Dog Soldiers (2002) *** (out of 4) A group of soldiers are out on what they think is a normal exercise but soon they come under attack. What they don't realize at first is that they're doing battle with a group of werewolves but pretty soon they find themselves trapped inside a house without much hope.Neil Marshall's DOG SOLDIERS is a film that I had heard a lot of great things about but I honestly had avoided watching it for a while simply because I felt it was probably another horror film with all hype and very little bark. Boy, what I incorrect because this here was actually an incredibly clever, unique and fun werewolf movie that takes all the "classic" traditions and updates them in an exciting film that perfectly blends horror, action and comedy.What really caught me by surprise is the fact that this here is basically a military movie. You know, the type of movie that has been around since the silent era. As with those films, we're introduced to a group of men, we get to know them, we get to care about them and then we see them go into battle. Of course, the big difference here is that the battle is against a group of werewolves who are basically soldiers themselves as they work together to hunt down their enemy. So, in the best sense, this here is a military movie with the great horror elements.You can tell that Marshall is a fan of the genre as there are certainly several winks towards other horror movies. The speech at the start of the picture about a fallen soldier seems like it was "inspired" by or paying homage to Robert Shaw's speech in JAWS. The werewolf costumes are terrific and I really thought they were fun and threatening. Another major plus are the performances as the entire cast fit their roles quite nicely. You have a great villain, a great group of soldiers and Emma Cleasby is great in her role.The film is full of violence and gore and it's done in a very entertaining way. There are some nice twists along the way and for the most part this is about as good as you're going to get. I really thought the film was full of imagination, which is something films lack.

Dog Soldiers (2002) is my number 1 favorite best werewolf film of all time, a true horror classic! I love this film to death and it is my favorite action horror werewolf film in the horror genre! It is number 1 because it is simple, it is soldiers and werewolf's and they fight! Well directed and written by Neil Marshall who directed The Descent and Doomsday, I still have to watch Doomsday. I never saw before The Descent and I am not planning too. Dog Soldiers is my all time favorite werewolf movie because it reminds a bit on Aliens, instead of Aliens is werewolf's. It is practical I didn't noticed any CGI in it, I like the werewolf's they are tall and giant monsters. I like the cast you have Kevin McKidd as lead, you have Sean Pertwee as his commander the name of the character is Sergeant Harry G. Wells. Kevin McKidd is Private Lawrence Cooper. Liam Cunningham is Captain Ryan the human bad guy in this, he is the guy we don't trust. I also like this guy Darren Morfitt who plays Private Phil "Spoon" Witherspoon. Thomas Lockyer is Corporal Bruce Campbell the name and the last name from the actor Bruce Campbell (Evil Dead trilogy). This THE BEST WEREWOLF movie of all time! It won in 2002 the Brussels International Festival of Fantasy Film's Golden Raven, so you get an idea."Do you think it's all over? It is now." Plot: A British Squad is sent on a training mission in the Highlands of Scotland against Special Operations squad. Ignoring the childish "campfire" stories heard about the area, they continue with their mission and come across the bloody remains of the Special Ops Squad, and a fierce howling is pitching the night sky... With two mortally wounded men, they make an escape, running into a zoologist by the name of Megan - who knows exactly what hunts them. What began as what they thought was a training mission turns into a battle for their lives against the most unlikely enemies they would have expected - werewolves.This is actually British film it is not an American film, but I absolutely love it to death! THIS is how you do action horror movie with gore, suspense and most of all action. 100% fun and one of the movies that never gets boring. I specially liked the ending and I mean at the part where Wells sacrifices himself and blows up the house killing entire werewolf family excellent bad - ass scene ever!!! Neil Marshalls best film hands down. This film is so much fun and the werewolves look so bad ass. Love the fight scene at the end. A classic movie and a perfect example to every movie maker out there on how you can make a fantastic film on a low budget! It would have been awesome to see Statham take on these werewolves. But I liked the lead actors, great action, environment. I enjoy Dog Soldiers! Jason Statham as the main lead would be a bad ass seeing him kicking werewolf's ass! There is a lot of this movie that I like: it is a true horror film, you see people get's slashed and ripped off, you see a lot of blood and so on. I love the line when Cooper (Kevin McKidd) says a line Do you think it's all over? It is now and bum he blows to pieces Ryan/werewolf (Liam Cunningham) with a shot gun. I love that there is one sole survivor in this movie, entire squad get's eaten by werewolf's. You have a lot of gun fire power, soldiers are using a machine gun Heckler & Koch MP5A2 which is awesome. I love practical digital visual effects for werewolf's the animatronics by the company image FX were fantastic and the best one I ever saw! The physical-effects supervisor and stunt coordinator Harry Wiessenhaan was great and brilliant he knew how to make a werewolf for making this movie. Neil Marshall written and directed this movie so well and he really did made an excellent job making a horror film.Dog Soldiers is a 2002 British action horror film written and directed by Neil Marshall, and starring Kevin McKidd, Sean Pertwee and Liam Cunningham. A British production, set in the highlands of Scotland, it was filmed almost entirely in Luxembourg.Overall: Splitting the difference, we get an 10/10 -- an outstanding score, I absolutely love this movie to death, it is original and it is brilliant horror action film my number 1 favorite werewolf movie!

Dog Soldiers, a lot budget gore flick from the United Kingdom is hands down the best werewolf movies around. The two beginning scenes really set the mood and ruthless nature that director Neil Marshall portrayed. The werewolves aesthetically are tall, slender, and menacing, just really bad-ass looking. The kill scenes are really gruesome and credible looking. However, Dog Soldiers is more than just blood and guts, since there is a fair amount of laugh out loud moments and a certain intelligence to the dialogue. One particular scene that comes to mind, which was unsuspectingly hilarious was the scene that involved a hammer and a mail slot. Characters are well developed, have strong personalities and the actors themselves, ordinary looking, were extraordinary for this type of movie. Look for some entertaining scares and laughs out of Dog Soldiers, one of the first movies I saw that got me hooked on the horror genre.

The werewolf story seems to have had some kind of cinematic resurgence in recent years - first was the Canadian GINGER SNAPS, then the French BROTHERHOOD OF THE WOLF, and now the British DOG SOLDIERS. They say that bad things come in threes, but the opposite is true here as all three films are above-average genre examples. DOG SOLDIERS is a refreshingly straight-forward cross between an action flick and a splattery horror film with plenty of humour, bloodshed and thrills to appeal to mainstream audiences. As such, its been garnering rave reviews and after visiting the local cinema I can't find much to fault about it. Don't go in looking for plot or complex twists - this is an old-fashioned thriller with a simple premise and lots and lots of action to carry it along.Things begin creepily enough with some taut scenes in the woods which rival THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT for eerieness. Our unfortunate soldiers find themselves stalked by some prowling creatures (P.O.V. shots show a greyed vision of the action). Tension builds, interspersed with some clever shocks - the falling cow is a real jolter in particular. Then bam! the werewolves are introduced in some extremely bloody antics involving dangling intestines and impalings which prove to be real eyeball-poppers. Refreshingly, this is a crowd-pleasing B-movie which doesn't skimp on the gore effects - in fact director Neil Marshall started out as an SFX technician and his proficiency shows itself with plenty of decapitated heads, splattery blood, and fountains of gore all over the place. However, this is enjoyable rather than disturbing, thanks to the mean streak of extremely black humour which recalls the like of Peter Jackson's BRAINDEAD - there's a particularly sickening bit involving a dog and an intestine which is completely gross but still somehow funny with it.Once the foe has been introduced, our heroes make a truly thrilling run for cover as darkness falls and night closes in - some very taut and exciting moments follow in the ensuing chase. Finally, they find solace in a mysteriously abandoned farmhouse, where character motivations are uncovered as well as a fair amount of shocks, surprises, and plot twists. None of them are particularly surprising and indeed DOG SOLDIERS is a film packed with clichés - there's nothing here that hasn't been done before in the likes of ALIENS, An American Werewolf in London, and the farmhouse siege sequences directly reference the likes of NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD and other famous siege movies. Yet Marshall puts his heart on his sleeve and openly acknowledges his influences, with plenty of sly but not in your face movie in-jokes and asides to make things enjoyable. Where the film succeeds is in mixing said clichéd situations into a new, unpredictable mix, thus making it interesting and fresh viewing.Things culminate in a spellbinding conclusion that features some impressive explosive effects, an amazing man vs. werewolf punch-up in a kitchen (hilarious) and some edge-of-your-seat stuff as a cat and mouse game ensues between heroes and villain. The action sequences are excellent and realistic with it, instead of never-ending bullets our heroes find their supplies dwindling and are forced to use their imagination to find other weapons. The characters are well-defined and the cast populated by some fine actors - particularly TRAINSPOTTING's Kevin McKidd, who shines as the underdog-turned-heroic leader. Elsewhere we have Emma Cleasby as a helpful ecologist, Sean Pertwee (EVENT HORIZON) doing his bit extremely well as the hard-headed Sergeant, and Liam Cunningham excellent in an early role. The film offers plenty of distinctly British humour - most of it blackly comic as the characters bemoan their desperate situation - which keeps it snappy and likable. The pacing is also spot on. As for the werewolves themselves, well thank god they're not CGI, but instead animatronics. Obviously low budget and not terribly convincing, Marshall does well to hide them in the shadows and show them only in quick cuts so that they retain their menace throughout. But the werewolves are only part of it - the icing on the cake, so to speak. This exciting B-movie epic would be just as good without them, but with them it becomes something unique and special. A tremendously fun experience.