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Who’s a Good Boy? They Are! The Top 10 Best Dogs of Horror

These are the horror pups that totally deserve a t-r-e-a-t.
Best Dogs In Horror Movies
By  · Published on October 19th, 2022

5. Sarii from Prey (2022)

Sarri Prey

The moment I realized there was a dog in Prey, I got very nervous. A movie about a big game hunter that travels throughout space looking for something to hunt? Surely he’d make quick work of a dog. Fortunately, that was not the case with Sarii, Naru’s faithful companion throughout the film. Sarii does have a few close calls, including getting her tail caught in a bear trap. But thankfully, Naru saves the day, setting the stage for Sarii to play a pivotal role in the film’s climactic battle.

What truly makes Sarii special, however, is the sweet girl that plays her: Coco. Coco is a breed of wild dog that had no prior acting experience. She was adopted specifically for the film, and they trained her as they went. Coco learned quickly, delivering an award-worthy performance that should surely put her in the running for doggo of the year. [Editor’s note: while the rest of this year’s lists avoided recency bias by excluding films released in 2022, we had to make an exception here for obvious reasons.] (Chris Coffel)


4. Thor from Bad Moon (1996)

Bad Moon Thor

No dog on this list can boast the acts of heroism that Thor can. Thor literally does everything in his doggy power to warn his owners (a mom-son duo) that weird uncle Ted is a werewolf. Thor is basically a furry Nancy Drew, sniffing out clues, putting the pieces of the puzzle together, and letting his prime suspect know in no uncertain terms that he’s got his number. This pooch is smart, curious, and loyal; he sacrifices himself for his not-quite-as-bright humans multiple times. Heck, he even goes to dog jail at one point.

Suffice it to say: Thor is this film’s protagonist. I mean, in the novel on which Bad Moon is based, the story is literally told from Thor’s perspective. The movie cowardly doesn’t go so far, but Primo (Thor’s canine thespian) cannot help but steal the spotlight. You’re a hero Thor. May your doggy dish always be full. (Meg Shields)


3. Beast from The Hills Have Eyes (both)

The Hills Have Eyes Beast

Very few horror movies feature dogs with the same level of agency that Beast has across The Hills Have Eyes franchise. While the central Carter family fights to survive, Beast (portrayed by the aptly named Striker) is arguably driven by revenge after his female companion Beauty is murdered by a clan of cannibals in the original film. This leads Beast to deliver a high body count, ripping out the throat of one cannibal while pushing another off of a cliff before doing the exact same thing in The Hills Have Eyes Part II.

How does that happen? Because our good boy’s agency reaches its peak in the sequel when he has a flashback to the action of the first film, leading him to knock off Pluto (Michael Berryman) in a similar fashion to how he knocked off Mercury (Peter Locke) years before. If there is one good boy we’d all want at our side in a battle with hungry desert cannibals, it’s Beast. (Jacob Trussell)


2. Blood from A Boy and His Dog (1975)

Blood A Boy And His Dog

Harlan Ellison is one of my favorite writers. And while he saw numerous adaptations of his work hit the big and small screen, he was rarely pleased with any of them. I, however, think A Boy and His Dog is a winner. Don Johnson plays the titular boy in a post-apocalyptic world, who, along with a telepathic dog named Blood – played by Tiger, voiced by Tim McIntire – spends his days scavenging for things to eat and people to fuck. It’s not sugar-coated. It’s the damn apocalypse. Blood is the voice of reason, but he’s also a sassy bastard. The film’s ending sees the boy forced to make a choice between Blood and the girl who’s dedicated her life and body to him. And he chooses wisely, leading to one final quip by the mutt ending the film on the darkest of laughs. Good boy. (Rob Hunter)


1. Gonk from Elvira: Mistress of the Dark (1988)

Gonk Elvira

You have a new god now, and his name is Gonk. Portrayed by Binnie the poodle, this mischievous pink-dyed pup accompanies Elvira (Cassandra Peterson) in her eponymous 1988 feature film, identifying clues, biting baddies, and begrudgingly helping the Mistress of the Dark avoid being burned at the stake. Because Elvira is an icon, she’s also pro-adopt don’t shop (hooray!), inheriting the feisty little pooch from her deceased aunt Morgana (and wisely altering his culturally insensitive full name of Algonquin to something less, uh, racist).

As Peterson told Arrow Video for the film’s re-release in 2018, “Gonk was a really mean little bastard! I mean, I love dogs, I love animals, and every time I’m doing a scene with him, I wasn’t really sure if he was just gonna bite my hand off if I pet him.” As Binnie’s trainer specifies in the 1988 press release, the little poodle has a very particular set of skills: “when a part calls for a small dog to be aggressive, he always gets the part… one drawback is that he’s done so many leg attacks that sometimes, not even waiting for his cue, he’ll go for someone’s leg.” Punk’s not dead. It’s just a mini poodle named Gonk. (Meg Shields)


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Based in the Pacific North West, Meg enjoys long scrambles on cliff faces and cozying up with a good piece of 1960s eurotrash. As a senior contributor at FSR, Meg's objective is to spread the good word about the best of sleaze, genre, and practical effects.