‘The Pack’ (1977) Blu-Ray Review – A Visceral Tale Of Man’s Best Friend Going Bad

Man’s best friend becomes his worst nightmare when a horde of bloodthirsty wild dogs descends upon a family’s farmhouse. In a remote stretch of the Australian Outback, a sheep rancher (Jack Campbell), his veterinarian wife (Anna Lise Phillips), and their two teenage children live in bucolic isolation — until a horrifying night when a pack of fang-baring, four-legged, rabid beasts besiege their home. With no one around to help them, the family must band together to survive — or else become canine kibble. Generating a steadily mounting sense of dread, The Pack cleverly toys with genre conventions before it goes in for the kill.

For thoughts on The Pack, please check out our discussion on The Video Attic: 

[youtube https://youtu.be/aZzGzUFbAHY?si=Gz6ryHh334aj3iRA&t=1175]

Video Quality

The Pack comes to Blu-Ray with a digital AVC encoded 1080p transfer derived from a new 2K scan of the best surviving film element, which is a Color Reversal Intermediate. Scream Factory has brought this overlooked genre picture and given it rich new life that fans will appreciate. Print damage has been cleaned up to a nearly imperceptible level with any fleeting blemishes easy to miss. The transfer retains the natural film grain of the source without any hints of digital manipulation to smooth over the details. The grain is organic rather than overwhelmingly noisy or clumpy, allowing for greater nuance to the image. 

Colors are well saturated with bold hues popping off the screen when it comes to foliage and articles of clothing. Black levels are fairly deep and hold up well with crush not serving as a monumental issue. Clarity and detail are a sight to behold with some of the gruesome special effects quite visceral in closeup. There are also the traditional elements such as items in the production design showing up more clearly. Skin tones appear to be natural and consistent across the ensemble. Scream Factory has once again delivered something worthy of praise.  

Audio Quality

This Blu-Ray presents the film with a DTS-HD 2.0 Master Audio mono track in its original English audio which sounds very pleasing. When we rediscover many of these overlooked gems from the era, we are often met with source deficiencies that make the experience less than ideal. Luckily, this one seems to be in pretty good shape. One of the more formidable elements of this soundscape is the environmental effects, namely the intense barking of the dogs. The intensity of this alone is enough to put you on edge and have you gripping your seat, and it never devolves into a sonic swirl. Dialogue likewise comes through clearly without any signs of crackling or sibilance. The score from Lee Holdridge showcases a robust fidelity while avoiding age-related wear and tear at the highest amplitudes. Scream Factory has handled this one with great care. There are optional English SDH subtitles provided.

Special Features

• Audio Commentary: Film Historian/Author Lee Gambin provides a really great commentary track in which he shares his great love for the film, provides anecdotes he has gathered from the cast and creative team over the years, explores the themes of the pictures, gives background details about the production, and more. 

• Snarling and Sweet – Hope Alexander Remembers The Pack: A new eight-minute on-camera interview with the actress who discusses her surprise at landing this role, acting alongside Joe Don Baker, the direction of Robert Clouse, the work of the dog trainers, the injuries she sustained (not from the dogs), her love of the dogs, and more. 

• Activism and Acting – Sherry DeBoer Ponders The Pack: A new 23-minute audio interview with the actress in which she starts off by saying how much she didn’t like the movie and wishes she didn’t do it. Lee Gambin conducts this interview which gets a lot of information about her experiences on the film, but it is unusual that you get to hear such a blatantly negative take from a performer. 

• The Extra Mile – Thomas Lofaro Looks Back On The Pack: A new 23-minute audio interview with the first assistant director who discusses his experiences on set, his memories of Robert Clouse, his thoughts on the dog trainer, the shooting locations, and much more that gives great insight into the making of this film. 

• Notes On Paper – Lee Holdridge Remembers The Pack: A new 20-minute audio interview with the composer in which he discusses his work on The Pack, what he wanted to accomplish with the film, developing the sound for specific moments, how this score compares to some of his other work and more. 

• The Pack Preview Clip: A three-minute clip that weaves in elements of the opening scenes is provided here in standard definition. 

• Theatrical Trailer: The minute-and-a-half-long trailer is provided here. 

• Image Gallery: A six-minute collection of stills and promotional materials are provided here. 

Final Thoughts

The Pack is a visceral, upsetting experience that succeeds in horrifying you pretty consistently, which is not always the easiest feat for a horror film. The movie clips along at a brisk pace while giving you enough information to invest in the characters a necessary amount. The performances of these dogs will haunt your dreams, but it is made palatable knowing that (by all accounts) they were treated very well by their trainer and not put in any real danger. The movie does not offer up any real big subversions of the subgenre, but it pretty much perfects the structure with this outing. Scream Factory has delivered a Blu-Ray featuring a great A/V presentation and some terrific new special features. If you are a fan of animal attack movies, this is one of the best. Highly Recommended

The Pack is currently available to purchase on Blu-Ray.

Note: Images presented in this review are not reflective of the image quality of the Blu-Ray.

Disclaimer: Scream Factory has supplied a copy of this set free of charge for review purposes. All opinions in this review are the honest reactions of the author.