Dog Soldiers
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Movie Reviews of Dog Soldiers
Movie Review: Come and Have a Go if You Think You're Hard Enough
Summary: 5 Stars
`You're behind me, aren't you.'
A young couple are camping wild in the Scottish Highlands when something scary and snarling breaks into their tent and eats them. Locally it's a bit of a mystery but HM Forces special weapons division (that's presumably approximately the same types who give Sigourney Weaver so much grief in the `Alien' films) have their sources. They know it's werewolves and they want one. SO they send in a special forces unit. They also send in a platoon of regular expendable low grade squaddies to act as bait, primed with the usual tosh about it all being an exercise. Needless to say its special forces who get eaten more or less straight away leaving us with a straight squaddies versus werewolves showdown. After a brilliant battlescene in the woods they are rescued by a woman in a landrover and taken off to the glen's only farmhouse. The nearest town, they are told, is Fort William which is four hours drive away. (Anal observation: as a look at a map of Scotland will confirm, this is geographically impossible and there is nowhere that matches that description unless you drive very slowly indeed. But never mind.) The farm's inhabitant's are unaccountably not at home, all except their nice doggie. The sergeant (Sean Pertwee who steals the movie) has had his insides ripped out by a werewolf but all is not lost as they have adequate supplies of whisky and superglue.
What follows is a classic siege movie directly in the tradition of `Rio Bravo', `Night of the Living Dead' and `Assault on Precinct 13'. And it's as good as any of these, an absolute triumph, the best British horror movie in ages and one of the very best werewolf movies there is. Indeed it's not just a great horror movie but a great action movie too. It was clearly made on a budget of almost nothing with no big name actors and shamelessly weak special effects. No cgi here, the werewolves are just guys dressed up in not very convincing wolf suits but the direction, acting and extremely witty writing are so good it doesn't matter in the least. The low budget indeed is turned to the film's advantage as it comes over feeling gritty and real, where thematically comparable Hollywood explosion fests seem, in comparison, smooth, soulless and anodyne (as indeed they typically are.)
`We are now up against live, hostile targets. So if Little Red Riding Hood should show up with a bazooka and a bad attitude, I expect you to tin the bitch.'
It's really altogether fantastic. See it.
Movie Review: You Don't Need Millions of Dollars...
Summary: 5 Stars
I've always liked horror movies. I always found werewolves to be the scariest of all, and whenever I get the chance, I'll watch a werewolf flick. This was my latest 'wolf catch, and it held its own against the bloated multimillion dollar flicks Hollywood's s*itting out these days.Would I call it a B-Movie? No. B-Movies usually suck. This movie did not suck, and unlike most B-Movies, the actors could actually act. It disappoints me that not at least one of them has gotten big.
But now for the plot. A group of Scottish troops are dropped off in the woods for a training mission, and are first spooked when a huge bloody cow falls (seemingly) from the sky, right in the middle of them. They then take extra precaution as they walk about the woods, and eventually run into a small area filled with organs and blood. A half dead soldier with slash marks in his chest and repeatidly tells them "there was only supposed to be one". Of course, none of the soliders know what he's talking about, and carry on, not minding the fact that "it gets dark in half in hour". But when it gets dark, well...you'll have to watch it yourself.
The werewolves in this movie do look believable. Each is about 8 foot tall, which is the only part about them I didn't like. I human-sized werewolves more...it just adds to the creepiness of the half man/half wolf thing. But, as I was saying, the werewolves aren't super real looking, but I'd run my ass out of the woods if I saw one in there.
This is quite a gory little movie. Not the goriest I've ever seen, but it still is bloody. Organs spill out, arms are ripped off, devouring, etc. And it all looks pretty real, too, except for the part the werewolf claws the guy and his chest is open, exposing all his organs. And it was also a little unbelievable how his friend just shoved his organs back in his chest, threw him over his back, and he was OK. That's my only complaint. And don't get the wrong idea that the whole point of this movie is gore; unlike the new "Texas Chainsaw Massacre", there is a sense of dread and foreboding that builds up while a solider makes his way upstairs in an old abandoned house. The gore is just a bonus.
So, if you want a revolutionay movie, don't see this. But if you're sick of all the bloated Hollywood bulls*it, check out this gory little romp. It's really quite enjoyable.
Movie Review: "Up until today you believed there was a line between myth and reality..."
Summary: 5 Stars
In a world where there just aren't enough good old-fashioned werewolf flicks around, this little entry from Neil Marshall acquits itself as one of the true standouts.
I first saw this on the Sci-Fi channel a couple of years ago, and I absolutely loved it, so finally being able to see it in it's unedited form on DVD was a joy.
From the opening sequence, it's obviously a werewolf film; however, it's setting and clever, witty writing set it apart from so many others; only 'The Howling' and 'An American Werewolf in London', in my opinion, share such depth and enjoyment in their composure. Comparisons to both 'Predator' and 'Aliens' are accurate in a lot of respects, but this film was by far original enough to stand alone without being a rip off of either of those movies.
For an independent film, it's production values are stellar, as is the acting. I spent a good bit of time around British soldiers in the Gulf War, and watching this film was like being back there again, and each of the actors played his part efficiently and convincingly. Sean Pertwee, as always, performed his role to the hilt, completely believable in both his command capacity and his compassion for those under his command; Kevin McKidd was perfect in the part of the killing machine with a conscience; Liam Cunningham was both sophisticated and suitably grimy as the secretive black-ops commander; and the rest of the ensemble cast played off of each other remarkably well. As a veteran, I can tell you that it was an accurate portrayal of a combat unit under duress.
Add to all of this wonderful practical special effects (the werewolves are some of the scariest I've seen, and the gore is plentiful without being ridiculous), smart, snappy dialogue that pays homage to a great deal of pop culture, and the foreboding, misty forests of Scotland, and you have a werewolf feature that should impress anyone.
The particular release that I purchased has no special features whatsoever, but for a low-budget outing it has very good picture and sound, albeit a little grainy in both areas.
Highly recommended to fans of werewolves, 'last-stand' pictures, and horror films in general, particularly of the independent variety.
Movie Review: British Army Meets "The Werewolves"!
Summary: 5 Stars
"Dog Soldiers" (2002) is an extraordinary class B film! As good as those mythical "B-Class" from the Forties and Fifties I used to enjoy in chilling (yet hot summer afternoons) when I was a kid.
This film has everything to fulfill its target: decent storyline, solid acting from little known actors, some gallons of blood & entrails disseminated all the way long, giant werewolves and a full moon night.
What else do you need? Ah yes, a good director who enjoys the genre. Well Neil Marshall is just THAT kind of director.
The story is quite simple. A British Army patrol is sent into a training mission where they should outsmart a SAS patrol in a Scottish Wilderness landscape.
Sgt. H. G. Wells (sic) is the leader and Pvt. Cooper is the tough man of the outfit. This last almost succeed to enter the SAS, but he failed as he refuses to kill a dog gratuitously (you should never refuse to do that if you want to be an SS member. Remember?).
They find the SAS outfit... obliterated to small red morsels. Only the commanding officer has barely survived with deep wounds.
Now, guess what... yes the officer is the one that rejected Cooper. Sgt. Wells immediately realizes that they are in deep problems and try to fly.
Too late! The Werewolves are there! They barely escape thanks to Megan's aid. She is a biologist that has studied the Wolfies. She led the fleeing soldiers to an isolated farm.
The Wolves burn their car and the farm turns into a British Alamo or a Rorke's Drift Mission as Pvt. Spoon point out.
Well the fact is they should try to survive until dawn and the howling crowd will try to have them for dinners.
So that's THAT, enough to have a rough gory two hours pastime.
Play acting is real good with Sean Pertwee as Sgt. Wells very believable and accurate. Scotsman Kevin McKidd as Pvt. Cooper gives his best. The rest of the cast is equally fine.
Director Neil Marshall shows to have a good hand for this kind of stuff and delivers a solid film.
It is a very good horror movie for genre fans!
Reviewed by Max Yofre.
Movie Review: Howl at this Moon
Summary: 5 Stars
I saw Neil Marshall's film "The Descent" in the theatres recently and loved it, and of course I wondered what other movies this man had done. I found Dog Soldiers his "soldier movie with werewolves, not a werewolf movie with soldiers" Starring Sean Pertree as Sgt wells, Kevin McKidd as Cooper, Emma Cleasby as Megan and Liam Cunningham as Capt. Ryan.
In a behind the scenes interview Neil explains that he wanted the creatures not to be computer generated because you get better reactions out of the actors, and the audience isn't looking at the computer effects with a "wow that looks good/bad" therefore taking themselves out of the story and doing it disservice. While "the descent" was horrifyingly gory and edge of your seat terror, this movie was more like a horror action comedy where you are just rooting for the soldiers to blow the puppies off the screen. Parts of it are bloody and visceral, some are creepy and dark, and some are just full of action and well done fight scenes. We don't get a sympathetic sideline for the creatures, but we do get awesome character development on the soldier's part, Especially for Cooper and Capt. Ryan.
The location, Scotland, and the fact that they are so isolated is beautifully represented. The werewolves themselves are an amalgam of what has been done right in former werewolf movies, to me they have a strong similarity to the Lycans in Underworld and the werewolf from Stephen kings Silver Bullet. Marshall shows that he actually cares about telling a story, AND giving us plenty of eye candy and stimulation for the brain. I think the standout role had to be Sean Pertwees Sgt Wells, who was a tough but admirable and respected leader, and we get to agonize over his predicament while wanting him to survive against the odds. Kevin McKidd is also amazing as Cooper and seeing him take control, lead his brothers in arms, and face evil gave the watcher a good sense of "full circle".
So I recommend this film, and cannot wait to see more of Marshall's genius on the screen.