Several legends of the common monster stable originated in European folklore, so it is oddly fitting when the creatures that American film industry have made popular become the focal point of a European production. Such is the case with Neil Marshall’s horror film Dog Soldiers, which has no shortage of -Spoiler Warning- werewolves. The film starts off with a young couple out for a romantic camping trip far from civilization, which in horror movie terms is pretty much a huge neon sign reading “Please attack us.” Sure enough, a big wolf hand reaches into the tent and makes short work of the two. Not too far away in the woods, a man is trying to escape from pursuers, but is eventually taken down. The man is Private Cooper (Kevin McKidd) and this was an exercise to test his resourcefulness for the British special forces. Captain Ryan (Liam Cunningham) is considering letting him join his team, but denies him entry, and beats the tar out of him, when Cooper refuses a direct order from Ryan to shoot one of the dogs that tracked him. Many months later, Sergeant Wells (Sean Pertwee) and his team, of which Cooper is a part, are dropped off in the same area of Scotland for a military training exercise where they must locate an opposing team of soldiers. All goes well, until night fall, when a mangled deer carcass is dropped into their campsite. The next day, the team sees a flare shot from another part of the woods. When Sergeant Wells’ team makes it to their new destination, all they find at the abandoned post are some weapons, some random organs and gore, and Captain Ryan in desperate need of medical attention.
Everyone should be getting a solid Predator vibe from the situation at this point. Ryan confirmed that something slaughtered his team and that they need to leave right away. The team tries to stabilize Ryan and call for extraction, but to no one’s surprise, communications are down. Communications always go down. The squad moves out, but they are being stalked by something, and Wells is caught and mortally wounded by one of the creatures. Cooper rescues him and in spite of Well’s orders to the contrary, picks up the injured Wells and continues to run away from what ever is chasing them. When they attempt to cross an isolated road, the soldiers almost get flattened by a woman in a jeep. She quickly tells them to get in, as if she is aware that something is amiss. She introduces herself as Megan (Emma Cleasby) and assumes that the soldiers were called in to take care of the creatures in the woods. She takes what’s left of the team to a cabin where she has been researching the disturbances in this area and, as the soldiers fortify the cabin and tend to the wounded, tells them that she believes the creatures to be werewolves. This film is kind of a low budget derivative of movies like the aforementioned Predator as well as Aliens (once they get to the cabin for their stand-off) but while feeling familiar, it manages to have its own flavor too. The characters are all well rounded enough to be interesting and the action is shot well enough to be genuinely exciting when the wolves start breaking into the house to pick off the soldiers one by one. Practical effects are used for the wolves, which I like, but the werewolf suits must have been heavy and stiff, because the on screen monsters are rarely dynamic.
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