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Review Archive
FILMS
Dog Soldiers (2002)I'm warning you ahead of time. Dog Soldiers is one of my favorite films. So if this review sounds like it's written by a fanboy, don't attempt to adjust your set. It is written by a fanboy.
Dog Soldiers is a British production, for starters. In fact, some viewers felt it was "too British." So the sequel, already in post-production, features a mostly American cast. (Personally, I refuse to accept that the average American viewer can't identify with these characters simply because they're Brits. But whatever. We're not talking about the sequel. We're talking about the original, which remains as British as the Union Jack, cornish pasties, and Billy Idol.
Some viewers are going to have a difficult time making out the dialogue to begin with; I did and I am British. But you get used to it after a bit. And the dialogue remains one of the movie's greatest strengths once you get past the initial confusion. Many military and/or horror films have to feature some establishing shots of camaraderie and so on. Otherwise, we wouldn't give a toss when people started going all dead.
What makes the establishing shots in Dog Soldiers so refreshing (at least to an American audience) is the sheer Britness of them. Banter between the soldiers, dropped into the Scottish wilderness on a training exercise, ranges from Joe's frustration at missing the "footie" (a soccer game pitting Germany against Great Britain; all-out footie war!) to Wells' wishing he were at home with his wife, the tellie, and a brew. (Very telling that, in this context, a "brew" means tea and not beer.) But nationality aside, the film succeeds in establishing everyone's personality, their connections to one another, and their general likeability early on.
I'm going to try very hard not to use any spoilers in this review. So I'm going to confine myself to what little you could gather just by glancing at the front cover on the video store shelves. "Six men. Full moon. No chance."
A squad of British soldiers is dropped into the wilds of rural Scotland on a training exercise, led by Sergeant Harry Wells (Pertwee). Sci-fi fans will probably recognize Pertwee as the son of Jon Pertwee, well known to fans of Doctor Who as the third doctor. This apple hasn't fallen far from the tree. Sean's forays into sci-fi (aside from Dog Soldiers) include parts in Paul Anderson's Soldier and Event Horizon and a small part in Equilibrium.
The squad comes across the remains of another camp, demolished and littered with the remains of dead soldiers. It quickly becomes obvious that the training exercise is over, as the squad is forced to hold up in an abandoned house, accompanied by a local researcher (played by Emma Cleasby) and the one surviving member of the previous camp (played by Liam Cunningham).
I've heard Dog Soldiers described as a combination of Aliens, Night of the Living Dead, the Evil Dead series, and a range of other similarly themed films. And I don't think anybody involved would deny that actually. In fact, one of the soldiers is named Bruce Campbell, presumably as a tribute to Evil Dead 2.
The most obvious conflict in the film is between the soldiers and the werewolves that prowl the Scottish woods. But, as with the aforementioned influences, there's also quite a bit of conflict within the house. Loyalties are questioned and friendships strained as the gang are jammed in a kettle and set to a fast boil.
One of the things I really like about films like Aliens and Dog Soldiers is the absence of stupidity. Some people think the melding of action and horror doesn't really work. Personally, I think it's every bit as horrifying to see a well-prepared, well-trained, and cohesive group of protagonists come up against a force that puts the fear of God in them anyway. No wandering off on your own to check out that mysterious noise in the woods. No leaving perfectly good weapons where they were dropped by the last poor sap. These guys are armed to the teeth. They know their tactics. And they're no strangers to pressure situations. And still, they're hopelessly outclassed. That makes for good horror in my book.
Know what else makes for good horror? Grissly death scenes. And Dog Soldiers won't disappoint most fans on that count. Visera flies around like a flipping ticker-tape parade. Enough said.
On to the werewolves themselves. [FAIR SPOILER WARNING: Skip this bit if you want to be taken by surprise when they appear.] There are probably going to be viewers who don't dig the werewolf design. They're pretty anthropomorphic. But they're much taller and leaner than most designs I've seen. They stand upright in all cases, appearing almost totemic with their elongated legs and torsos and their slightly oversized wolf heads.
Personally, I liked that design for two reasons. First, it's partly a film about soldiers. And I find it more satisfying to see soldiers fight something that at least partially resembles humanity than I would seeing soldiers shoot large dogs. Make of that what you will. But when the werewolves stride into plain sight later in the movie, it gives them a sort of warriorlike bearing. Like when you see the Predator decloak in another movie that lends a lot of influence to this one.
Second, I think the werewolves have a sort of mythic feel. (As I said, they look like totems you might find being worshipped by some tribe in the far reaches of ... wherever.) They're, quite literally, larger than life. Less animals with purpose than humanoids with the edges of civilization sanded off.
OK. That's enough of me. If you like the idea of a bunch of British squaddies battling for survival against monsters pulled straight from European folklore and dropped into the spookiest glen Scotland had to offer, then do yourself a favor. Stop reading, get your car keys, and head off to the video store. If Dog Soldiers disappoints, I'll let you shoot me with a silver bullet.
Sincerely,
Um... John... Youllneverfindme, Portland, OR
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