Overview
Two dogs on the run discover the wild and the dangers that come with freedom.
Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Measured
- Intensity
- Strong
- Complexity
- Layered
- Violence
- Moderate
- bleak
- harrowing
- melancholic
- thought-provoking viewing
- animal welfare discussion
What critics said
Critics broadly regard the film as a visually inventive and emotionally powerful adult animation, though its grim story and limited release have kept its reception from being uniformly enthusiastic.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
The film presents laboratory abuse, fear, persecution, and survival trauma through a serious animated feature aimed beyond children.
The laboratory director attempts to conceal the dogs' escape while rumors about plague carriers spread through official and public channels.
Snitter and Rowf flee a research laboratory but continue to bear the physical and psychological consequences of animal testing.
The film varies scenery and camera angles imaginatively while rendering the dogs' laboratory and countryside ordeal with unusually grounded detail.
Films like The Plague Dogs, and why
Watership Down
shared adult animation, animal protagonists, bleak survival drama, and social critique
When the Wind Blows
shared emotionally intense animated drama, endangered animal characters, and environmental themes
Animal Farm
shared dark animated storytelling, political allegory, and distressing atmosphere beneath an ostensibly accessible form
The Call of the Wild
shared wilderness survival, hunted protagonists, and melancholic moral seriousness
Movie Details
- Director
- Martin Rosen
- Release Date
- 1982-10-01
- Runtime
- 103 min
- Rating
- 7.8 / 10 (310)
Cast
- John Hurt
- Christopher Benjamin
- James Bolam
- Nigel Hawthorne
- Warren Mitchell
- Judy Geeson
- Patrick Stewart
- Brian Stirner
- Penelope Lee
- Geoffrey Matthews
Where to watch in United States
- Streaming
- Philo, Fandor, Fandor Amazon Channel, Shout! Factory Amazon Channel, Cineverse Amazon Channel
- Rent
- Apple TV Store, Fandango At Home
- Buy
- Apple TV Store, Fandango At Home
Streaming options come from TMDB and change over time.
Common questions
- What is The Plague Dogs about?
- Two traumatized laboratory dogs and their fox companion struggle for freedom in a hostile countryside shaped by fear, rumor, and human cruelty.
- What is The Plague Dogs like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of The Plague Dogs as measured, its intensity as strong and its storytelling as layered.
- Is The Plague Dogs violent?
- Somewhat. Ember rates the violence in The Plague Dogs as moderate.
- What did critics think of The Plague Dogs?
- Critics broadly regard the film as a visually inventive and emotionally powerful adult animation, though its grim story and limited release have kept its reception from being uniformly enthusiastic.
- Which films are like The Plague Dogs?
- Films with a similar feel include Watership Down, When the Wind Blows, Animal Farm, and The Call of the Wild.
- How long is The Plague Dogs?
- The Plague Dogs runs 103 minutes.
- Where can I watch The Plague Dogs?
- In United States, The Plague Dogs streams on Philo, Fandor, Fandor Amazon Channel, Shout! Factory Amazon Channel, Cineverse Amazon Channel.
