is pre-Road Warrior, mind you) for a place called 'Over the Hill' a lush green Utopia, Blood basically teaches Vic history—his own cynical take on it, anyways. Vic only really thinks about two things, eating and fucking (hey, me too!) and doesn't really think there's such a place as Over the Hill, but he humor's Blood anyways. Food and women are both scarce in the future (2024) and Vic and Blood are constantly on the hunt for both. There are other men, with canines in the wasteland who hunt for these same things and it's basically, kill or be killed. There are also people called "Screamers" that are radiation mutants that can kill you by touching you (they are never seen in the film, just alluded too…did I mention this is a really low budget film?).
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One day, Blood picks up the scent of a female in an underground building (most things are underground, buried from nuclear bomb damage and fallout). Vic attempts to rape the woman and be done with her, but some other men pick up the scent as well. Vic and Blood win the battle and the woman, named Quilla (Susanne Benton) then gives herself to Vic, willingly. Quilla wants to stay with him, but in her underground society, but he wants to continue to roam (are ya catching the marriage metaphor there? There are tons of metaphors throughout film), Blood on the other hand, doesn't trust her and wants to ditch her. When Vic won't let Quilla return, she runs away and Vic tracks her to an entrance to an underground lair. He goes in alone and Blood decides to wait. This is when the movie completely flips and get weird.
Quilla's underground home is basically a nightmarish, southern-fried, Norman Rockwell-esque, fascist society where everyone has painted up faces similar to a mime (maybe because they are miming the old world in a way?). They live under a façade of old world happiness, but disobeying the rules (like lying or swearing) results in death. Executions are all covered up by natural causes, like heart attacks or fatal accidents. Once inside, Vic realizes Quilla was just luring him down there to be used as sperm donor. Due to nuclear fallout, most men shoot blanks, so a fertile man is hard to find. He is captured and strapped to hospital bed and 'milked' by a machine, like a cow. Though Quilla did in fact lure Vic as she was told, her plan is to ultimately overthrow the tyrannical council (headed by the late great Jason Robards), but she will need Vic's help. Can he trust her manipulative ways? Will they escape? What about Blood? You'll have to watch the movie to find out, but I will say that the ending is totally unpredictable and personally, I found it incredible satisfying—the ending alone, makes the movie great.
The film is full of dark humor (the ending is no different) and Tim McIntire as Blood is hilarious and gets most of the laughs. There is one scene where Quilla is talking to Blood with that 'puppy/baby talk' while he's trying to plan an escape and he snaps at her. Only Vic can hear Blood talk, so it's like he's being a vicious dog, but he's really saying, "Shut up!" to Quilla. You'd have to see it to appreciate it, but it got the biggest laugh of the movie for me.
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Don Johnson, who I've never really been a fan of, gives an excellent performance here. He is very convincing as a guy who really only cares about food and sex and has no clue what the world, prior to the apocalypse was like, an educated savage if you will--educated by a cynical dog, that is. I've always thought his acting in Miami Vice and other 80's films was just ho-hum, but he really puts his heart into this performance. Still, it's McIntire as the voice of Blood (and even the dog itself—a very well trained movie dog named, Tiger) that steals the movie. To bad he's mostly absent from the last half of the film. Jason Robards, whom I love, pretty much sleepwalks through this one yet, he's still great.
The director, L.Q. Jones (a character actor, who only directed a few other things) does a fine job considering the budget. The Arizona desert really looks like a nuclear wasteland and his use of lighting really hides lack of budget that went into the sets—in other words, a lot of dark shots. I didn't quite buy the underground scenes, which were basically shot at night to make it look like underground. The trees and grass that were supposed to be fake, looked way too real (because they were), but that's a minor quibble. Also, the lack of budget was probably the reason for the minimal score, which only helped the film seem more dark and real. There a few quick moments of score (if you can call it that), but it is mostly made up of echoed bleeps and synth noises.
Some way not appreciate the movies cynical humor and dark tone, but I found it quite enjoyable. The film says a lot about society through metaphors, yet never comes across like a preachy 'message film'. While not for all tastes, I highly recommend this offbeat sci-fi classic.
A BOY AND HIS DOG trailer