Just before my local Hollywood Video closed down (RIP) I went in and and picked up a number of Videos on sale,which appeared to largely be films that have not come out on disc. Despite being taken by clips of his movies in the doc Not Quite Hollywood I for some reason have never got round to seeing a flick from Brian Trenchard- Smith.Sorting out Videos to view for the IMDb Horror boards October Challenge,I found an unwatched Hollywood tape of a Trenchard- Smith's family offering,which led to me letting the atomic dog roam free.The plot:Finding leaks,a nuclear plant is ordered to shut down right away.Refusing to go with his owner,a dog stays as everyone leaves the plant. Over the next year,the dog licks up the nuclear wastes and mutates. Crossing paths with a female dog who has wandered on the plant,the now-mutant dog breeds with it. Returning home,the Yates family find that their loyal dog has returned with puppies. As they meet the puppies,their dog dies.Keeping the puppies,the Yates start to see the dogs act very strangely.View on the film:Working with the "family TV Movie" dog tags,director Brian Trenchard-Smith and cinematographer David Lewis surprisingly show some real white fangs with Ozploitation-style first person tracking shots from the mutant dogs point of view,and the good old boy being having a liking to rip any persons throat out,who tries to keep him apart from the family. Whilst having to shoulder some aw-shucks TV family moments (with Isabella Hofmann and Katie Stuart being welcomed inclusions)the screenplay by Miguel Tejada-Flores grabs the collar for some rather unsettling bites at Horror,which includes killing almost every dog in the film, (sweet dreams kids!) and giving the lead mutant dog a sharp mind which allows for tense traps to be made for the stupid humans,as Cujo Jr wags his tail.

This B-movie, which airs repeatedly on the Sci-Fi Channel, isn't the world's grestest film. But it has a certain camp appeal. The film is part anti-nuclear screed, part "boy loves dog" film, part "Cujo" and part science fiction movie.The film involves the Yates family, who live in a bucolic small town near a nuclear reactor. An old man who works as a security guard there adopts a homeless dog. But when the reactor has a meltdown (which is hushed up by the standard baddies who run the plant), the dog is trapped inside the core and irradiated. Assumed dead, "Atomic Dog" escapes the plant to wreak havoc on the town."Havoc" is a little over-stating the case, however. At first, the dog seems to menace the Yates family and especially young Josh, whose own dog keeps getting lost. But Josh (stupidly? heroically?) befriends Atomic Dog -- even though Atomic Dog has attacked his own pet -- and feeds the glowing beastie. None of this makes sense. It is as if the writer of the film wasn't sure if he wanted a family film or a version of "Cujo." Instead, a weird admixture exists in the film. For teens or younger children, the film has a slight menacing undercurrent (wholly accidental). But for adults, the film is just goofy. It's also unclear exactly why Atomic Dog is monstrous. The dog seems to glow at night, has glowing eyes, and is somewhat stronger than a normal dog. But other than that, it's not much of a menace.Soon, the town authorities, pushed by the evil folk at the nuclear plant (eager to cover up the nuclear monster they created), begin to think Atomic Dog is a horrible terror that will "destroy the town." The Yates try to protect Atomic Dog, helped by their vet and Josh's friend Dwayne (the quite good teen actor Scott Olynek). Lots of time-wasting action occurs, as the town hunts the dog down. The action is so slow-paced and interminable that it's difficult to actually sit through the film.By the end of the film, all's well that ends well. We even get puppies to which the audience is supposed to deliver the requisite "awww!"). There's clearly room for a sequel.Micah Gardner is serviceable as the film's teenage star, Josh Yates, but not outstanding. Daniel Hugh Kelly tries his hardest as the father, Brook Yates, but his acting skills are so limited and poor that his performance is painful to watch. Isabella Hofmann is given little to do except drive the kids to school, make cookies, and look worried. Scott Olynek is the surprise here -- he actually looks effortless and natural as the best friend.There are very few special effects in the film, although the editing, cinematography and production values are fairly top-notch. There's a little violence (mostly dog attacks, which are easily spotted even by children as fake), some crowds with torches, and such.It's a time-waster for adults, but probably might satisfy the middle-school kids.

The only argument for anti-movie fans to use is the inherent crud evident in such films as "Atomic Dog". Never has a more putrid slice of film made it to video, and we see why: a horrible story, surrounded by meaningless characters, an insanely predictable plot, and Christ, some of the worst camera work I have personally ever witnessed. To see this move is a crime; do yourself a favor and look at a brick for 90 minutes...its better than this.

The dogs were not presented as being vicious naturally but by genetic malfunction. The villains in my estimation were the humans who ran the defective Atomic Power Plant and then abandoned it. They took no safety precautions causing a hazard to anyone who came in contact with the Plant. In this case, the innocent dogs were the victims of radiation poisoning. In my opinion, besides family entertainment, this movie also makes a social commentary.