Dog Soldiers - Their Bite Is Worse Than Their Bark

I've hit my first werewolf movie, a true cornerstone of the genre (I'd also like to nominate vampires, ghosts and slashers assuming that there are four cornerstones in this rectangular structure... any suggestions?). It's an occasion worth celebrating, possibly on the full moon and definitely with a nice bottle of red to set the mood. And what a way it is to start with generating an acquaintance with our furry friends indeed - Dog Soldiers is yes, 'a bitch of a werewolf movie' (cheers Loaded). It can be summed up very succinctly as a rip-roaring boys' own thriller. Top stuff.

When a group of Scottish soldiers are dropped off in their picturesque highlands for a war games type exercise against a squad of their special ops blokes, you pump up for some cool, underdog fighters tale. Then they locate the special ops lads - or what's left of them anyway. You guessed it, lycanthropes abound, and it happens to be a full moon. And they happen to have just broken their radio. And they happen to not have much live ammo (it is a training exercise after all...). And there happens to be one special ops survivor to tell them all what happened in a mysteriously cryptic manner. And they happen to be in serious fucking trouble. They have to band together to defeat this supernatural threat, and without any silver bullets, they have a hell of a time doing it.



This comes from Neil Marshall, who really backed himself in this one, writing, directing and editing his feature-length debut, but it's almost the total opposite of his follow-up The Descent (reviewed here at http://terrorbites.blogspot.com.au/2012/05/descent-is-there-anyone-there.html). Most obviously, there's the all male cast in direct contrast to the girl power of his earlier effort. Then there's the fundamental difference of the scare provision: evolved cave creepers vs. werewolves. And finally, the pace of the flick - this ramps up quick and holds the accelerator down as opposed to his underground gradual build up through the gears (car metaphors increase my sense of manliness).

All the members of the squadron are effectively fleshed out, though they tend to blur into each other with similar accents and uniforms. There are nice touches that endear them to the viewers, like the one bloke who just wants to watch the footy - I can totally empathise - or the back story of our protagonist Private Cooper who's too good a bloke to follow orders for orders' sake. You care when they die (and believe me, die they do). And on that note there are some nice deaths. If you're in the zone for a little gore and a cheeky slashing or two, you will not be disappointed here.

The creature design is very cool. The wolves are mean, really tall and kinda lean and just plain angry looking. It's a low budget production, but Marshall and his crew stretch it effectively (filming in Luxembourg may have helped), so you get to see enough of the creatures to keep you satisfied. Their design is phenomenally smart in that they're effectively just big guys wearing a bit of body paint, some extra hair and a fake lupine head. Hence it's not too much of a stretch to show them off, which is always nice in a creature flick. Marshall holds a full reveal off long enough to maintain tension and generate viewer excitement for the big moment, and as I've made clear, it's not a disappointment. The transformation from man to wolf that you are privy to is effective (though doesn't really hold a match to any Rick Baker stuff - not really a concern though, few make-up artists could these days) and intense enough to get you a little wet behind the ears.

The music is well suited to the action/thrills that the film-makers are going for, and there is some pretty funky lensing going down. Like the poster suggests, there seems to be an abundance of blue in the palette which sets the night nicely and looks properly spooky when playing across a swathe of blood. The use of what can only be described as 'wolf cam' is also cool, and just allows a bit of chill out time while listening to an amplified heartbeat whilst stalking victims - always a great way to cool down after some explosions and whatnot. You may think I'm overusing the word 'cool', but I disagree - it's just a cool movie.

One minor problem - it's not really scary. It's cool as hell (I said it again), and who doesn't love a bit of cheeky gore, but there's never really a feeling of terror. It's also a tad predictable in parts, though as the central twist develops you enjoy watching it coming. However these are only minor flaws in what is a great debut. It's just not a great horror debut. But just enjoy the ride and you won't go far wrong.

Esteban will now fill you in with his slightly challenged view of the film:
Hey mates!

The Dog Soldier: What the film! A big one for all you boys out there, yeah! I can make big bets many people will exclaim when they see this movie. In terms of a blurb, the story goes about a guy and his friends who are thrust into a bad environment, with human cats! Of course the beasts are fake, because these creatures don't exist in the world, but the costumist must have used a lot of thinking. Some of the fights are super, with some critical martial arts performances and fast shooting. What was a surprising feature was the really pleasant music, which was relaxing in certain aspects.

Watch this movie with your Dad BUT NOT WITH YOUR MUM. I don't think girls will enjoy this movie.

So guys, my final rate of it. I will give it 8 points out of 11. I don't know why i robbed it of 3, I just feel it's not as good as my favourites which tends towards 11's out of 11.

So to wrap up this shiznit, the epic conclusion. It's a fun one, and I can really recommend it, especially if you've enjoyed Neil Marshall's later works. It illustrates the nuanced understanding of the genre explored in The Descent, and the breakneck pace of Centurion. All in all, I award this piece of cinema 52 squares out of a chessboard - a worthy adversary indeed. Huzzah!

Catch the trailer at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R_0Ej5N-hFQ (okay, pretty shitty trailer, but for a respectable flick)