One of the most popular horror subgenres of the 1970s was the animal attack genre, which started with 1971’s Willard. The decade brought us Frogs, Killer Bees, Jaws, Grizzly, Kingdom of the Spiders, and Piranha, amongst others. An off-shoot of this subgenre was movies centered around domesticated animals running amok, most prominently dogs. After The Omen, a wave of killer dog movies filled movie theaters, including Dogs, The Pack, and Dracula’s Dog. The United Construction Company decided to produce its own film in Texas to capitalize on this trend. They hired Peter Wittman, whose only credit was co-writing and producing Skullduggery, to direct the movie. Filming began in 1981, with Yvonne De Carlo, best known for her role on The Munsters, as the lead. After premiering in Britain in 1983 and West Germany in 1985, Troma released Play Dead to the US in 1986.
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Synopsis
Audrey (Stephanie Dunnam) and her brother Stephen (David Ellzey) attend their mother’s funeral when Aunt Hesther (Yvonne De Carlo) arrives. While everyone’s mourning, Hesther is scornful because her sister stole her boyfriend, married him, and killed herself after he died. After the funeral, Stephen urges Hesther to make things right with Audrey, so she gifts her a rottweiler named Greta. However, it turns out that this dog is part of Hesther’s plan to get revenge on her late sister. Using some Satanic black magic, Hesther possesses the dog and commands her to kill anyone she feels has wronged her. Each of the murders is staged as an accident, which puzzles Detective Otis (Glenn Kezer) as he investigates the deaths. After her brother and her boyfriend Jeff (David Cullinane) wind up dead, Otis suspects that Audrey might be responsible. Little does he know that a demon dog is on the loose.
Review
Despite the ridiculous premise, Play Dead is one of the more competently made and decently acted films of its kind. While not all that scary or intense, the movie offers plenty of camp and bizarre moments. The biggest thing this has going for it is Yvonne De Carlo as Hester, the vindictive aunt seeking her revenge. De Carlo commits to the role even if this isn’t on par with something like The Ten Commandments. She comes off as menacing while adding some dark humor through her dry delivery and occasionally chews the scenery. Stephanie Dunnam makes for a sympathetic lead, and Glenn Kezer shines as the straight man trying to solve this case. Also, the dog who plays Greta is incredibly well-trained and comes off as both lovable and vicious. All-in-all, the acting ranges from pretty good to decent, though most of the supporting cast is forgettable.
Considering this was Peter Wittman’s first time as director, he does a surprisingly good job behind the camera. At barely under 90 minutes, the film goes by reasonably quickly, though some slow moments drag the movie down. The kills are relatively tame, though they’re fun in a goofy way just for how absurd they are. There are a few sequences where Wittman uses slow motion to heighten the mood, and they do a decent job. Interestingly, the art director was Robert Burns, whose biggest claim to fame was The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. His other credits include serving as art director on The Hills Have Eyes, Tourist Trap, Disco Godfather, and Re-Animator. I wouldn’t go so far as to call this a lost classic, but it’s worth checking out for cult fans. Overall, Play Dead has some decent performances and is reasonably well-made, but don’t expect something mindblowing.
Buy Play Dead from Amazon: https://amzn.to/3jex0qC.
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