Dog Soldiers
Reviewed By: Brian Edwards
Starring: Sean Pertwee,
Search for more on: Dog Soldiers
A group of squaddies in the Scottish Highlands trapped by a group of werewolves that had already devoured a group of Special Forces...
Wow. A British film (with a British budget) that doesn't have Hugh Grant in a romantic comedy, the most impressive thing about this film is the fact that it is brilliant.
Anyway you describe the plot of this film doesn't do it justice, the story (by Director Neil Marshall) is tight with a good pace, the effects are not wonderful but the style with which they are executed covers this fact well, all performances are plausible in such a strange situation, notably Sean Pertwee (ID, Event Horizon) and Kevin McKidd who both go well beyond the seemingly limited entry to the film. There is no doubt that this is a gory film with some slight echoes of early Peter Jackson films 'Bad Taste' and 'Brain Dead'. There is a distinctive presence of the British sense of humour amongst the blood and gore, which is never out of place.
The actual plot offers nothing new, but that doesn't make this an event movie. The pieces all seem to fit.
Disappointments come from the wolves themselves, the props probably ate a big chunk of the budget but it just doesn't show, the direction is good in hiding them but they are used a little too much, they should have been hidden in the shadows more. I suppose it was the temptation of showing off a serviceable but expensive prop. This fact is unaided by the fact that film stills of the wolves were displayed during the end credits, couldn't it wait for the DVD?
This aside, the film offers, jumps, gore, humour and slick direction. Sequal? NO. But producing another film in the same vein with Neil Marshall at the helm? YES.
The hype for this film seems to focus on a comparison to 'The Evil Dead', but in my mind I associate this more to 'Night Of The Living Dead' or even 'Aliens'. Though such comparisons do not do the film any justice.
British film industry, take note.
Ok so it is a rental only DVD/video, fans are begging for the sell through version due Feburary. If you cannot wait the Region 1 DVD is available from November the 5th, disc details will appear here when available BUT at this stage it is uncertain if this version will be cut as the US TV version was. This disc will be about £14 including postage.
See scifinds Region 1 guide for more details about imported DVDs
Oh and apparently the superglue thing is true!
But Region 1 Dog Soldiers
