A Dog Called Vengeance Blu-ray Review

Estimated reading time: 6 minutes

A Dog Called… Vengeance came under two years after the end of the right-wing fascist Franco regime in Spain and the film itself unleashes on a fascist dictatorship on Latin America, an obvious stand-in for the Franco regime and the American imperialism that helped prop it and the Latin American regimes up.

Best Supporting Actor Oscar nominee and Pulitzer Prize winning playwright Jason Miller (The Exorcist) plays political prisoner Aristides “Ari” Ungria who manages do escape the brutal prison dissidents and hardened criminals alike are sent by the dictator known as “The Dog,”. When Ari manages to escape during an accident with one of the transport vehicles, he is pursued, ironically, by a German Sheppard, trained to hunt and kill, “the dog.” The dog relentlessly pursues pursues Ari, even after its handler is killed, even when Ari gets away to the city, even when Ari feels like he has finally found freedom.

There are multiple layers to this film and the first two acts are where the action is most intense, but it does begin to lose focus around the third act, sometime around a turning point where Ari could have beat this dog to death but, for some odd reason, stops before he kills it, and runs away. Then the film shift to Ari’s involvement with guerrillas and dissidents working to bring down The Dog. The politics are a bit fuzzy, but the metaphors are on the nose, with inserts of agitprop posters with slogans from The Dog’s regime inserted throughout the film. These become more prominent as the film enters its third act. Lea Massari (L’Avventura) and Goya Award winners Marisa Paredes (High Heels) and Juan Antonio Bardem (The Corruption of Chris Miller) also star in the film.

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The Video

A Dog Called Vengeance was scanned in 2K from the original camera negative and brought to Blu-ray in a 1.66:1 AVC 1080p encodement from Severin. This is solid transfer with natural colors, accurate flesh tones, and a thin, basically consistent layer of grain straight through, only showing some heightened grain and noise in places one would expect like slow motion shots, special effects where some dupes were used, and so on. The detail is crisp, especially in the multitude of brightly lit, sunny scenes.

The Audio

The original Spanish mono and English mono mixes are included in DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0. Neither mix sounds dynamic and there is audible clipping, but they still get the job done.

The Supplements

An audio commentary would have been a nice inclusion, but the three interviews offer a lot of insight into the film and filmmaker. The trailer is also included.

Bonus Features:

• A Film Ahead of Its Time: Appreciation by Ángel Sala, Head of Programming at the Sitges Film Festival (1080p; 00:14:18)
• Memories of a Guerilla Woman: Interview with Actress Marisa Paredes (1080p; 00:20:57)
• Daughter of Titans: Interview with María Isasi, Daughter of Director Antonio Isasi and Actress Marisa Paredes (1080p; 00:13:19)
• Trailer (1080p; 00:02:36)

The Final Assessment

This is a brutal, often edge of the seat and politically charged film that is a good look at the explosion of artistic freedom in the immediate aftermath of the end of the Franco regime in Spain. Severin’s transfer looks excellent, though admittedly, I cannot compare it to any other releases, which is the case with a lot of these early post-Franco Spanish films only now starting to re-emerge.

A Dog Called… Vengeance is out on Blu-ray from Severin Films

Purchase A Dog Called… Vengeance (Special Edition) on Amazon.com

• Rating Certificate: Not Rated
• Studios & Distributors: Deva Cinematografica | Severin Films
• Director: Antonio Isasi-Isasmendi
• Written By: Juan Antonio Porto | Antonio Isasi-Isasmendi | Alberto Vázquez Figueroa
• Run Time: 115 Mins.
• Aspect Ratio: 1.66:1
• Video Format: AVC 1080p
• Primary Audio: Spanish DTS-HD MA 2.0 Mono
• Secondary Audio: English DTS-HD MA 2.0 Mono
• Subtitles: English for Spanish Audio | English SDH for English Audio