DOG SOLDIERS
PLOT-British soldiers on a routine training assignment in Scotland find themselves doing battle with big-ass werewolves.
VIOLENCE-Several people get chewed up and/or slashed open by the werewolves, but nothing gets extremely gory.
SEX/NUDITY-Absolute zero.
WHY I WATCHED IT-John Landis's AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON is one of my all-time favorite films, but sadly there haven't been too many other really good ones made since then. Last year, GINGER SNAPS rode in from Canada and kicked a whole lot of ass, dissolving TEEN WOLF from my memory almost entirely, and re-igniting my faith in werewolf movies. Then of course we got BROTHERHOOD OF THE WOLF from France, which technically wasn't a werewolf flick at all (and was quite boring for the most part). When DOG SOLDIERS premiered on the Sci-Fi cable network, I deliberately steered clear of it despite all the positive word of mouth. I hate commercial interruptions, but I hate cable channels that edit their movies even more. So I waited to see the rated-R video release. When I saw the cover box, it compared DOG SOLDIERS to films like ALIENS, JAWS, PREDATOR, and even the immortal EVIL DEAD. What other reason would I need, at that point, to rent the son of a bitch?
THE DOPE-While DOG SOLDIERS certainly is a solid and entertaining film, it didn't remind me of PREDATOR or EVIL DEAD in the least. I guess because most of the movie takes place in one house, where you have soldiers shooting at monsters, one might want to draw comparisons. I didn't think so. If anything, DOG SOLDIERS plays like NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD, trading zombies for werewolves and civilians for military dudes. I liked the story, there's a definite spin that I will not give away here, and the characters work very well of one another. It's got several tense moments, and is a well-made film all together. My favorite thing about DOG SOLDIERS, though, is the fact that there is NO COMPUTER-GENERATED IMAGERY!!! I don't mean to get off on a rant here, but didn't you feel like they ass-raped Rick Baker's Oscar-winning makeup FX legacy when they made the creatures in AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN PARIS into cartoony CGI blobs? Fuck that, right? Right. And you can go on and on all you want about how great BROTHERHOOD OF THE WOLF was, but the simple fact remains that in the end, there was a retarded-ass CGI monster running around. It just never looks real. Never. Speaking of, DOG SOLDIERS keeps it real, and features some incredible-looking werewolves. There is no substitute for art, creativity, and objects in real space. These monsters kick ass in more ways than one. Also, if you're like me and enjoy seeing assholes who shoot dogs get major payback, don't miss this flick.
MEMORABLE SCENES-A soldier fires his shotgun at a werewolf outside the house, only to have said creature snatch the gun away from him and fire a round right back.
DVD NOTES-The disc features running commentary by the producer (whom I think also produced HELLRAISER before the franchise turned into DOG SHIT) and has a great "Featurette" that not only shows interviews with cast and crew, but lets us see how those badass werewolf FX were done too.
(November 2002)