I adored the movie Willow as a kid. We had it on VHS. As with most of the films we owned back in the day, it had been recorded off the TV. I can even remember WILLOW scrawled (by my Dad) on the VHS sticker in red marker pen.
I don’t know how many times I pushed Willow into the video player. Though I do remember the soundtrack of the movie becoming wobbly, the picture becoming ever more distorted and glitchy, and the bright red marker pen title fading until it was hardly readable.
The parts of the movie that have stayed with me most vividly are those featuring the nightmarish Death Dogs.
Death Dogs are ferocious and move in hunting packs. They were bred to hide themselves from woodsmen, warriors, and wizards. They announce their attack with their characteristic gobbling snarl. Their bites that draw blood are septic and cause a lethal infection. Their spittle burns like acid. They are immune to magical wards as they can wriggle through the cracks in the energy fields.
Willow Fandom
A long time has passed since I last watched Willow. Twenty years probably. And in all that time, I’ve never thought to look into what actually played the Death Dogs. But today, my curiosity got the better of me. Well folks, these wonderfully freakish creatures were actually rottweilers wearing rubber masks and fur suits. Well I never!
Celebrating the strange and the shadowy, the damned and unseen 