Man Bites Dog

By Jimmy Squarejaw

www.facebook.com/yallaredead
www.yallaredead.com

“People to whom sin is just a matter of words, to them salvation is just words too.”

-William “Billy Boy” Faulkner

A movie made as a social commentary that can evoke acute positive and negative reactions from its audience has succeeded in it’s purpose, but a film that can make you question your own conclusions and forces you to reexamine your ideals is special and doesn’t happen often enough.  MAN BITES DOG is one of those films.  There are so many moments in this movie that draw you in and at the same time repel you it’s almost intoxicating and definitely requires a second, third, and fourth watch. 

MAN BITES DOG is a Belgian flick about a student film crew making a documentary about an charismatic serial killer named Ben as he kills the living shit out of people.  Ben is witty, funny, and generally likable and we even get to meet his family, friends, and a few of his special ladies.  Behind his likable demeanor Ben’s heart beats the abysmal black oil of evil and as quickly as you are swept away in his charm you are also horrified by his sociopathic qualities, blatant racism, and modus operandi for killing to make a living.  His character holds true to a lot of charismatic but psychotic people (David Beckham, Lance Armstrong, Ted Bundy) who have the ability to charm the pants off you and draw you into their world where you are eventually broken down and left.  Benoit Poelvoorde does a brilliant job portraying Ben and truly makes him dynamic.  In my opinion more so than any other killer in a movie I have ever seen.  Really, fucking try me……..well maybe Harry Connick Jr. in COPYCAT was better.

One of the main themes in MAN BITES DOG is dedication to your craft.  The filmmakers in MAN BITES DOG are willing to witness repeated homicidal activity and subject themselves to an incredibly dangerous environment to finish their film, even taking money from Ben to buy film that they know he has killed people for.  Ben is also a consummate professional who has his own convictions about his craft of murdering people.   At first the film crew and Ben are separate entities but then they blend together into a symbiotic wrecking ball that results in numerous people being killed and mental breakdowns on all fronts.  One scene in particular where the crew and Ben get totally shithouse drunk ends in a gruesome spectacle that rivals any blacked out night I’ve ever had…….so far.    

Made on almost no budget the real life student filmmakers, that includes lead actor Poelvoorde, who made MAN BITES DOG made the absolute most out of what they had: no budget, an intriguing story, and a boisterous leading man.  The result is a film classic that holds up today I’m sure just as much as it did when it came out.  MAN BITES DOG is funny, dark, creepy, violent, and engaging and should be seen by everyone including children, republicans, and the elderly.  And hell, it's practically a snuff movie, it's a full circle folks.  

Blake and Jimmy’s Extreme-O-Gauge!

Violence/Gore: 4 out of 5, a lot of indiscriminate killing and a little bit of gore.

Rape: 3 out of 5, it was a gang rape folks.

Animal Death: 0 out of 0

Necrophilia: 0 out of 0, as far as I know the gang rape ended antemortem.

Torture: 1 out of 5, not really any torture but the gang rape and scaring an old women.

Overall Movie: 5 out of 5, watch this immediately.