Mongrel (1982) User Reviews

Grumble, grumble.

[lost-in-limbo · 3/10 · 12 July 2006]

Set in a rundown boarding house, the occupants simply play jokes each other and get into pointless squabbles. A couple of jokes backfire on them, resulting in one of the occupant's aggressive dog being shot dead and a tenant being accidentally killed. Amongst the tenants, happens to be an up-tight author / book editor who has horrific dreams about this dog and when that happens, the occupants start dropping off like flies.

Wowser! What an excessively cruddy experience, but definitely not the worst of its kind. On the scale of corny, clumsy and scummy this clunky trash has got its bases covered. When you're watching it you'll know why it's truly an obscure item! Although there are two notables that won't pass you by and I see one of them has already been mentioned by an IMDb reviewer. A "Deep Throat" pinball machine gets some game time (it maybe would have been more interesting if it focused on it more often) and Mitch Pileggi stars as the boarding house's hot-headed bully who likes to play pranks. I'm sure Pileggi would like to forget it… and he probably has.

Now, "Mongrel" is one downright glum, kooky and twitchy oddity that shows up like a poverty-row production, since it doesn't sway away from it's one location - the boarding house and it's put together very shoddily. This goes for the editing between scenes, making you think an add break was coming up. Sloppy is best to describe the film's execution, but at times there is atmospheric photography and the plot idea is decent enough with some out-of-the-blue moments. Just that it's not delivered very well. When I grabbed this flick was actually expecting a creature-on-the-loose kind of tale, but noway is that the case here. It plays out more like a stark comedy with it's quirky and very animated tenants creating a constant racket, but that all changes when it wants the pick up pace with murders occurring with non-suspenseful attacks that are far too hectic and plenty of POV shots of the beast. Was that growling I hear… nah, it was burping. Well, actually I'm sure it was just someone's stomach growling. Yeah, the gargling… no the growling we hear haunting one of the character's minds is laughable. There are many momentary scenes that make you snicker - like that of a dog that's suppose to look vicious, but it doesn't and the landlord suddenly pops out of some scrubs at 4:30am in morning to check up on the building. Now that is one very early starter! The quirky and sometimes rather childish acting isn't great, but I didn't find anything particularly wrong with this amateurish bunch who had something of an irredeemably, awkward script on offer. Robert Burns who wrote and directed the film has he moments and a heavy synthesizer score kicks in when it's lively and non-existent when it's not, but I found the project rather unsure and the revelation to it all is nothing you won't figure out after the *beep* hit's the fan.

This unknown little roughie is incredibly lame and quite puerile, but there's a cheap, spaced-out edge that 'few' will like.

ruff.

[EyeAskance · 2 March 2004]

Cheeze-Whiz horror flick is set in a slummy rooming house(with a "Deep Throat" pinball machine!! I hope there are at least a few viewers out there who are able to appreciate the honor of seeing this impossibly rare collector's item). The tenants bicker a lot and play lame practical jokes on each other...these jokes ultimately get out of hand, and one of the bunch ends up dead(along with the resident dog). Soon, another of the tenants begins to have harrowing nightmares of a killer dog, and bodies begin to pile-up. Is there a monster dog on the loose, or is this the work of an unseen madman? The mystery is ultimately resolved in a predictable and unsatisfying conclusion.

MONGREL is a lousy flick which barely registers as "horror", and is so blood and nudity deficient that I think its makers should GIVE ME THAT PINBALL MACHINE as compensation for enduring such valueless drivel...4/10.

Footnote- The Paragon Video release of the VHS for this film features the absolute WORST cover art I have ever seen for any video...it's HILARIOUS!

Play Dead Please!

[Coventry · 2/10 · 30 November 2008]

In a ramshackle Texan boardinghouse, where the imbecilic tenants continuously play pranks on each other, one of the gags runs terribly out of hand and the new arrival kid gets killed. This event is more or less the sole thing that makes a little sense in the entire plot of "Mongrel"; a deservedly rare and unimaginably poor early 80's piece of horror crap that I already regret watching. After the deadly accident, the other tenants start getting killed off as well, and it seemingly all relates to this geeky boy's childhood trauma involving big dogs. Is there a monstrous dog on the loose on the premises (whose growling sounds like a fat 80-year-old farmer with asthma) or is the whole thing just another lousy prank? "Mongrel" is a really, really, really ... REALLY bad movie! The plot doesn't make a lick of sense and, on top of all the incompetence; it's also very boring. The denouement is just absurd and hasn't got that much to see with the events depicted during the first hour of the film. The acting's horrible, the music is atrocious and the art-direction is truly hideous. To end with at least some sort of positive note, the vast majority of the nearly non-existent budget clearly went to the make-up effects.

bad to be good

[makro · 2/10 · 17 February 2000]

The only wrong with this movie is that it's not bad enough to be good. Leave it to Bob Burns' luck to make a film that straddles the genres of good and bad. We guessed the plot within 5 minutes. The PROPS were excellent, however. :)

Unique and offbeat horror film.

[HumanoidOfFlesh · 7/10 · 13 May 2010]

A group of diverse and strange characters are living at a Gothic-looking and rundown boarding house managed by the obnoxious Woody.When Ike's barking dog attacks a garage mechanic Todd Woody kills it.Jerry starts having strange nightmares about dead mongrel.When Ken is electrocuted during unsuccessful prank all hell gets loose."Mongrel" was directed by Robert Burns more known for his atmospheric art and set directions of "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" and "Tourist Trap".The film is well-acted and there is no strong gore and absolutely no nudity.But it has a certain charm and a bunch of unique characters.I enjoyed "Mongrel" and you should also give it a chance.7 out of 10.

A discovery

[BandSAboutMovies · 7/10 · 5 October 2020]

Robert A. Burns was the art director* of films like The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, The Hills Have Eyes, Don't Go Near the Park and The Howling, all movies that feature grimy and cluttered near-chattel houses filled with carnage. Just think of Eddie Quist's apartment or the home of the Sawyer family. Burns' artistic eye made all that happen and this is the one and only film he'd direct** (he also wrote the script).

This film takes place inside a Texas boardinghouse that has the spirit of S.F. Brownrigg hanging heavy over the place. When one of the tenants decides to tease the dog that lives in the basement, he ends up getting bit and the dog is put down. This upsets the quiet editor named Jerry (Terry Evans) who tries to keep his life orderly but keeps getting beaten on by nearly every scumbag that lives in this fleabag rattrap. His only good connections are Sharon, who he shares books with, and the latest renter, a handsome man named Ken. He's attracted to both of them for different reasons, but it seems like Ken is the one who has his heart. However, Jerry isn't fully human - more on that in a bit - and even the slightest attention from people sends him spiraling out of control. It doesn't help that every single other person in this movie is vile, with the worst being Woody (a young Mitch Pileggi).

Jerry was also connected to that dog who died after Toad, one of the more insipid residents, teased its owner Ian about it until the dog gets loose. Jerry also had a major incident where a dog attacked him as a child, so he loses it and Woody guns the mutt down. Our protagonist starts to take on the characteristics of the dog - is he possessed by it? Does he see that he needs its feral nature to augment his shy demeanor? - which gets even worse when a prank goes wrong.

The men are jealous that Ken has just come in and ended up getting the girl of their dreams. So they send him a note that Sharon is waiting for him in bed. He runs to her room, strips and discovers the body of the dead dog dressed in lingerie. Shocked, he falls backward and is electrocuted.

This sends Jerry beyond the edge, his ideal man and the third and perhaps most crucial part of his mental menage a trois relationship deceased, he succumbs to the call of the wild and begins killing everyone one by one, his voice replaced by the raspy, growling sounds of the werewolf (while remaining totally human).

If you're not excited yet, how about the fact that Aldo Ray runs this whole place?

This is a slasher by the end - albeit most of the kills coming off camera, but it has plenty of stalking - but almost seems like a stage play concerning the plight of the human condition within this Texas boardinghouse. It takes a long time to get to where it wants to go, but that doesn't mean it's bad. Quite the contrary, it's a strange piece of filmmaking that would easily find a home in the Vinegar Syndrome re-release catalog.

*Burns also worked on Re-Animator, Mausoleum, Tourist Trap, Play Dead and plenty more movies. It's astounding how many movies he worked on are held in such high regard by me. He was also a noted genealogist and the world's foremost expert on Rondo Hatton. Sadly, he killed himself after finding out he had cancer.

**Burns also made an early found footage movie called Scream Test that remains unreleased.