A maladjusted bull terrier finds the perfect master in a psychotic suburban teenage boy who, when he isn't slapping his hand on thumbtacks to teach himself pain, is busy building a scale replica of Hitler's bunker. Needless to say, the star of this unusual French novelty item is a far cry from Lassie, and the already perverse scenario is made even more strange by maintaining the dog's point of view, with voice-over narration by Baxter himself, a device that could only have worked in a subtitled film. It all adds up to a small cautionary fable about the consequences of neglect and cruelty, to both animals and children, with an implicit critique of fascism summed up by Baxter's last words: "never be obedient". The moral is clear, but the message is mixed, because Baxter's obedience is already selective: his primitive canine instincts can sometimes override his training. But the film certainly has cult potential, and with a concise running time of only 82 minutes it won't likely tax anyone's patience.
