Dog Soldiers (2002)

User Rating:

6.8/10   

Director:

Neil Marshall

Writer:

Neil Marshall (written by)

Release Date:

10 May 2002 (UK)

Genre:

Action | Horror

Tagline:

Six soldiers. Full moon. No chance.

Plot:

A routine military exercise turns into a nightmare in the Scotland wilderness.

Plot Keywords:

Scotland | Training Mission | Full Moon | Soldier | Injury

Awards:

4 wins & 4 nominations

Cast

Sean Pertwee	...	Sgt. Harry G. Wells
Kevin McKidd	...	Pvt. Cooper
Emma Cleasby	...	Megan
Liam Cunningham	...	Capt. Ryan
Thomas Lockyer	...	Cpl. Bruce Campbell
Darren Morfitt	...	'Spoon' Witherspoon
Chris Robson	...	Pvt. Joe Kirkley
Leslie Simpson	...	Pvt. Terry Milburn
Tina Landini	...	Camper
Craig Conway	...	Camper
Vilrikke's Acer	...	Sam the Dog
Bryn Walters	...	Werewolf
Brian Claxton Payne	...	Werewolf
Ben Wright	...	Werewolf

Also Known As:

Night of the Werewolves (UK) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated R for strong violence/gore and language.

Runtime:

105 min | Japan:104 min

Country:

UK | Luxembourg | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

South Korea:15 | Australia:MA | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Denmark:15 | Finland:K-18 (video premiere) | France:-16 | Germany:16 | Hong Kong:III | Iceland:16 | Ireland:18 | Italy:T | Japan:R-15 | Netherlands:16 | New Zealand:R16 | Norway:18 | Portugal:M/18 | Singapore:NC-16 | Spain:18 | UK:15 | USA:R | Philippines:R-18

Filming Locations:

Luxembourg

Company:

Kismet Entertainment Group

Trivia:

The piece that Megan plays on the piano halfway through the film is Debussy's "Clair de Lune", roughly translatable as "moonbeam". The link is obvious, but is possibly also a nod to An American Werewolf in London (1981), the soundtrack of which consisted purely of songs with "moon" in the title.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Wells crashes into the oven, the bottom plate comes off and the gas hose falls out. He cuts the hose and in the next shot the bottom plate is suddenly back on the oven.

Quotes:

Megan: There's only one house within 50 miles of here, and it's mine. And I'm not there!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Made of Honor (2008)

Soundtrack:

Tom Hark

A good mix of horror and old time story telling

I can't explain why I picked up the DVD, Dog Soldiers off the video store shelf. The box art consisted of poorly drawn wolves and there was a tag line that read `From the producers of Hellraiser'. Normally this combination would have me wiping down the cover in an attempt to remove any evidence that my fingerprints were interested in pursuing the rental. But, somehow, Dog Soldiers worked its way into the Saturday night rental pile and once all other options were exhausted, there I was, reluctantly putting the DVD into the player and hoping that there would be enough of anything to entertain me until bedtime.

Dog Soldiers opens in Scotland, where two love struck campers are attacked by some creature in the middle of the night. Cut ahead a few weeks and we are introduced to a group of army trainees that are left in the woods as part of an exercise against a team of Special Forces. Lead by Sergeant Wells (Sean Pertwee) and motivated by Private Cooper (Kevin McKidd), the squad is surprised upon their first nightfall in the wild by a mutilated cow that is thrust into their campsite. Following the bloody trail of the animal, they are soon led to the massacred remains of the elite Special Forces team that was stationed in the same region. Evidence of a struggle was everywhere, but no bodies were immediately evident, except for the ramblings of the sole survivor, Captain Ryan (played by Liam Cunningham) who was severely injured during the night.

Within moments, the group is besieged by wolf-like creatures and run for their lives towards the tree line, where they are fortunate enough to cross paths with a young woman that takes the remaining soldiers to a remote farm house. As night progresses, onslaught upon onslaught is countered by the soldiers as they fight to keep the werewolves out of their new fortress, but some, one by one, they fall victims to the creatures hunger.

Dog Soldiers is one of those rare horror movies that actually works. The creature effects are better than most bigger budgeted werewolf movies States side, and there are a few genuine good scares and tension as mounted by writer/director Neil Marshall. What I also appreciated from the film was its sense of humour, or rather; it's lack of it. In today's horror genre, we are subjected to countless ‘Freddyisms' or inside jokes that make the Scream series such a box-office bonanza. However, Dog Soldiers checks its humour at the door and focuses on the characters and claustrophobic feel of being trapped in a surrounded country house. Actually, the only chuckle you will get in this film will is mixed with extreme horror and gore. It occurs in a scene where the family dog pulls on the intestines of the living Sergeant Wells and he fights with the dog for his innards while the troops fight off a wave of attacks by the wolves at the front door. You'll find yourself smiling and then grotesquely repulsed by the same scene that put a smile in your cheeks.

I am not saying that Dog Soldiers is perfect. Not by any means. But horror films have never really gotten any better over the years, as Hollywood still tries to recapture such terror as identified in The Exorcist or Alien. However, Dog Soldiers will entertain and isn't that all we are looking for?