Trailer for Dakota Fanning’s “Rape Movie” Hounddog

Coming out of 2007’s Sundance film festival, there were a few films with a whole load of buzz. Once, Manda Bala, No End in Sight, Grace is Gone, Teeth and Joshua among others, all managed to get some attention regardless of whether they were good or bad but one film crossed from attention to infamy: Hounddog.

Sadly, until seeing the trailer, the only thing I knew about the film was that it was dubbed “the Dakota Fanning rape movie” because of one scene where Fanning, who was 12 at the time, was raped. Though the majority of critics panned the movie, general consensus was that Fanning’s performance is solid in an otherwise bland film and when it didn’t release in 2007 or until this point in 2008, I figured we were never going to see it outside of a direct to DVD release but it looks like Empire is going to try to squeeze whatever money it can out of the production.

The film itself is a period piece set in the American South at the time of the rise of Elvis Presley. It tells the story of Lewellen (Fanning), a young girl who finds shelter from her troubled life in the music of the time. Unsurprisingly, the one thing that really stands out in the trailer is Fanning’s performance and notably her singing. If that’s really Fanning singing, and from what I can find that is her voice, the girl should be doing musicals. Aside from that, the trailer looks, as previously criticized, bland.

Hounddog is scheduled to open in limited release on September 5th.

Trailer, care of Film Junk, is tucked under the seat.