Dog Soldiers
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Movie Reviews of Dog Soldiers
Movie Review: THIS IS THE BEST WEREWOLF MOVIE EVER MADE. THE WEREWOLVES THEMSELVES ARE INCREDIBLE. VERY WELL DONE. NEED A DOG SOLDIERS 2
Summary: 5 Stars
THIS IS THE BEST WEREWOLF MOVIE EVER MADE. THE WEREWOLVES THEMSELVES ARE INCREDIBLE. VERY WELL DONE. NEED A DOG SOLDIERS 2Movie Review: A training exercise for a squad of soldiers becomes a running battle with werewolves
Summary: 4 Stars
A couple are out enjoying the romantic seclusion of a tent in the Scottish Highlands when a werewolf interrupts their love making. Meanwhile, in another part of those woods Private Cooper (Kevin McKidd) is proving to Captain Ryan (Liam Cunningham) that he does not have what it takes to be part of Ryan's elite special operations force. The bone of contention is being ordered to shoot a dog just because Ryan says so. Ryan accuses Cooper of having a conscience, as if this is a bad thing in a military man. But Cooper washes out and ends up back in the area some time later with the other members of his squad, under the command of Sgt. Wells (Sean Pertwee). Around the campfire they hear about the local stories about people disappearing in the woods and never being found, which engenders a round of "ooohs" and "aahs." Then they find Ryan's squad ripped to itsey bitsey pieces and the Captain just about over the edge and the hunt is on. As this 2002's tagline tells us: "Six soldiers. Full moon. No chance."
Well, that is not exactly true. Once the squad finds Ryan they are up to seven and then there is Megan (Emma Cleasby), a scientist whose function is more as the mistress of exposition than as a damsel in distress. In other words, she is the one who knows that there is a pack of lycanthropes (werewolves to ordinary folk) out there hunting the soldiers and has a good explanation for why they are holed up in a house without any silver in it. Apparently the full moon matters even when the sun is up, and there are very few films of this type where it is literally true that nobody has a chance of getting out alive. After all, Cooper has a few things to prove to Ryan before everybody ends up dead (although it is so strange to see McKidd look so talk after watching Titus Pullo tower over Lucius Vorenus all the time on "Rome").
Werewolf movies often come down to how well you like the werewolves once you actually see them and get a good look at them, assuming this happens, and in "Dog Soldiers" writer-director Neil Marshall ("The Descent") makes sure that happens. Just keep in mind that this is a fairly low budget film and that Marshall was determined not to rely on CGI to make the werewolves work, because by those standards I think they exceed expectations. Another thing that this movie does is avoid talking about werewolf movies, although everything from the "Kobiashi Maru" to the defense of Roark's Drift depicted in "Zulu" make there was into the pop culture references scattered throughout the film. I really have not gotten to the point where I can cite a specific movie as being a really great werewolf film, and while "Dog Soldiers" is not great, I still think it is really good.
My only real complaint is that things slow down a bit too much once they get to the house in the woods, because I really liked the whole idea of having a fire fight while retreating through the woods. The appeal to me here is the whole idea of doing "Aliens" with werewolves as opposed to being trapped in the building and doing "The Night of the Living Dead" with werewolves (Yes, I know there is a point in "Aliens" where they are trapped as well, but that gets back to beating a hasty retreat and then a rescue mission, so I feel I can stand by my analogies). When soldiers are the cornered rats instead of ordinary civilians, I would expect there to be some more significant differences. Oh, and bonus points to Spoon (Darren Morfitt) for coming up with a really great line to say to a werewolf that is about to kill you and in case you really need to know the results of match, England beat Germany 5-1.
Movie Review: A real horror movie find...scary, bloody, and well-acted
Summary: 4 Stars
Usually straight-to-DVD films are junk, but there are some surprises out there, and this is one of them. A British horror/action film that was never released theatrically in the U.S., and starring faces mostly unfamiliar to American viewers, "Dog Soldiers" is an exciting, well-written and well acted horror flick with no pretensions. It's actually a much better film than some the recent indie horror flicks that received a lot of critical praise, like "28 Days Later" and "Cabin Fever." For horror and action fans, you can't miss this one."Dog Soldiers" is essentially a mixture of "Southern Comfort" and "The Warriors" with werewolves: a military unit finds itself trapped in a wilderness, surrounding by merciless foes -- who in this case happen to be huge two-legged wolves. The film also borrows heavily from many other movies: "Alien," "Aliens," "Predator," "The Night of the Living Dead," "The Birds," "Zulu" (the characters even make direct mention of the film), "The Balir Witch Project," and "Straw Dogs."
The plot follows a British squad on a training exercise in the Scottish Highlands (actually filmed in Luxembourg). The squad comes across their target, a Special Ops unit, but it has been mysteriously and viciously wiped out. The culprits are werewolves, and soon the squad and a local biologist are fighting to live through a night of the full moon in the middle of nowhere. There are a couple of nice twists in the story along the way that shift it in unexpected directions.
The acting is uniformly superb, something you wouldn't expect from this kind of lower-budget horror film. Because none of the actors are big-named stars, you really have no idea who will live through to the end and who will become werewolf-chow. Kevin McKidd (from "Trainspotting") and Sean Pertwee (son of one of the men who played Doctor Who) take the lead roles and do great, believable jobs as military figures under intense pressure who nonetheless rise to the occasion. The real scene-stealer is Liam Cunningham as the sole survivor of the Special Ops unit, a vile but secretive man who may be hiding something very important from the others.
The visual effects, thankfully, avoid CG as much as possible. The werewolves are achieved using full-body suits and robotic heads. They don't look very convincing in longer shots, but the filmmakers cleverly keep them mostly hidden or shown in very quick shots -- which makes them much scarier. There is quite a bit of gore, although not all of the grisly effects are believable. For the most part, the horror scenes rely on fast-moving and exciting action, but there are some very good 'jump' scares and creepy, drawn-out sequences. Hard-core horror buffs and fans of military action will both find the results satisfying.
The DVD contains a twenty-minute 'making of' featurette. Much of the running time is taken up with clips from the film, but there is some interesting information about the visual effects and the anti-CG philosophy behind them. The commentary is from the two producers, and had a lot of good info in it. The 5.1 sound mix is adequate; there are some juicy howling and explosions on the back speakers, but most of the sound is pushed to the front speakers and the volume is a bit low.
"Dog Soldiers" is a real find if you want some good, old-fashioned horror movie scares and rugged violence. It's smart and well-acted, in the bargain. I hope director Neil Marshall does more films like this (maybe they'll even receive a theatrical release).
Movie Review: If you go down to the woods today...
Summary: 4 Stars
Quite possibility the best werewolf film made since An American Werewolf in London.
In Dog Soldiers, a group of British squaddies, out on a training exercise in the vast wilderness of the Scottish Highlands, come up against a `troop' of werewolves.
Having dispatched a group of superior British SAS special forces, surely the regular British troops won't be much of a problem for the 7ft hairy howlers. Wrong; through their toughness, training and the little incentive of staying alive, the squaddies put a brave determined fight, fuelled with typical gallows humour (`I hope I give you the sh***' says one of the squaddies before he becomes `dinner').
Whilst it takes bits from Aliens and Night of the Living Dead, you have to remember that these films in turn take inspiration from earlier films, Aliens, for example, is a sort of futuristic `Zulu' and the siege of Rourke's Drift in Natal. There is also the look up to Predator, though instead of muscle bound men we have a sort of mismatch of determined, dogged, (`scuse the pun) and well trained group of terriers (oh dear), the sort of blokes that make up the British Army (or 'the scum of the earth' as Wellington famously called his own troops)..
This is a unique modern horror movie, in that it throws out the CGI possibilities. CGI never ever works in horror movies. The digital animation, no matter how realistic, severs the link between the viewers' expectations that the `monster' and the `victim' share the same `stage' (ground, etc). Whilst CGI brings wonders to fantasy films, such as Lord of the Rings and Jurassic Park, it seems too false and detached to exactly what is going on, on the screen. And that is what is great about Dog Soldiers, the wolves are on screen and you never have the irritated inkling that the victims are not staring death in the face, but are merely looking into a blue screen. American Werewolf in Paris, in particular, suffers greatly from this problem (among other things as well, to be fair).
The cast includes fairly unknowns; however Kevin McKidd is most famous for his role in Trainspotting and Rome. Sean Pertwee has been in a few movies, including Event Horizon and coincidentally played Caesar in a series about Roman Emperors around the time McKidd was in Rome. Both Roman series where made and shown by the BBC (and HBO).
I guess you will have to watch it to found out who lives and who doesn't, but I assure you it is worth it. It wasn't a huge success, but I believe it has enjoyed a second wave of success through word of mouth and has got itself a small cult following. There is a belated sequel planned, which is rumoured to be a bigger budget film than this one and aimed more at the US market. If so, then this film may get searched out again by a new wave of curious horror film addicts.
Dog Soldiers is a perfect film for a night in while the rain crashes down outside and howls pierce the cold night air! And, it all ends with a poke at the English tabloids, and a shock victory against the `old enemy' (Germany) in a little game of football being played hundreds of miles away from the horror of the Scottish wilderness.
4 Stars.
Movie Review: These soldiers show great strategy and determination.
Summary: 4 Stars
There are great classics related to werewolves, The Howling, Wolfen, and the superior American Werewolf in London. After watching "Dog Soldiers" it can easily be part of this pack. I fine this movie to be very exciting and pleasant B movie. This was recommended to me by Caesar M. Warrington, who is also a great reviewer, during the month of Halloween. Werewolves fascinate me more then Vampires so I couldn't wait till next Halloween to watch this. You will not a fine a major city, silly people or unneeded love story involved in this film. Just a couple of cool soldiers who are willing to do anything to survive. In here we have a group of six British Soldiers spend time on the Scottish highlands to do a special training but one Soldier is whining about missing a soccer game between England versus Germany, a little like the tension you get when America versus Canada or something! Apparently Story goes that where the soldiers are standing, they hear about gruesome "true" tales of people go missing but savage and gory murder scenes are simultaneously found as potential evidence. A leader, Captain Ryan happens to be the sole survivor of another team that becomes a 'dog's breakfast'! Is he hiding a secret that the remaining team should know about? Who knows?
That is when Luna-loving furry doggies with rabies come into view, and they look like muscular, mutant gerbils in mink coats, with Freddy Claws. The Team have to drop their blank bullets for real ones as a locally rural girl, Megan, comes in as GI Jane to save them by escaping out of the woods by a Jeep, taking the remaining Soldiers with her, and sheltered into a remote Country Farm House. Trouble starts brewing because the Soldiers are running out of Ammunition, Howlings are drawing nearer, and how long will sunlight come before people die like flies?
"Dog Soldiers" does start slow and is a bit predictable but the humor is wicked. I also give credit to the gory scenes where the Sergeant's guts were exposed and the sheep dog was toying with it; thinking they were sausages. There are flaws with the film, but it is still fun and entertaining. Influences from other movies stand out here, but they still don't take away from 'Dog Soldiers', I feel that they've just used an idea and modified it to produce something new. Much better than the current Hollywood mentality of making a horror - take a half-good idea and drive it into the ground with continuous knock-off after knock-off. The best part is when the Sergeant shares a chilling camp fire story about "Eddie Oswald"; a private he once knew in Kuwait 1991, and then raised a toast for him!! One Private tells a joke about a man and his dog, suddenly on that 'cue' a dead stuffed Cow drops from the sky to join them, literally!
For a low-budget movie this is quite a gem. Fans of the movies I mentioned previously should check it out, it's not strictly horror. I believe the director said that it was a soldier film with werewolves, not the other way round, so it could also be classed as an action film. Either way, that is really of no relevance. If you like Movies with a hardcore script, Dark Humor, and action then give it a try.