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A squad of British soldiers on a routine training exercise
in the Scottish highlands stumble upon Captain Ryan, the sole
survivor of a Special Operations team that has been literally
torn to pieces. Ryan refuses to reveal the secrets of his
mission, even though whatever ate his men is keen for second
helpings...
A
slightly washed-out colour scheme and documentary-style hand-held
camerawork lend this movie a sense of gritty reality. At least,
it does to begin with.
Then
things turn outrageously gory, in a Bad Taste sort
of way, when the werewolves attack, blood sprays everywhere,
and Sergeant Wells (Sean Pertwee) struggles to keep his escaping
guts in place! How this gruesome film ever got away with its
15 certificate I will never know! Further darkly comic moments
include the scene in which Private Cooper (Kevin McKidd) and
zoologist Megan (Emma Cleasby), who teams up with the soldiers,
attempt to operate on the drunken Wells.
Other
examples of the genre are alluded to by the writer/director
Neil Marshall. For instance, as in An American Werewolf
in London, the favoured explanation for beastly activities
proclaimed by the locals is the old standby of the escaped
lunatic.
Budgetary
limitations mean that we rarely see the monsters up close,
but this remains an impressive British movie - except for
the fact that the final twist regarding the werewolf clan
is not explained very clearly at all (or am I just being thick?).
That aside, however, Dog Soldiers can be considered
a howling success.
Chris
Clarkson
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