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	...	Sgt. Harry G. Wells
Kevin McKidd	...	Pvt. Cooper
Emma Cleasby	...	Megan
Liam Cunningham	...	Capt. Ryan
Thomas Lockyer	...	Cpl. Bruce Campbell
Darren Morfitt	...	'Spoon' Witherspoon
Chris Robson	...	Pvt. Joe Kirkley
Leslie Simpson	...	Pvt. Terry Milburn
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:

scotland | training mission | full moon | special forces | eaten alive | 

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Taglines:

Imagine you're leading a six man squad on a routine army exercise.... ....and it all goes horribly wrong....

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Genres:

Action | Horror | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for strong violence/gore and language

Details

Country:

UK Luxembourg USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

10 May 2002 (UK)

Also Known As:

Cães de Caça

Filming Locations:

Luxembourg

Box Office

Budget:

$2,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

£681,348 (United Kingdom), 12 May 2002, Limited Release

Company Credits

Production Co:

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

Technical Specs

Runtime:

105 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Megan was not, as many assume, a member of the werewolf family. Not an original member anyway. She states that she came to the woods to "become one with nature" which is probably when she met the family and became friends with them. Either they decided to make her a werewolf because she was their friend or she was turned by accident. She was ashamed of being a werewolf and hoped the soldiers would be her way out (there is a popular belief in werewolf lore that killing the original werewolf will cure anyone who has been bitten by them) because she figured they were working with Captain Ryan. She had met Captain Ryan before and probably assumed he was there to help administer some sort of cure. But once Ryan confesses the real reason behind his presence was to bring the werewolves back to be used as weapons rather than being cured, she realizes that she will never be able to cease being a werewolf ("There is no out. There never was."). However, she still feels loyal to the family. Once Cooper realizes that the farmers are in fact the werewolves and decides to kill them, she chooses the family. She gets the soldiers to blow up the landrover, their only chance of escape, and only then does she give in to transformation.

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Goofs

More than once, Megan asserts that the remote cottage where most of the action takes place is 50 miles from the nearest habitation, Fort William, or from the next glen where Megan claims her cottage to be. Even if she were lying to stop the soldiers from trying to leave, they ought to have known that nowhere is more than 50 miles from anywhere in the Highlands of Scotland, especially not a sizable town like Fort William.

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Quotes

Spoon: All right, you bastards...
[ignites flare]
Spoon: Come and have a go, if you think you're hard enough!
Spoon: [pause] Well, come on, you beauties!

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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 It's a Free World... (2007)

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Soundtracks

Lyke Wake Dirge
Traditional
Arr. Mark Thomas

User Reviews

Basic, flawed but fun and does much better than the budget would have suggested was possible

A group of squaddies are sent out into woods in the Scottish highlands to take part in a small practice operation against a group of special force soldiers. However when Sgt Wells' men locate the other unit they find that Captain Ryan is the only survivor and, appears to be mad, gibbering about "things". When the group are attacked by something else, they take Ryan and his array of weapons and flee. They find local girl Megan in a landrover and she takes them to the nearest shelter to attend to the wounded – an empty farmhouse. As Megan tells them of werewolves in the woods, and Ryan sits silent as to what his team were actually up to, the "things" start to gather and strike the house.

With comparatively no budget to speak of, it is no surprise that among the references, this film pays homage to the Evil Dead by calling one of its characters Corporal Bruce Campbell. Certainly with a group of people in farmhouse (cabin) in the woods fighting off an unstoppable supernatural evil is almost homage enough in itself although, for me, this didn't get anywhere near to the horror of that film. However it does still manage to produce quite an enjoyable film even if it isn't really scary in a true sense. The plot is simple and it is a good thing because the action bits are best, while the dialogue bits are less so. The film does pretty well to keep the tension up but I did think it could have been tighter and more suspenseful than it was at times. That said, the attacks are good and, as long as you aren't too demanding, it will do enough to keep you entertained. I must admit that the "Britishness" of it and the fact that it was such a low-budget affair may me more willing to forgive it such things – although some of the dialogue was so clunky and unconvincing that it was occasionally hard to get past – although I did get a big laugh out of the Matrix reference "there is no spoon".

The cast do pretty well, shouting and running around convincingly enough. I would have liked a bit liked a bit more humanity but in fairness the characters were pretty accurate for many squaddy types I know. Pertwee is fun and for probably the first and last time is the big name of the film. McKidd is OK but he has to carry a lot of the talking and it means his limits show up more than the others. Cleasby is pretty poor and she is lumbered with a poor character to boot. Cunningham was fairly obvious but I was constantly distracted by just how much he came across like George Galloway (minus the moustache of course). Lockyer, Robson, Simpson and others are pretty one dimensional but Morfitt had energy and manage to stand out with a bit of character. The direction is good and wisely keeps the camera fluid and the monsters hidden – although I personally though the costumes were good for the money they cost.

Overall this is an enjoyable film. It appears to homage other films as much as it borrows from them, but it does it well enough. It could have been tenser, more exciting and it certainly could have been scarier but it still works as an action/horror of sorts. Apparently a sequel is planned and I hope the bigger budget can improve it a bit but for now this is an enjoyable low-budget horror that is basic but fun and worth seeing.