The film opens with a couple camping in the woods, just as they are to get intimate, the tent zipper starts to open and the young woman is dragged out in a shower of blood. Fast forward a few weeks, and a regiment of British soldiers are in the same woods on maneuvers. They are split into two groups and sent out into the tangle of trees. It is not long before they are surprised by a gutted cow dropped into their midst. They set out to investigate, not liking what they find. They soon find themselves being chased through the dark by an unseen enemy. Eventually, the fast-dwindling group find themselves holed up in an empty farmhouse. It is here where they make their stand against the foes that have surrounded them and have no intention of allowing them to leave.
Dog Soldiers is a movie that is firing on all cylinders, deftly blending horror, comedy, and action in a cohesive film that thrills all the way through. Aside from references to other films, Marshall stages some very impressive action scenes, from the initial chase through the woods, to the multiple sieges on the home. The action is cut very quickly, but perspective is never lost, and we see a good variety of weapons used in the attack, from the standard issue guns, to a sword, to a truck, to homemade flamethrowers.
Overall, this is a film that helped reignite my interest in werewolves, and also showed that Sci-Fi Originals need not always be dreck, though I do recommend seeking the DVD release, which is uncut. If you want blood, guts, bullets, laughs, a few surprises, and a spiffy werewolf design, this is definitely one for the books.
Marshall even gets in a Matrix quote, something I didn't realize until I rewatched the film recently. Another piece of notable trivia is that Jason Statham was originally set for the lead only to leave for John Carpenter's Ghosts of Mars, while Simon Pegg was offered a small part, but was talked out of it by Edgar Wright who wanted Pegg's first horror role to be in Shawn of the Dead.
Ian Woolstencroft: Romasanta: The Werewolf Hunt (2004)
When is a werewolf film not a werewolf film? When it’s Romasanta.
There aren’t many werewolf movies that can claim to be “Based on a true story” but Romasanta can. The film takes the “Werewolf of Allariz” murders in 19th Century Spain as its source material, with Julian Sands playing Manuel Blanco Romasanta, the man who confessed to thirteen brutal murders and had his death sentence commuted to life imprisonment after claiming he was a werewolf.
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