[box cover]  Man Bites Dog: The Criterion Collection  1992's Man
Bites Dog (or in French C'est arrivé pres de chez , which
translates to "It happened in your neighborhood") is a masterful
comedy-turned-social satire that is as funny as it's pitch
black. Done in mock-documentary style, Dog follows the exploits
of a serial killer named Ben (co-director Benoit Poelvoorde),
who has made a life of killing. The film shows his family
(played by Poelvoorde's real-life family members) and his
friends, but perhaps most importantly how Ben goes about his
routine to finance his life and tastes through homicide. Yet the
more time the film crew — led by their director Rémy (co-
director Rémy Belvaux) — spend with him, the more they become
complicit in Ben's crimes, as Ben finances the project that
accidentally keeps killing off the sound men. When it was
released stateside, Man Bites Dog made a splash due to its
shocking depictions of violence, but like any good black comedy,
it has to be unflinching to have purpose, or be