DOG SOLDIERS (2002)

MORGAN'S RATING

A band of soldiers is dispatched to war games deep in the woods. When they stumble across a rival team slaughtered in camp, they realize they're not alone. Something deadly is waiting in the darkness: something not human and not animal. Holed up in an abandoned farmhouse, the soldiers start a bloody battle against the beasts. Dawn is only a few hours away but they may not live to see it. Dog Soldiers is a terrifying chiller in the tradition of Predator and An American Werewolf in London.

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

SIX SOLDIERS. FULL MOON. NO CHANCE.

PRODUCTION INFORMATION

DIRECTOR: Neil Marshall. WRITER: Neil Marshall. PRODUCERS: David E. Allen, Christopher Figg and Tom Reeve. ASSOCIATE PRODUCER: Caroline Waldron. CO-PRODUCERS: Keith Bell and Brian Patrick O'Toole. EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: Vic Bateman, Harmon Kaslow and Romain Schroeder. ORIGINAL MUSIC: Mark Thomas. DISTRIBUTOR: Velocity Home Entertainment.

FACTS

RELEASE DATE: November 5th, 2002 (USA) (VIDEO PREMIERE) - Set in Scotland but filmed in Luxemberg. - 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. - One of the soldiers in this movie is called Bruce Campbell, a reference to The Evil Dead movies. Those films seem to have partially inspired the plot for this film. - Near the start of the film, they discover the tracking chip in their radio and someone mentions the Kobiashi Maru scenario, originally in Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan (1982). - The G3 rifle used by Spoon and later Terry didn't work properly when firing blanks. During some scenes in the house, you can see Terry manually working the bolt to chamber the next round. - Sean Pertwee's character is named after H.G. Wells, one of writer/director Neil Marshall's favorite authors. - In the scene where Wells asks Cooper to know him out, Kevin McKidd throws a stage punch the first time, but misjudges the distance of the second and catches Sean Pertwee on the nose. Pertwee didn't feel the punch however as he really was drunk for that scene.

QUOTES

Spoon: Come and have a go if you think you're hard enough!

[indicating his rapidly healed stomach wound] Wells: You cannot tell me that is fucking normal.

Cooper: Where's Spoon? Wells: There is no Spoon.

Wells: Now listen up, I wanna make this quick, and to the point, 'cos just like you all I want to do is get home, jump into a warm bed with a nice hot man and watch the footy.

Wells: If we do happen to make contact, I expect nothing less than gratuitous violence from the lot of ya. Because we're firing blanks doesn't mean we have to be thinking nice thoughts. So you remember, you keep the fire down, right, you get stuck in and you kick their fucking teeth out, or I guarentee you, Joe, they will be eating your bollocks for breakfast, sunshine! Terry: Hard-boiled or friend, Sarge? Wells: Scrambled.

Coopers: Sweeping patrols between each of these bunkers -- they'll have the whole sector wrapped tighter than an Eskimo's nad-sac.

CRITICAL COMMENTS

"One of the most explosive and purely enjoyable horror debuts since The Evil Dead." -- Total Film

Wells: 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 chin the bitch!

"Jaws, Aliens and Predator with a werewolf twist." -- The Face

Cooper: I'm still not convinced these things didn't just escape from the local nut-house and forget to shave or trim their nails.

"The script is high on squaddie banter, low on shocks." -- The WOlf, Iofilm.co.uk

"Marshall puts a suspenseful spon on standard horror flick formula." -- Jonathan Perry, Boston Globe

Cooper: We need a decoy. Something fast and loud. [all turn to Spoon, who wasn't listening] Spoon: What? You what?

"There is a welcome lack of pretension about the film, which very simply sets out to entertain and ends up delivering in good measures." -- Mark Adams, Hollywood Reporter