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Dog Soldiers (2002) More at IMDb Pro »

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500 comments in total

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92 out of 99 people found the following comment useful :-
This movie is just..., 8 June 2004

Author: gregory-rebelo from Providence, USA

...brillant.

I must admit that I was pretty skeptical when i picked it up from the rack at my DVD retailer. A werewolf movie? Aren't they generally so bad no one wants to watch them/buy them? The fact that it was on sale didn't help, but I braced myself and got it figuring that if it was bad, I'd bury it in some deep deep cave and never let it out. But the movie got me out of my seat with excitement and enjoyment at the action and the thrills. I remember checking the time on the DVD player and wincing at the fact I had only half an hour of film left to enjoy. True, I have seen better special effects. And true some things aren't very realistic (and the producers acknowledge those things). But for a studio I have never heard of with a budget far inferior to those of Hollywood super productions, I found those effects very well done.

A very good movie that gave me thrills I hadn't had since the first Predator.

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78 out of 88 people found the following comment useful :-
A Bloody good British Horror and not a teen in sight!, 11 December 2002

Author: John Taylor (jdtaylor1968@btopenworld.com) from Bedfordshire , England

If you are like me and are completly sick to death of the teen/college slasher horrors that hollywood seem to produce by the week then Dog Soldiers is then film for you. this film has everything for the true horror fan, a great story , good acting , lots of blood , tons of action and most importantly it's bloody scary. The film is about a group of soldiers on routine patrol in Scotland come across what seems to be a group of man eating beasts that turn out to be warewolf's and do their best to fight of the constant attack by the flesh eating beasts. What i like about the movie that while it has a good blend of horror and action it is also very amusing in parts to and unlike most hollywood horrors it it funny when the director means it to be! A classy way above average horror that you cant fail to enjoy. 8 out of 10.

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58 out of 64 people found the following comment useful :-
A good mix of horror and old time story telling, 6 December 2003

Author: Greg (gregmoroberts@yahoo.com) from Oakville, Ontario

I can't explain why I picked up the DVD, Dog Soldiers off the video store shelf. The box art consisted of poorly drawn wolves and there was a tag line that read `From the producers of Hellraiser'. Normally this combination would have me wiping down the cover in an attempt to remove any evidence that my fingerprints were interested in pursuing the rental. But, somehow, Dog Soldiers worked its way into the Saturday night rental pile and once all other options were exhausted, there I was, reluctantly putting the DVD into the player and hoping that there would be enough of anything to entertain me until bedtime.

Dog Soldiers opens in Scotland, where two love struck campers are attacked by some creature in the middle of the night. Cut ahead a few weeks and we are introduced to a group of army trainees that are left in the woods as part of an exercise against a team of Special Forces. Lead by Sergeant Wells (Sean Pertwee) and motivated by Private Cooper (Kevin McKidd), the squad is surprised upon their first nightfall in the wild by a mutilated cow that is thrust into their campsite. Following the bloody trail of the animal, they are soon led to the massacred remains of the elite Special Forces team that was stationed in the same region. Evidence of a struggle was everywhere, but no bodies were immediately evident, except for the ramblings of the sole survivor, Captain Ryan (played by Liam Cunningham) who was severely injured during the night.

Within moments, the group is besieged by wolf-like creatures and run for their lives towards the tree line, where they are fortunate enough to cross paths with a young woman that takes the remaining soldiers to a remote farm house. As night progresses, onslaught upon onslaught is countered by the soldiers as they fight to keep the werewolves out of their new fortress, but some, one by one, they fall victims to the creatures hunger.

Dog Soldiers is one of those rare horror movies that actually works. The creature effects are better than most bigger budgeted werewolf movies States side, and there are a few genuine good scares and tension as mounted by writer/director Neil Marshall. What I also appreciated from the film was its sense of humour, or rather; it's lack of it. In today's horror genre, we are subjected to countless ‘Freddyisms' or inside jokes that make the Scream series such a box-office bonanza. However, Dog Soldiers checks its humour at the door and focuses on the characters and claustrophobic feel of being trapped in a surrounded country house. Actually, the only chuckle you will get in this film will is mixed with extreme horror and gore. It occurs in a scene where the family dog pulls on the intestines of the living Sergeant Wells and he fights with the dog for his innards while the troops fight off a wave of attacks by the wolves at the front door. You'll find yourself smiling and then grotesquely repulsed by the same scene that put a smile in your cheeks.

I am not saying that Dog Soldiers is perfect. Not by any means. But horror films have never really gotten any better over the years, as Hollywood still tries to recapture such terror as identified in The Exorcist or Alien. However, Dog Soldiers will entertain and isn't that all we are looking for?

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46 out of 51 people found the following comment useful :-
Excellent movie, great script, dialogue and acting with superb DVD coverage, 18 March 2005

Author: Richard Brunton (imdb-update@brunton.org.uk) from Edinburgh, Scotland

When the trailer first came out for this movie I was dead excited, it was a British film with a different slant on a well visited horror genre. It had also received some interesting quotes at it's festival showing, all giving you the impression that it was a good movie.

Then time took over and quotes and reviews dropped it down, then I just never got round to watching it. So when my first copy of the DVD was poor and I stopped watching half way through I was gutted, and had to wait a few days to get a replacement.

The movie is great fun and mixes two genres really well, that of real soldiers mixed up with a bizarre horror premise of Werewolves in Scotland. As they say in the making of, it's a story of Soldiers and Werewolves, not the other way around. So it is that the story starts out looking very realistic and feeling pretty normal, and it's slowly ramped up and pulled slightly sideways scene by scene until it's pretty much madness.

Saying that, the reactions and lines from the characters are all pretty much realistic. There aren't many Hollywood one liners, instead there are quips, swearing and straight denial that you get in real life when people are faced with difficult situations. It all feels like these are real people in a real situation.

The script is excellent for this very fact, but the actors lend a tremendous effort too. Sean Pertwee is a sadly under used talent, and he shows his colours here flying through scenes with the greatest of authority, and he's very well followed through by the rest of the soldier cast who all just seem so natural in their roles. All except for the female of the story who feels very much out of place and awkward, her lines all too unnatural.

The action and editing keeps going, and there are quite a few refreshing moments when traditional horror films would throw something that the characters, but here it doesn't happen. For that it's quite unpredictable and enjoyable. The action just keeps on coming with very few breaks, the Werewolves are unstoppable.

Not only are the unstoppable, they also look great. Big, hairy, scary, there's nothing that looks fake about them and they really do look menacing.

Overall it's a great fun film and the experience on DVD is so much better than so many others I've seen. Plus it's British, quite original, full of movie references and with some great actors.

I have never enjoyed an audio commentary as much as I have with Dog Soldiers. It's hilarious and the guys involved sound like they had such a laugh doing the movie, never mind the commentary.

I've just watched the second audio commentary by the US Producers, and I was surprised again that I've learnt so much more about the movie again. There are so many more hidden references and character\story connections that I'd missed. This truly is the first DVD that I've watched where the audio commentaries are so strong.

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39 out of 43 people found the following comment useful :-
Loads of bloody fun! A must for werewolf freaks!, 11 January 2005

Author: joker1actual from United States

When I got this movie I was expecting cheesy American B movie about soldiers against people in rubber wolf masks. How much more wrong could I have been? This movie was brilliant and a refreshing change from all the Hollywood junk about killer dolls and such. By the middle of the movie you actually care whether the characters get out or not. The scenes in this film were well filmed and the location was absolutely breath taking. Stick around for the credits on this one boys and girls. You'll definitely find it interesting. The last time I was this impressed with a werewolf movie was Silver Bullet. I would even put this film with An American Werewolf in London. It has some excellent acting, character development and if you see this keep your eye on Pvt. Spooner! You'll remember him come the end of the movie! I would give this flick four stars for sure!

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40 out of 46 people found the following comment useful :-
On careful consideration - pretty much the best werewolf film ever., 12 September 2004

Author: billbennett from Manchester, England

Why is Aliens the best action SF film ever? One of the reasons is because James Cameron took the time to build up the characters in the squad to the point where you actually cared when the grunts started to get shredded.

Dog Soldiers does exactly the same, and features some great Brit dialogue to boot.

The region 2 DVD features an extra commentary not found on the Region 1 DVD - basically this consists of the director, the co-producer, Kevin McKidd, Sean Pertwee and Liam Cunningham getting hammered on Stella Artois and producing a brilliantly funny commentary which sounds like a bunch of mates getting drunk while watching the movie. Which was exactly what it was, except that this particular bunch of mates actually made the movie. Genius!!! Liam Cunningham - spectacularly stiff upper-lipped and evil in the film - turns out to be a very droll Irishman with the gift of the gab. "The Uamhunn.... The Uamhunn....."

One of the film's strengths is its gritty portrayal of British infantry in action, both in word and deed. I particularly enjoyed the cast commenting on how much they relished dumping those "crappy plastic guns" (the SA-80s the squad carries at the start) and getting a chance to charge about with MP5s. As Kevin McKidd put it: "So, you want me to run about the woods with a machine-gun, firing it all over the place. And I get PAID for this?!!"

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36 out of 42 people found the following comment useful :-
Just Another Werewolf Flick? Think again!, 15 March 2004

Author: mjw2305 from England

American Werewolf in London, was always my favourite werewolf movie. well, this is better!

The cast are not widely known, familiar faces, but no star names, yet they all give first class performances. The dialogue is slick and realistic and the plot and characters build very well.

The gore is truly realistic and looks painful at times, similar to some of the scenes at the start of Private Ryan.

Most of the characters are rock hard nutter's, and they spout off cheesy lines like 'Come and ave a go if you think your hard enough!' and 'I Hope i give you the Sh*t's, you F*ck*n Wimp!' said just after a great fist fight with a werewolf and just before he is about to be eaten.

At no point does this movie try to take itself seriously, and that's why its so good. It really is very funny and at the same time pretty realistic (for a werewolf film). If you like the genre you simply have too see this film, if you don't your missing a treat.

9/10 Great fun

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27 out of 30 people found the following comment useful :-
Worth while, 4 September 2004

Author: stamper from The Netherlands

This one is the best werewolf film I've ever seen. I must admit that it hasn't got the greatest special effects or the biggest names in the acting business attached to it, but the film succeeds in doing what needs to be done: it keeps you on the edge of your seat for the whole ride and it doesn't let you go for one minute. Other than that, the actors are pretty good and there are also some good comedic moments. If you want a nice night of entertainment, suspense and scares give this one a try, because despite not being the most original or inventive film out there, it does not only promise to deliver IT DOES SO!!! I just know that I especially (and two others) highly enjoyed this low budget horror flick.

8 out of 10

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28 out of 35 people found the following comment useful :-
Best Werewolf Film Since An American Werewolf In London, 4 January 2003
Author: Big Movie Fan from England

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

With all due respect to other nations, we British make some fantastic werewolf movies. There was the brilliant An American Werewolf In London made in 1981 and in 2002, this superior feature.

Dog Soldiers is a simple story about an Army platoon on exercise in Scotland who find themselves pitched against intelligent werewolves. The script is excellent, the characters believable and the werewolves are scary.

Dog Soldiers is one of those horror movies that gradually builds up the tension. For the first half, you don't actually see the werewolves but you know they are there. Then, you get glimpses of them and in the final half you get to see them in all their gruesome glory. The main part of the film finds the platoon holed up in a cottage with the werewolves gathering outside-Night Of The Living Dead was obviously an inspiration. This is where the film really delivers. The soldiers are in a predicament. Are they safe inside or would they be safer outside? It's hard to figure out. The scenes are really tense, especially certain scenes where certain soldiers attempt to brave it outside. Do they make it? Watch the film and find out.

I have to mention the werewolves. They are very original looking, a far cry from Lon Chaney's Wolfman. They are big mean looking suckers who just exude fear at the slightest glimpse.

Dog Soldiers should be included in any Top Ten Werewolf Movie list. I have no problem in recommending it to anyone.

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27 out of 34 people found the following comment useful :-
Pretty good werewolf horror., 19 December 2003

Author: HumanoidOfFlesh from Chyby,Poland

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

Neil Marshall's "Dog Soldiers" is actually one of the best horror movies made in 2002.It's fast-paced,bloody and insanely violent.The body count is really high and the action is very exciting.A company of British soldiers on a routine training mission finds that they are being hunted by a pack of werewolves.The bloodbath ensues,and the few soldiers remaining after the first attack-Sergeant Wells(Sean Pertwee),Pvt.Cooper(Kevin McKidd)and a few others.They are saved by a mysterious local girl,Megan(Emma Cleasby)and hole up in a remote farmhouse."Dog Soldiers" is not as good as "Ginger Snaps",but still delivers plenty of blood and guts.The acting is surprisingly decent and the direction is well-handled.Check it out.8 out of 10.

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