Richard Kern's Stray Dogs is one fourth of an anthology short film by the name of Manhattan Love Suicides, which is one of the many shorts included on Hardcore Collection: The Films of Richard Kern. Stray Dogs follows a series of grotesque characters, one of them played by David Wojnarowicz, who plays an obsessed fan, who desperately tries to get the attention of an actor he adores. It isn't until he starts literally tearing himself apart does the attention he craves begin to surface.
Stray Dogs is an interesting idea of how far one will go to get the attention of the one they love; it's also one of the most grounded (aka normal) Richard Kern shorts I have yet to see. Its reliance on punk imagery, genitalia, and gruesomeness is stunningly minimal and Kern tries harder to focus on a story rather than an amalgamation of styles and concepts. However, this, in turn, makes for a decidedly less interesting project because we know how wild Kern can be, and here, he seems to be simply holding back on us, refusing to release his inner beast. Wojnarowicz is a performer with a unique appearance and over-the-top acting style, and Kern is clearly experimenting with stricter narrative restraints and even black and white imagery, but ultimately, there's not a great deal here to warrant a recommendation when other Kern shorts like The Bitches, The Sewing Circle, and You Killed Me First desperately need to be seen.
Starring: David Wojnarowicz, William Rice, and Robin Renzi. Directed by: Richard Kern.
