BAXTER (1989)

He'll Love You to Death! Baxter, a sociopathic bull terrier, stars in this chilling French horror film that blends thrills and black comedy into a truly original tale. The inner thoughts of the brooding Baxter reveal that he is quite unhappy with his situation-living with an elderly woman (French screen legend Lise Delamare, the star of the Jean Renoir classic, La Marseillaise) who is afraid of him. In search of his ideal master, he successfully plots how to do away with her-and attempts a similar plan when he becomes dissatisfied with his next owner. It's not long before the ingenious Baxter finds the perfect guardian-a lonely, introverted boy whose macabre interest in Hitler's personal life helps turn the all-too-willing canine into a thoroughbred killing machine. Top critic Vincent Canby (The New York Times) called Baxter One of the Best Films of the Year.