As I’ve said elsewhere, I first approached werewolf films with a bit of reluctancy considering that the subject matter didn’t innately pique my interest but, after watching a few of the more acclaimed works in the genre, I found most lycanthrope flicks to be surprisingly good as a whole and even a majority of the middle weight efforts satisfactorily entertaining. Neil Marshall’s Dog Soldiers falls solidly into the latter category without any qualms. While never attempting to be anything more than a good werewolf movie, Marshall’s film masterfully balances a sound plot, sardonic wit, local color, and expertly handled cinematography as it culminates in a very respectable, enjoyable piece of horror cinema.
A British regiment is plotted against a Special Operations squadron in the Scottish Highlands as part of a training exercise. When the former locate the rival platoon, it is all but vanquished with the exception of one soldier, Captain Ryan (Liam Cunningham). After a vain attempt to call base for immediate evacuation, they are rescued by Megan (Emma Cleasby), a zoologist working within the area, and retreat to an abandoned house four hours from the nearest town before realizing they have until dawn to fend off local myths come to life: werewolves.
First, we have the various horror references, which are never oblique. The structure of the film follows George Romero’s Night of the Living Dead almost to a tee, all the way down to the director confining his actors to an abandoned farmhouse as a futile effort at escape involves procuring a vehicle just out of reach, of which, two of the soldiers are named Bruce Campbell (Thomas Lockyer) and Harry G. Wells (Sean Pertwee)–“H. G. Wells” for those of you web surfing while reading. With a wink and a nod to John Landis’s An American Werewolf in London, whose soundtrack is comprised of songs making reference to the moon, we witness Megan halfheartedly play Claude Debussy’s “Clair de Lune,” roughly translated as “Moonbeam,” on the piano before she utters, “It’s that time of the month,” à la John Fawcett’s Ginger Snaps. Lastly, Private Cooper (Kevin McKidd) instructs his crew to implement only “short, controlled bursts” of ammunition as does Michael Biehn’s character, Corporal Dwayne Hicks, in James Cameron’s Aliens. We might even have an offhanded reference to Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining when “Spoon” Witherspoon (Darren Morfitt) utters, “Little pigs, little pigs, we’ve come to nick your video” as he secures the farmhouse.
The humor of Dog Soldiers is just as well handled in that it is never forced and, thus, takes the audience by surprise in many cases, making it all the more rewarding in its lack of pretension. We empathize with the characters more because we can easily view the rationale in utilizing the hammer in which we are attempting to board up our makeshift refuge as we pause to deter the lycanthropic hand which is darting through the mailbox slot beside our weary heads. The same reasoning is just as valid when, after tossing a pot of boiling water on our hairy assailant, we pop the monster on the head with the container when he continues to persist. Though excessively morbid, we cannot help but laugh when Cooper resorts to using super glue in hopes of keeping Wells’s intestines where they belong considering they have survived, not only a werewolf attack, but a curious dog’s honest affections, the canine refusing to acknowledge that a little tug on such a fresh, moist morsel might not be welcome considering the treat in question is still attached to its host.
The writing itself is not dependent upon piecemeal horror references or wry humor. The plot is well conceived and executed as it remains consistent throughout. Marshall takes standard horror fare and legitimizes it from the offset as we find ourselves stranded in the woods during the film’s opening sequence. However, the circumstance is made plausible (verses trite) by situating his protagonists via a military outing gone wrong. The film’s climax blindsides the audience in that most viewers will judge a potential character’s nature to be suspiciously askew and, once revealed to be correct, the wind is let out of the one’s prophetic sails just as Marshall masterfully reveals another plot twist.
The external consistency of the film is stunningly sound for those who are still intrigued with the film after its closing credits. The film’s primary action begins on the first of September in 2001, when England did indeed beat Germany as mentioned during the course of the narrative. Furthermore, there was a full moon during that time as well. And, yes, super glue was utilized in Vietnam to hold human tissue together, as cited by Cooper. However, what I found most remarkable in regards to the script is its control. For example, the werewolf pack parallels the British unit in that it is mentioned that the former consists of between six to eight members (the platoon hosts six soldiers), complete with an alpha and a second in command, just as we have with our protagonists. Intriguingly, Marshall does not posit this irony in the guise of political commentary, but merely to tighten the overall structure of the film as a whole.
Dog Soldiers is well photographed as Sam McCurdy delicately balances his shadows alongside Marshall’s teasing us with vague snippets of his antagonists. Many might complain that the film is too dark at times but, once again, this is intentional in that we are thus forced to empathize with those in distress after the generator is cut in midway through the film.
My only quibbles with Dog Soldiers lies early on when the corpse of a cow falls out of thin air onto the regiment’s campfire. Everyone finds the mutilated bovine disturbing as they deliberate upon whether or not to call the exercise off but not one person stops and ponders upon the anomaly of a heifer suddenly falling from the sky. Secondly, the dialect of the characters, however colorful and entertaining, eradicates some of the would-be humor, especially in the form of one-liners from the cast. I found myself laughing retrospectively as I thumbed through the script when I should have been laughing during the film.
Neil Marshall is to be commended for his modest effort, Dog Soldiers. Not only did he rise to the occasion by presenting a new angle on a standard horror scenario with typecast antagonists, but he brings his script to life as he litters it with well rounded characters amid much sardonic, but never heavy handed, levity. Dog Soldiers is to be considered a welcome addition to anyone’s collection, lycanphile or no.
-Egregious Gurnow
- Interview with J.R. Bookwalter - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Andrew J. Rausch - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Rick Popko and Dan West - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Director Stevan Mena (Malevolence) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Screenwriter Jeffery Reddick (Day of the Dead 2007) - January 22, 2015
- Teleconference interview with Mick Garris (Masters of Horror) - January 22, 2015
- A Day at the Morgue with Corri English (Unrest) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Writer/Director Nacho Cerda (The Abandoned, Aftermath) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Actress Thora Birch (Dark Corners, The Hole, American Beauty) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Actor Jason Behr, Plus Skinwalkers Press Coverage - January 22, 2015
