Dog Soldiers originally aired on the Sci Fi channel a few months ago. I wasn't expecting anything outstanding, but it looked like it might be halfway decent and nothing else was on that night. To say I was surprised is putting it mildly, I was blown away by this one!

Dog Soldiers is an import from England, where it was a theatrical release (garnering rave reviews), not a "made-for-television" movie as many people assumed. None of the actors are well known over here, though they've had small parts in films like Trainspotting, so I won't bother with a cast listing. Despite being populated with Brits, the dialogue is clear and easy to understand (unlike Trainspotting), so you don't have to turn on the closed captioning to follow along.

The Dog Soldiers of the title are a troop of English soldiers that have been dropped in the Scottish wilderness for a war game against an elite special operations team. When they finally locate the special ops and move in for the kill, they discover there's already been a kill, with only the commander left alive. Barely. The troop is intrigued to learn that while their group was issued weapons loaded with blanks, the opposing team not only has live ammo, they also have grenades and tranquilizer darts. Questioning the surviving commander only leads to babbling about "there was only supposed to be one".

In a short time, the camp is attacked again, by large vicious beasts, prompting the troop to head for safety. They stumble across a road, where they're picked up by a zoologist who's in the area studying the "wildlife"; she knows what the creatures are and how to stop them. The group locates a house that's mysteriously empty of its occupants, and barricades themselves inside, hoping to last until morning.

The acting is superb, every person is completely believable in the role they're cast in. From the tough but fair platoon leader, to the ordinary soldiers who range from the cocky "it's just a couple of werewolves, no problem!" to the "Oh my God, what IS that thing??" It's fantastic to see a movie that's ostensibly a horror movie that lacks the one thing that makes most horror movies fail. Namely, idiotic characters doing stupid things. There's not one case of anyone wandering off alone to investigate a strange noise, no one assumes that one shot has actually killed anything, and no one drops their weapon beside a "dead" beast and turns their back on it. These guys are soldiers, and the werewolves are the enemy. End of story. Dog Soldiers is a unique combination of action and horror, similar to Alien with its rough and tough Marines.

The effects are top notch, from the blood and guts (literal guts, since disemboweling is favored by the werewolves) to the werewolves themselves. No cheesy masks,stop motion photography, or badly done models in sight. True to military form, there's plenty of action, shooting, knifing, and explosions are the rule, rather than the exception.

The script is wonderfully written, with just enough humor to be believable, but not enough to turn it into a comedy. The humor is entirely fitting under the circumstances, mainly being remarks that characters make that are completely appropriate given their confusion and disbelief over the existence of werewolves.

If you see Dog Soldiers on the shelf at your local video store, don't pass it over because you've never heard of it. Take it home and watch it, and then tell your friends how good it is. Even people who dislike horror movies will like this one as a straight action movie. If you substituted any human enemy forces for the werewolves, you'd have a top of the line war movie.

I was surprised to see that the full theatrical version differed very little from the SciFi channel's edited cut. The worst language was edited, and some of the longer explanatory scenes were cut down to shorten the running time to allow for commercials, but most of the violence and gore remained intact, surprisingly. The theatrical version is Rated "R" for strong language, gore and violence.




Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Fit for Friday Evening
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children Age 13 and Older