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Dog Soldiers

Dog Soldiers

List Price: $19.98
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Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Cheapo ...
Review: Wow, Aliens, Assault on Precinct 13, and Night of the Living Dead are all ...in one movie. Incredible. Not just in theme and story- but the very DIALOGUE and characters are ripped straight from those movies I mentioned.
I can see why the Brits all like this, but for the rest of us, stick with the better movies mentioned above because they were the true masterpieces of intensity, violence, and suspense, not this low-budget garbage.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: The Best Werewolf Movie I've Ever Seen!
Review: I went to see "Dog Soldiers" on the big screen in Los Angeles, and I think it's a shame that this crackerjack of a movie didn't have a wider release in American theaters. The audience I saw it with was in uproarious laughter one minute and gasping in shock the next. Brimming with ultra-violence, gore, and dark comedic wit, this movie really brings home the goods! Imagine "Deliverance" with werewolves instead of hillbillies. If you enjoy movies such as "Blade 2" and "From Dusk Till Dawn," then you'll dig this film.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Sausages! Heh.
Review: Hot on the heels of "Ginger Snaps" is another non-US werewolf film that does an excellent job of showing horror, tongue-in-cheek humor, and reverant nods to other movies it borrows from.

Sure, it's filled with cliche, but done very well. The premise, in a nutshell, is that a small squad of British soldiers are dropped into the Scottish Highlands on wargames -- on the eve of an important soccer match against Germany (important at the end with the newspaper mockup, and because one of the men, "Joe," is really into soccer).

All seems well initially, until a dead (cow? deer? not sure) animal falls onto their campfire. The interest of the squad leader (Pertwee) triggered, he leads his men to investigate, coming across the very bloody remains of their opposition in the wargames, the Special Forces unit.

They find a survivor, babbling "there was only supposed to be ONE!" Taking him with them (and co-opting the weapons with REAL ammo, the squad's were filled with blanks), the squad is beset by werewolves (which we don't see fully-lit until later). One death and a maiming later, the survivors run into Megan (Emma Cleasby), who takes them to the "safety" of a neighbor's house.

So, we have soldiers with limited ammunition, monsters trying to get in, and more secrets yet to be revealed.

"Dog Soldiers" may have been shot on a budget, but it was an enjoyable romp for anyone who loves werewolf movies.

Lots of gore (those who've seen the movie will understand my review title), but none of it gratuitous. And while the "shock" near the end might have been obvious, it was still well-done.

Enjoy!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: havent seen dvd yet but watch movie on sci-fi channel
Review: this movie is about a group of british soldiers, on a training
mition. things go bad they end up in a small house surrounded
by werwolves. they have two wonded men who will soon be werwolves, and they are low on amo.
the movie is a blast from start to finish, not much lag time
and not to much back store on everone.
a great movie to watch in the dark.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: "Dog Soldiers" will grab you by the throat
Review: This is one helluva good little movie.A group of British soldiers in the Scottish Highlands fight off a pack of wolfmen while hold up in an old cottage.Great suspense and terrific action abound in this low budget jewel while the soldiers try to survive until daylight.Its really good to see a film work with downhome special effects to make a good movie as opposed to those computer generated Hollywood slick looking movies.The wolves are believable as hell and the gore is really....well.... very gory.Intestines are ripped out and meat is eaten when the pack makes a kill and they make quite a few.
This is the first werewolf movie Ive seen that made the wolves look real and act scary.Face it , the werewolves reputation suffered at the hands of David Naughton and Jason Bateman so its really hard to make a movie where werewolves really come across scary .In this movie they do.
Just about everything is perfect in this little movie--a secluded cottage and the misty Scottish weather and the gloom of the woods and the impending nightfall all add up to a great setting for this man vs werewolf fight for survival.
If you like horror then see this movie ,it will put those big budget slick Hollywood pieces of crap you usually watch to shame.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: A real horror movie find...scary, bloody, and well-acted
Review: Usually straight-to-DVD films are junk, but there are some surprises out there, and this is one of them. A British horror/action film that was never released theatrically in the U.S., and starring faces mostly unfamiliar to American viewers, "Dog Soldiers" is an exciting, well-written and well acted horror flick with no pretensions. It's actually a much better film than some the recent indie horror flicks that received a lot of critical praise, like "28 Days Later" and "Cabin Fever." For horror and action fans, you can't miss this one.

"Dog Soldiers" is essentially a mixture of "Southern Comfort" and "The Warriors" with werewolves: a military unit finds itself trapped in a wilderness, surrounding by merciless foes -- who in this case happen to be huge two-legged wolves. The film also borrows heavily from many other movies: "Alien," "Aliens," "Predator," "The Night of the Living Dead," "The Birds," "Zulu" (the characters even make direct mention of the film), "The Balir Witch Project," and "Straw Dogs."

The plot follows a British squad on a training exercise in the Scottish Highlands (actually filmed in Luxembourg). The squad comes across their target, a Special Ops unit, but it has been mysteriously and viciously wiped out. The culprits are werewolves, and soon the squad and a local biologist are fighting to live through a night of the full moon in the middle of nowhere. There are a couple of nice twists in the story along the way that shift it in unexpected directions.

The acting is uniformly superb, something you wouldn't expect from this kind of lower-budget horror film. Because none of the actors are big-named stars, you really have no idea who will live through to the end and who will become werewolf-chow. Kevin McKidd (from "Trainspotting") and Sean Pertwee (son of one of the men who played Doctor Who) take the lead roles and do great, believable jobs as military figures under intense pressure who nonetheless rise to the occasion. The real scene-stealer is Liam Cunningham as the sole survivor of the Special Ops unit, a vile but secretive man who may be hiding something very important from the others.

The visual effects, thankfully, avoid CG as much as possible. The werewolves are achieved using full-body suits and robotic heads. They don't look very convincing in longer shots, but the filmmakers cleverly keep them mostly hidden or shown in very quick shots -- which makes them much scarier. There is quite a bit of gore, although not all of the grisly effects are believable. For the most part, the horror scenes rely on fast-moving and exciting action, but there are some very good 'jump' scares and creepy, drawn-out sequences. Hard-core horror buffs and fans of military action will both find the results satisfying.

The DVD contains a twenty-minute 'making of' featurette. Much of the running time is taken up with clips from the film, but there is some interesting information about the visual effects and the anti-CG philosophy behind them. The commentary is from the two producers, and had a lot of good info in it. The 5.1 sound mix is adequate; there are some juicy howling and explosions on the back speakers, but most of the sound is pushed to the front speakers and the volume is a bit low.

"Dog Soldiers" is a real find if you want some good, old-fashioned horror movie scares and rugged violence. It's smart and well-acted, in the bargain. I hope director Neil Marshall does more films like this (maybe they'll even receive a theatrical release).

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Dog Soldiers is Bloody Good!! (Literally!)
Review: I picked up this relatively unknown (in the States, at least) gem of monster flick based on the reviews from the Amazon USA and UK websites. I was not disappointed in the least. "Dog Soldiers" is the type of horror movie that a lot of us have been looking for - something with real "bite" and characters we care about, and not chock full of over-the-top CGI effects. The comparison to James Cameron's "Aliens" with its colonial Marines is a valid one, because these gritty British squaddies can more than hold their own while doing battle with their lethal foes, and keep their sense of humor throughout the combat.

I appreciated that this film features a British cast and is set in Scotland (though it was primarily filmed in Luxembourg). And I really enjoyed the soldiers' accents and slang (though I may not have understood every word the first time). The dialogue is sharp, clever, and often hilarious. The pacing of the story was quick, but not at the expense of necessary details or background. A consistent sense of tension and dread prevailed throughout the movie. The cast was excellent; all of the characters in Sgt. Wells' unit were believable. Liam Cunningham's pure evil Ryan character was right out of a comic book, but that was part of the fun - you can tell he had a blast playing that role. I knew of Sean Pertwee and Kevin McKidd and liked their portrayals, and thought the remainder of the actors, particularly Darren Morfitt as "Spoon", were top notch as well.

The fact that this was a lower budget film did not hamper it at all; if anything, it may have helped. It had a more authentic look and feel to it (similar to "28 Days Later") than most of the multi-million $ trash that Hollywood typically produces. The camera work was excellent, especially the "shaky cam" technique used during the soldiers' initial departure from the helicopter, and during Spoon's valiant last stand in the kitchen (my favorite scene in the film - absolutely BRILLIANT). The music soundtrack was the perfect accompaniment to the visuals onscreen. The numerous references (or tributes) to other films such as "Aliens" and "The Matrix" were fun to spot. My only regret is that the USA version of the DVD is lacking some of the special features of the UK version (commentary by the cast, storyboards, deleted scenes, etc.), but for less than $10.00 US, it is still a worthwhile buy.

Congratulations to Neil Marshall and the rest of the team on producing a truly enjoyable film.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: GUESS I VIEW THIS DIFFERENTLY!
Review: I am not a fan of deep horror but I do like chilling movies.

Actually what caught my attention was the actor, Liam Cunningham [from Falling For A Dancer]. I wanted to see more of his works.

Then again I am always intrigued by war games deep in the woods.
And I prefer fantasy to reality when it comes to blood and guts.

Dog Soldiers has gathered together a great cast that made the horror work.
The abandoned farmhouse was just a bit suspicious to me and added to the suspense. The gal driving through that narrow trail was, again, a bit suspicious. What was she doing there anyway?

But our soldiers had bonded well into a great unit and we sure were rooting for their escape. Heartpounding suspence!

I have to admit that I enjoyed the featurette and the commentary just as well as the movie itself.
The featurette made me understand the actors better and liked their work even more so than just from watching the movie.

The commentary gave a great background to the movie and added to some of the small tidbits that escaped my notice.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED -- IF you have the stomach for it.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Amazing! A Must See!
Review: I won't go over the plot as it's been covered. Suffice to to say this is one Helluva movie and (no offence) but something the americans could never do as their major studios churn out the same old same old with cheesy one liners.

With Dog Soldiers, you won't know whether to laugh or cry. It's not a comedy by any means but plenty of hilarious bits at the craziest of times and the dialogue is witty, fast and furious.

The werewolves are non CGI which is such a boost considering how crap CGI is (Jurassic Park apart).

As stated in other reviews it's a heady concoction of Aliens-Evil Dead-Zulu-Jaws-The Howling and you really feel for all the characters (unlike most horror films where the cast is just there to be eaten/killed and you don't care).

Best of all it has Englishmen talking and acting like real Englishmen and not the upper class, somewhat homosexual toffs that the Americans tend to portray us as (and think of us as).
Ooh! Hugh Grant ahs a lot to answer for!

There is even a woman who is sexy without resorting to getting naked in a gratuitous shower scene!

A real hoot from start to finish!

Rent it! Buy it!

Especially you Americans who were denied a theatrical release!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: one of the creepiest movies EVER
Review: I love horror movies, and like to think I know good horror from bad horror. Violence with blood and gore alone does not make a great horror movie. What makes a horror film great is feeling terrified for the characters while you are watching it and getting that "uncomfortable" feeling yourself while watching it-(fans of good horror know what i mean)

This movie has some blood gore and violence, but what makes it great is it truely well made and creepy as hell. I hate to admit it, but I had to stop watching it 2/3 of the way b/c I needed a break. I did manage to start it again after I had recovered. It is terrifying. excellent werewolves, creepy atmosphere, tense throughout, just awesome. I dare you to watch it alone at 2:00am with the lights out!!!

buy this dvd you will not be disapointed!!!!!!!!!!!

also, for fans of british horror, check out "deathwatch"- another creepy movie from our UK friends. not as good as dogsoldiers, but an excellent flick.


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