The usually wooden Michael Pare is effectively cast against type as Ted and actually turns in a pretty good performance. Mariel Hemingway does a decent job of playing Janet, who gradually begins to suspect that there’s something a bit odd about her brother, and Mason Gamble manages the tricky feat of playing the kid in a horror movie without being whiny and annoying. But the real star of the film is Primo, the German Shepherd who plays the hero of the film,Thor. He has an incredibly expressive face, and his scenes with Ted are superb.
It’s not a great film by any means. It’s let down by a transformation scene featuring some of the worst CGI ever, and the werewolf, although brilliantly designed, is slightly lacking in execution, and in a rare misstep by Red, is shown too clearly for too long. But if you’re a fan of werewolf movies or heroic dog movies you really should give this one a look. As far as I know it’s the only film to combine these two genres, which must be some kind of claim to fame, right?
Chris Beaumont: Dog Soldiers (2002)
In 2006, director Neil Marshall made his debut on the big screen in the US with the supremely scary The Descent. Now, if you have not seen that film, do yourself a favor, go rent it, buy it, whatever, just treat yourself to a horror film that has genuine scares and chills. Neil Marshall's story does not begin there, it actually goes back a few years, 2002, to be exact, he made his American debut in a rather inauspicious manner when Dog Soldiers premiered as a Sci-Fi Original Movie on the Sci-Fi Channel. If you watch any of those movies, you will know that quality is not always their primary concern, however, every once in awhile a gem will slip through and prove to be well worth seeking out. Dog Soldiers, edited for content, premiered on October 15, 2002.
This is a movie that combines the survival horror and splatter elements from sources like the Evil Dead series (and actually naming a character Bruce Campbell), as well as more suspenseful horror from the likes of Jaws, and the action driven suspense of Aliens. It combines all of that in a werewolf movie that reinvigorates the lycanthrope genre. Marshall emerged here as a smart new voice on the horror landscape.
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