(2001)

review by:

8-02-03

Written and Directed by: Neil Marshall Starring: Kevin McKidd, Sean Pertwee, Liam Cunningham

When a training exercise in Scotland brings a small British army unit across a murder scene, they hole up in the nearest house. They can only wait for sunrise as they try to fend off a pack of nearly invincible werewolves. But not everything is what it seems... Sure, this sounds like a British Night of the Living Dead rip-off. And it may be. But Dog Soldiers is great anyway. The main reason for this is that the villains are pretty much invincible. These soldiers pump round after round into them, but they keep coming. Boy, do I love zombie movies, but there's something slightly more intimidating to me about a few monsters you can't kill over tons of zombies that drop left and right. Almost every time the werewolves show up, somebody dies. These guys are bad-asses, and they're smart, providing some actual suspense in this movie. Just when I thought I was nice and desensitized toward violence and gore, here comes Dog Soldiers, complete with Sgt. Guts-Hanging-Out. Said guts are at one point yanked on by a dog, and I, for the first time in years, was thoroughly grossed out. But that was soon followed by another sergeant (a thorough bastard) getting puked upon, which provided a much-needed laugh. As B-movie as this might sound, Dog Soldiers, surprisingly, is not the crap-fest we were expecting. Like 28 Days Later, it survives on talent where the budget is lacking. Great acting, writing, direction. Hell, it's got Kevin McKidd (Trainspotting and The Acid House), who kicks some major ass in this film, a change from his usual gentle pushover roles. In fact, the only real place Dog Soldiers suffers from its low budget is the behind-the-table transformation scene. C'mon guys...every werewolf movie should have a scene of a guy turning. If I'm correct that's the main attraction to these movies. The one guy they bother to show turning falls behind a table and stands up hairy. Granted, this movie's whole budget was probably spent on fake hair and pig intestines, but damn I wish they'd shown that werewolf transformation. If you're looking for a good last-stand-in-a-house type movie with some seriously mean bad guys, go for Dog Soldiers. Just be prepared to actually care for the characters, especially Spoon (you'll know why he's cool when you see him fight). Just do yourself a favor and don't eat sausage while watching this.

AKA: Kibbles 'N Brits

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