Hey folks, Harry here... About a month or so ago I got a screener of DOG SOLDIERS from the producer, unfortunately it was a center of the screen, non-pan&scan, non-letterboxed copy and as a result sometimes I couldn't see the characters that were talking and the framing looked odd, it was enough of a distraction that I didn't want to review the film, but in way of introducing Russel's take on the film here I can say that I enjoyed this (messed up copy) screener of DOG SOLDIERS and wished the entire time I was watching it that I was seeing a 35mm print, because there was a lot of love in this film. And especially in the Bernie Wrightson styled werewolves... VERY COOL... Here's Rus...
Hey, Harry
To start with an old cliche, "long time listener, first time caller", just weighing in with more word on Dog Soldiers which you may have heard of. Feel free to post this, although there may be a few minor spoilers here.
To get the basics out the way; this is a British (actually Scottish) horror movie. This can mean some very bad things. I, as a Scot, have been frequently dissapointed by British movies. They're either a) bad gangster movies with not a hint of menace or b) predictable (if occasionally enjoyable on that take-your-girlfriend to see them) rom-coms.
Dog Soldiers is neither, which is where the breath of fresh air can be taken. It is a horror movie. Or, rather, it is a horror/action movie kinda like Aliens. You know how it is, there are jumps and violence but no real sense of slow, creeping doom which really makes your heart go thumpety-thump.
Now, I saw an advance screening of this movie at the Dundee UGC. I went in with no idea what the film was about. I was utterly open, knowing only that there were werewolves present in the movie. I even went in under the mistaken impression that it was an American flick (Well, how many British werewolf movies can you count on one hand?).
When the film opened, in the Highlands of Scotland, my heart sank. I know what British movies can be like, and I knew that if this was bad, then having no budget could make it worse. Within the first five minutes there is a werewolf attack with the monster off-screen. Its handled adequately - the best way to describe it - although it hardly bodes well for the film matching Aliens or any movies of that ilk. It feels, at this point, like this is going to be a cliche ridden movie.
However, things start moving about ten minutes into the film when a troop of British soldiers (led by Sean Pertwee) helicopter into a remote area of the highlands on a training mission. The next segment of the film, as the characters are set up, is quite entertaining. The acting ranges from solid to actually quite good through the troop and you begin to quite like a few of these characters. There is no real sense of doom as they walk through the woods, but when things do start to go wrong (dead cows, snapped branches, the usual) it is handled nicely and feels like enough of a surprise to remind you that this is going to be a werewolf flick.
Anyway, the troops run across a special ops team who've been viciously slaughtered leaving only man, Captain Ryan, alive. Ryan refuses to tell them what attacked the team, only saying over and over, "there was only supposed to be one". From here on, as night falls, the movie takes off, as the werewolves attack.
This is, again, the point where my heart leapt to my chest. Not through fear, but due to the thought that, ths being a medium budget Brit film, the werewolves were going to look pretty bad when we finally saw them. The initial shadows didn't help, either.
However, in contrast to this, the gore is handled pretty well. The blood isn't as prominent as flicks like, say, Evil Dead, but then this is a different feel (although you often get the impression that the director's watched Raimi's breakthrough horror masterpiece more than a few times). However, there are moments of real "ouch" throughout the movie.
Inevitably, the troops end up alone in a remote highland house with only a zoologist (who just happens to have been tracking our werewolves) and Captain Ryan for company. It was about here that I began to quite enjoy the movie. Sure, its not got a fantastic budget but the actors are having fun and obviously the director is as well. The werewolf attacks on the house are well handled and there's some good banter among the troops. The discussions of football (sorry, soccer) may occasionally confuse an American audience, however.
The Werewolves themselves do actually appear in the fur at this point in the flick and are far more than their earlier silhouettes made them out to be. They're pretty fearsome creations, especially considering that they're just good old fashioned masks and makeup. No CGI in this movie, which is a good thing.
In the end, this is a pretty good movie. Not fantastic, not groundbreaking, but solid and entertaining. The budget shows through ocassionally, and maybe the ending is two twists too long (for my liking, anyway), but for a British flick trying to so something a wee bit different, its very good. Hopefully this will get an American release, I'd love to know what the Americans think of it (whether they can understand the accents for one!)
Signing off.
Russel
