403. Dog Soldiers; movie review

 

 

DOG SOLDIERS

Cert 15

105 mins

BBFC advice: Contains strong bloody violence, gore, horror, language

Not since American Werewolf In London have I gone for a horror spoof and even that didn't make me laugh.

I can, however, see the merit in Dog Soldiers - the constant stream of irony, avalanche of blood and (literally) guts, and rubber men/wolves just weren't my bag.

Actually, I was on board for about 30 minutes and for the first round of gags and gory deaths but they started to wear thin quickly.

Neil Marshall's film has gained cult status since it was released in 2002 and I can see why horror fans would go for it.

It stars Sean Pertwee and Kevin McKidd as soldiers on a training exercise against Special Forces in the Scottish Highlands.

The squad think it is a regular day out until they discover the bloody remains of the opposition unit and its leader (Liam Cunningham) apparently near death.

This sets them up against a new and very real enemy - a pack of werewolves.

From then on, there is more fake blood squirting across the screen than during any movie I can recall seeing.

Often accompanying the red stuff is slithery rubber representing body parts which may or may not be attached to their owner.

It appears our heroes have been saved when a lass (Emma Cleasby) drives past in a Jeep but a local farmhouse proves to be no refuge from the crazed beasts.

Dog Soldiers takes the mickey out of itself throughout. I doubt if I will be able to forget the Lazarus-type recovery of Pertwee's character from having his intestines spilling out.

But, as said, I just don't find blood, guts and eyeballs funny and, after a while, the spiky dialogue just became a bit samey.

I won't be signing up to this cult.

Reasons to watch: There hasn't been anything quite like it

Reasons to avoid: The gore and the ham acting

Laughs: None

Jumps: Three

Vomit: Yes

Nudity: None

Overall rating: 5/10

Did you know? Neil Marshall chose to use dancers as the werewolves instead of the typical stuntmen in order to highlight their grace and elegant movements. The set was also designed size-wise to force the creatures to have to bend a bit upon entering thereby highlighting their statuesque physiques.

The final word. Neil Marshall: "People still loving it after all this time makes me feel a bit old, but it certainly makes me feel very happy. It’s got this cult following. It’s been amazing talking about it again and I’ve got a lot of memories associated with that time." Sci Fi Now

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