Monster Dog (1984)

Monster Dog also known as Leviatan, The Bite, and Los Perros de la Muerte, is a 1984 Spanish horror film written and directed by Claudio Fragasso, and starring Alice Cooper, and Victoria Vera. It was filmed in Torrelodones, Spain.

Plot
Alice Cooper plays a pop star who takes his band to his hometown to shoot his latest video. They are greeted by the sheriff (whom he has known since a kid), who warns him that there's been several murders in the area where the bodies were ripped to shreds. The police think it's a pack of wild dogs, but Alice knows different.

Cast

 * Alice Cooper as Vince Raven
 * Victoria Vera as Sandra
 * Carlos Santurio as Frank
 * Pepa Sarsa as Marilou
 * Pepita James as Angela
 * Emilio Linder as Jordan
 * Ricardo Palacios as Sheriff Morrison

Production
Prior to directing Monster Dog, director Claudio Fragasso had been working as a screenwriter since the mid-1970s and by the 1980s often worked with Bruno Mattei on women-in-prison films and gory horror films. While often co-directing films with Mattei uncredited, he moved his work to Spain for his film Monster Dog. Fragasso was contacted by Dutch producer Eduard Salui who had seen the film Rats: Night of Terror which had uncredited co-direction by Fragasso. Salui suggested to make another animal themed film to distribute on the home video market, which led to Fragasso and his wife Rossella Drudi write the script and story that was influenced by the new American horror films An American Werewolf in London and The Howling. Monster Dog was part of a two-film deal with line producer for Carlos Aured, with the other film being The Falling which was shot back-to-back with Monster Dog.

For the cast, Fragasso had Alice Cooper, an American musician noted for his relation to horror and macabre imagery. Cooper spoke about the film in an interview with The Georgia Straight newspaper in 1986, stating that he wanted to do a cheap and sleazy film, stating "They told me it would never get released in the movie houses, and I said, 'Great. It should just be one of those movies you can rent at the video place.' And they said that's what it would be, so I did it ... I got a lot of money for it [laughs]. I think I was the biggest part of the budget." He discussed the film again in 2009 that he took the film right after leaving rehab for his alcoholism to "see if [he] could work sober". Aured spoke positively about working with Cooper, stating that Cooper only gave them two demands: a supply of cold Coca-Cola and a VCR in his room so he could watch old Western films. Aured also stated that Cooper took weekends off from shooting to play golf. Actress Victoria Vera later recalled the film was "wretched and unpleasant, but I had a tremendous time together with Alice; he is a very fabulous and funny person." Fragasso also remembered Cooper fondly, saying "I developed a good working relationship with Cooper ... [he] has a passion for horror movies, and every night we would watch them together as if we were little boys!"

Monster Dog was shot in five weeks in Torrelodones, Spain. Fragasso stated that the special effects caused a lot of delays while filming. The special effects shots were all shot in the last week, this included creating a large puppet head for the monster which broke on the first scene it was used in. This led to the screenwriters to re-write part of the script to make use of the puppet without being able to operate it. Two songs in the film were composed by Spanish arranger and composer Teddy Bautista. Fragasso claimed that Sarlui had edited the film without his permission, stating that about 20 minutes of the film were cut and that "what has circulated on VHS and DVD is not the film that I shot." noting that all the scenes he deemed the best were cut. Fragasso and Drudi made different claims later, still stating that about 20 minutes were cut but that it was edited to be made at a faster pace. The film credits four additional editors.

Trivia

 * Alice Cooper did not dub his own voice for the English language version. Instead his lines were dubbed by Ted Rusoff.
 * A few of the scenes in the film use Dick Maas' music from "The Lift".