A Boy and His Dog (1975) Review- By Michael J. Carlisle

Title: A Boy and His Dog
Year: 1975
Director: L.Q Jones
Country: US
Language: English

Based on a short story by novelist Harlan Ellison, A Boy and His Dog is a quintessential sci-fi/black comedy/cult/ classic that has inspired many films and video games after it. If you've seen Mad Max (1979) or have played the Fallout franchise then you know what type of film you're getting into. Set in a futuristic post-apocalyptic countryside, this is a weird picture that should certainly peak your interest just by watching the odd-ball trailer. 

A boy named Vic (Don Johnson) communicates telepathically with his dog named Blood as they scavenge for food and sex, and they stumble into an underground society.

A Boy and his Dog is bluntly divided into two main chapters; one above ground (where the main characters try to find a mate) and one underground (where the main characters have too many mates). The odyssey through post-apocalyptic landscapes isn't entirely original, even for 1975 (remember Omega Man?) but what makes this picture throughly entertaining is the wisecrack and darkly humorist interactions between Vic and Blood, which give a whole new ambience to the concept.

A Boy and His Dog is a very 1970s American movie; it's essentially an outlaw western that voices explicit, symbolic disappointment and despair with the country's government in the wake of the Vietnam War. It isn't as self-pitying as say, Easy Rider, because it is so lively and full of energy. It's such a weird film that it can easily be an escapist fantasy as well. 

 The film celebrates the apocalypse as an opportunity for the oppressed of society to do whatever the hell they please. Though not all of this is particularly good (the robbing and murdering), it does make for a particularly enticing type of cinema. Well written, directed, acted and shot A Boy and His Dog is an awe-inspiring piece of sci-fi.