Not an overly baffling picture, not by any standard of complexity. A doozy, to say the least. But slightly entertaining for those who go all the trouble to watch it. Despite being an obvious low-budget, this detail is quickly missed once one is caught up in all the action unravelling at a manor converted into low-rent apartments. The tenants are each a specimen of what humankind has to offer, good or wicked.
The plot kicks in without delay after the opening credits sequence rolls. Ken takes room and board at the house. Shrewd viewers (and even those a little on the slow side) will notice he is the only normal human being in the whole movie. He is normal even according to other movies' criteria. However, there isn't much to his acting role, so his being normal and well adjusted comes off as befitting his required presence in the movie- to set a contrasting backdrop against the other tenants' more glaring personalities. I also guess that, using a character set to look normal during all the camera time he gets, the filmmakers didn't have to bother to look for some real, Hollywood standard actor. Any ordinary human being would do. Maybe that was what they did.
The remainder of the group includes Ike, Turquoise, Sharon, Jerry and Toad. And Woody, the loudmouthed tool most would be cheering for to meet some gruesome demise. He isn't a likeable character by any level of tolerance. Besides being the unofficial manager of the apartment building gone mad he's also charged with collecting the tenants' rent. He does so without giving a receipt confirming the transaction. He seems to take a dislike to Ken after the latter requires proof of having just reimbursed the obligatory cash to crash.
Okay, onwards with the plot. Ken arrives in town looking to find somewhere to stay and elects to do so at this place. The first one he meets is Jerry, a mousy young fellow who kindly shows him his room without sparing a single opportunity to display his shy demeanour. Ken is new in town and befriends him in no time. Jerry in return accepts his company and lays down the unofficial rules to him, which consists of making Ken aware of Woody's annoying antics. The movie then proceeds to highlight Ken's character in detail, so he can get to know the other members of this crumbling society. He does so in quick succession and with little to no action along with it. The movie seemed to go nowhere until Ike's dog (oddly chained near the front door) is shot for mauling Toad. Ken's prattling with Sharon, the object of affection to the males of the film, doesn't strike Ike's fancy so he asks Woody to devise a rather twisted revenge. Woody doesn't like Ken either for not being an utter div. Their idea of revenge is downright childish and at the same time sickening. They unearth the previously slain pooch and place it on Ken's bed. After he finds out he scrambles about to flick on the light bulb, accidentally knocking over a water-holding container that, combined with a badly wired lamp, provides for a suitable close to the already disgusting prank. At least the sound effect was satisfying at this segment.
The rest of the movie is a moot point. His friend's death proves to be too much for Jerry's strained psyche and he is soon over the edge. He starts believing he's a real hound and starts picking off the other tenants after issuing a warning growl just before lunging at his victim. Then the landlord pops by with his trusty shotgun and shoots him quite dead while he's on the verge of making a fiery go at his female target.
This really lacks the sort of allure seen in movies like Alien Prey. Both are low-budget attempts at conveying some kind of message to the audience. Alien Prey had a scant amount of characters, but at least they were appealing to me. I couldn't identify myself with any of the characters in Mongrel. Nor could I commiserate with them.I can't explain exactly why, but apart from Jerry, the characters weren't developed in an intelligent light so their deaths were barely noticeable.
Overall, an interesting movie if you're not too picky. There might not be much to it as far as acting is concerned, but the interactions among the characters are definitely choice stuff. Throw in the fact that the sets are easy to identify with and unpretentious, observing the dictum of simplicity. As homely as movies can get, this is not bad.
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