Dog Soldiers [DVD] - Action Horror Movie for Thriller Fans | Perfect for Movie Nights & Halloween Parties

If actual werewolves were ever to be found, I think we all know exactly what would immediately happen -- the government would want to capture them for use in war.But they'd have to actually be able to fight the werewolves first. And "Dog Soldiers" certainly suggests that that wouldn't be an easy solution, as it pits soldiers against lycanthropes in the woods -- and despite the slightly cheesy werewolf suits-on-stilts, the movie is a harrowing, claustrophobic experience filled with blood and shadowy violence. In other words, it's the kind of werewolf movie that we desperately need more of.As the plot begins, two relevant stories are shown in flashback. In one, a couple camping in the Scottish Highlands are killed by an unseen monster. In another, Private Cooper (Kevin McKidd) is being considered for a special forces unit, overseen by Captain Ryan (Liam Cunningham). But Cooper gives up the chance when Ryan demands he murder a dog.Fast forward four weeks: Cooper's squad is on a training exercise in the Highlands, where they are supposed to engage a Special Air Service unit. At first, it seems like just a bunch of guys hanging out in the woods, playing pranks and ribbing each other as guys do. Then they find the SAS unit... who have been torn to pieces ("Natural causes, my arse!"), except for the badly wounded Ryan. Cooper recognizes that they were on some kind of covert operation, but Ryan just babbles, "There was only supposed to be one!"They encounter a zoologist named Megan (Emma Cleasby) who takes them to a little house in the woods, where they try to treat their wounded and take shelter from the mysterious attackers. To their shock, those attackers turn out to be actual werewolves -- which is pretty obviously the reason Ryan is there. The soldiers' only hope is to make it to sunrise, when the werewolves will revert to human form. It sounds easier than it is."Dog Soldiers" is everything a werewolf movie should be -- gruesome, gritty and dirty, with lots of fatalities and people slowly turning into lupine nightmares. No shirtless underwear models lusting after teenage girls here, just a bunch of normal guys desperately trying to survive the night. And it's a pretty graphic movie -- sometimes too graphic, with one scene having a tug-of-war between a soldier and a dog, using the soldier's own intestines.But the gruesomeness really helps with the movie, because it makes it feel realistic; when you have soldiers fighting giant savage werewolves that kill indiscriminately, you would expect to have intestines flying everywhere. And after all, a werewolf is far more terrifying when its rampages involve bodies torn to pieces, especially when going up against trained soldiers with machine guns. And from the beginning, it's clear how scary and intelligent the werewolves are, because they apparently took out a Special Forces unit without much trouble.The werewolves themselves... are a mixed bag. The costumes are actually quite good, with an actual lupine face and a hulking, muscular physique.... but the stilt legs just look disproportional and a bit silly. Their legs look about twice as long as they should. But about 95% of the time, you can't see them clearly, which makes them a lot scarier.Most of the time, director Neil Marshall follows the soldiers through the murky, misty hills of the Highlands and into a tiny house that is slowly being battered from the outside. From there, it's a "Night of the Living Dead"-style struggle to just outlast the creatures outside. The dialogue is sharp, witty and frequently littered with profanity ("So if Red Riding Hood shows up with a bazooka and a bad attitude, I expect you to chin the b**ch!"), and Marshall builds up a hefty wall of atmosphere that eventually blows up into adrenaline-soaked terror.One important thing about this movie is the cast, mostly made up of well-respected but not hugely famous actors from the UK, who give the soldiers a feeling of normalcy. These are just guys with normal concerns (football, girls, etc) who inexplicably find themselves in a horror movie. Sean Pertwee is particularly good as Cooper's commander, a brusque, smart guy who is badly wounded by a werewolf; Cunningham plays his exact opposite as a cruel, steely-eyed man who looks down on the "ordinary" soldiers, and would gladly see all of them die. McKidd is pretty good -- though not as charismatic as Pertwee -- as a young man with strong leadership qualities, which are only able to bloom when he's being menaced by werewolves."Dog Soldiers" is one of the quintessential werewolf stories -- scary, graphically gory and capable of making your hair stand on end. One of the best lycanthropic stories out there, if you have the guts for guts.