Dog Soldiers (2002)

A routine military exercise turns into a nightmare in the Scotland wilderness.

Director:

Neil Marshall

Writer:

Neil Marshall

Stars:

Sean Pertwee, Kevin McKidd, Emma Cleasby

5 wins & 7 nominations.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Sean Pertwee	...	Wells
Kevin McKidd	...	Cooper
Emma Cleasby	...	Megan
Liam Cunningham	...	Ryan
Thomas Lockyer	...	Bruce
Darren Morfitt	...	Spoon
Chris Robson	...	Joe
Leslie Simpson	...	Terry
Tina Landini	...	Camper
Craig Conway	...	Camper
Villrikke's Acer	...	Sam the Dog
Bryn Walters	...	Werewolf
Ben Wright	...	Werewolf
Brian Claxton Payne	...	Werewolf

Storyline

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.

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Plot Keywords:

exploitation | grindhouse film | scotland | training mission | full moon | 

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Taglines:

Six soldiers. Full moon. No chance.

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Genres:

Action | Horror | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for strong violence/gore and language

Did You Know?

Trivia

Star Trek reference: one of the soldiers say they've been set up so they can't win and says it's like the "Kobayashi Maru".

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Goofs

The MP5s that they collect from the special forces camp have a fire rate selector which allows single shot, three-round burst and full auto options. Yet despite Cooper telling everybody to follow standard military training and use short, controlled, three-round bursts, nobody actually does so, Cooper included.

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Quotes

[Megan is turning into a werewolf due to the full moon]
Megan: It's that time of month.

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Crazy Credits

During the closing credits b&w photographs are shown from the camera used during the siege in the cottage.

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Connections

Featured in WhatCulture Horror: 8 Creepiest Horror Movie Monsters In Disguise (2020)

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Soundtracks

Lyke Wake Dirge
Traditional
Arr. Mark Thomas

User Reviews

Nice low budget horror flick - but could have been a lot better with a few changes

First of all I have to say I went in to this film with some high expectations: I had heard from friends overseas what a great "military meets horror" movie this was. I would probably have enjoyed it much more if I hadn't gone in with such high expectations. The blurbs on the front comparing it to Predator and Jaws are not altogether off the mark (particularly Predator - which incidentally is one of my all time favourites).

My main problem with this movie was that it couldn't decide whether it was an "serious" horror movie or a schlock-horror/comedy. If a few of the more cheesy scenes and pratfalls were edited out, this would have been one of the best horror movies I have seen in a long time. Also, some of the characters were fairly one dimensional, and could have been a lot more believable...

Well, enough negativity, now for the good points: Sean Pertwee is great, and plays a very believable and interesting character (Note: for those who don't know, he is the son of Jon Pertwee, the third actor to play the Doctor in the legendary British sci-fi series Doctor Who. Sean also appears in Event Horizon, albeit in a much smaller role, and delivers a good performance there, too). The premise of the storyline is also very good - military meets werewolves - and makes for some great horror and action sequences. I also found it very refreshing to see this type of film featuring British army and special forces, which gives it quite a different feel to U.S. based military flicks. The make up and visual effect are very good considering the budget, and the portrayal of the werewolves is very "realistic" and believable.

Well worth a watch if you like horror movies, or "army vs. monster" flicks, and definitely a must-see for any Predator fans.

Details

Country:

UK Luxembourg

Language:

English

Release Date:

10 May 2002 (UK)

Also Known As:

Dog Soldiers

Filming Locations:

Luxembourg

Box Office

Budget:

$2,000,000 (estimated)

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$3,537,283

Company Credits

Production Co:

Centurion, Kismet Entertainment Group, The Noel Gay Motion Picture Company

Technical Specs

Runtime:

105 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1