Dog Soldiers, dog movie

[Tom Chick]

Just watched Dog Soldiers.

Ugh. After 28 Days Later and Audition, I'd almost forgotten that people are still making crappy horror movies in other countries.

-Tom

[DrCrypt]

I don't trust werewolf movies since American Werewolf in London and The Howling - the only good werewolf movies in twenty years.

Christ, anyone remember Brotherhood of the Wolves? All I remember about it is that it was about a kung-fu fighting Native American hunter tracking aristocratic werewolves through Napoleonic France. Oh, and that at one point, the overenthusiastic cinematographer jizzed the audience trying to pull of the shot of which every undersexed film student dreams: sweeping up a naked woman's breast to dissolve directly into a profile of a mountain in the French Alps.

Were the werewolves in Dog Soldiers as astoundingly fake and stupid looking as they seemed to be on the back cover of the DVD?

[Captain Cookiepants]

Oh dude! This was a good movie! The scene with the wardrobe was inspired!
And how many werewolf movies have some big bruiser trying to box the monster? And it contains the only 'Matrix' reference that doesn't depend on the overused the day after it premiered 'freeze and quick pan around' move.
I mean yeah, taken all together it was a bad movie, but there were so many cool scenes!

[Captain Cookiepants]

Christ, anyone remember Brotherhood of the Wolves? All I remember about it is that it was about a kung-fu fighting Native American hunter tracking aristocratic werewolves through Napoleonic France. Were the werewolves in Dog Soldiers as astoundingly fake and stupid looking as they seemed to be on the back cover of the DVD?
Dog Soldiers isn't a movie that tries for any type of 'message' or 'deepness' it's basically 'Night of the Living Dead' with werewolves. I actually turned 'Brotherhood of the Wolves' off not even half way through, it looked SO good in trailers though :(
'Dog Soldiers' is a mindless movie with cool scenes and great lines. The werewolves are only glimpsed through 90% of the movie, and the close-ups aren't THAT bad, they look better in the right atmosphere.

And the wardrobe scene!!! Damn that ruled!

[DrCrypt]

The werewolf genre is in a sad state of affairs when the best werewolf movie of the last twenty years actually involves a slam-dunking, basketball playing teenage werewolf.

[Captain Cookiepants]

The werewolf genre is in a sad state of affairs when the best werewolf movie of the last twenty years actually involves a slam-dunking, basketball playing teenage werewolf.

Oh no doubt. I think it has to do with the lack of 'sypathetic' type crap you get with your vampire movies. No Anne Rice novels to turn in to movies where people start to look at Tom Cruise all squinty.
And even in the rare werewolve movie they try to make the human version all sympathetic and romantic.
Plus vampire movies always have the 'broading evil vampire' with long-ass speeches about something or other, werewolves generally just drool and growl then rip your throat out. No way to shove a Celine Dion song into that scene.

[Tom Chick]

'Dog Soldiers' is a mindless movie with cool scenes and great lines.

You had me agreeing with you there until you got to the part about the cool scenes and great lines. I think Netflix must have edited that stuff out of the version they sent me. :)

DrCrypt, I remember being astonished at Brotherhood of the Wolf: such fantastic production values wasted on something so vapid and incoherent. I guess that's pretty French, come to think of it.

Okay, here's a great horror movie that, IMO, actually isn't a horror movie. Has anyone seen Larry Fessenden't Wendigo? What about Philip Ridley's The Reflecting Skin? Two coming of age stories filtered beautifully through horror movie sensibilities.

-Tom

[Anders Hallin]

I thought Ginger Snaps was one of the better werewolf movies I've seen. I've only seen that and The Howling though :)
And I wouldn't really call it a werewolf movie, as such.

[DrCrypt]

How about Philip Ridley's The Reflecting Skin?
Although I haven't seen this for years, this is another one of those movies that stays with me a chill in my gut in the way it reflects how absolutely horrifying the emotional and psychological weave of humanity can be. What made it a fascinating and incredibly disturbing film is that the kid in it has built himself up this bizarre supernatural mythology all around him as a coping mechanism to deal with the far more deadly (and emotionally wasting) humanity that surrounds him. As you watch the movie, you wish the four greasers driving around in their Black Caddy were demons, instead of just fucking kids, or that Dolphin Blue was really a vampire sucking the blood of his brother, instead of a lonely widow watching her lover dying of radiation sickness.

I can't talk about it much more indepthly than the gut reaction of emotional nausea that it inspired in me when I first watched it, since I haven't seen it for ten years or so, but it the creeping, alien mundanity of prairie life in The Reflecting Skin really does emphasize how little most horror movies get it.

Here's my subtle horror movie recommendation, by the way. The Woman in Black (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B00004UEEU/qid=1046779051/sr=8-7/ref=sr_8_7/104-1455387-6623149?v=glance&s=dvd&n=507846). The subtlest, creepiest, scariest ghost movie I have seen in my entire life. Hey, Tom! (http://www.netflix.com/MovieDisplay?movieid=60002042&trkid=73)

[DrCrypt]

I thought Ginger Snaps was one of the better werewolf movies I've seen
Is that the one where the girl becomes a werewolf during her first period, and she's finally killed at the end by a silver tampon?

[Anders Hallin]

I thought Ginger Snaps was one of the better werewolf movies I've seen
Is that the one where the girl becomes a werewolf during her first period, and she's finally killed at the end by a silver tampon?
Indeed. Except for the tampon.

[Tom Chick]

The subtlest, creepiest, scariest ghost movie I have seen in my entire life. Hey, Tom!

Cool, it's in the queue. Hey, Dr. Crypt (http://www.netflix.com/MovieDisplay?trkid=73&movieid=60025150)! Oh, wait, you live in Ireland...

Wendigo isn't as visceral as The Reflecting Skin. In fact, it's pretty clumsy in some areas. But it's the same subject matter. It's got a great cast doing a wonderful job with a script that let's them breathe without leaving them dangling.

-Tom

[DrCrypt]

Cool, it's in the queue. Hey, Dr. Crypt! Oh, wait, you live in Ireland...
... and don't have a television or a DVD player. Sigh. Hopefully for my birthday...

[Anonymous]

You really ought to move out of that third world ghetto. Besides, it's fun when there's a Blockbuster and 7-11 on every corner. Nothing says loving like a slurpee in one hand and a DVD of "Armageddon" in the other.

[DrCrypt]

It just occurred to me that The Woman in Black reminds me in some ways of a Victorian Ringu. Tom, let me know when you watch it if you agree.

[Tom Ohle]

I hate you all. Dog Soldiers was fun (albeit pretty bad), but I thought Brotherhood of the Wolf was a pretty good movie. It wasn't a werewolf movie, so if you think that's what it was, you need to give it another watch. But some of the scenery in that movie was just amazing. THe only thing that did bother me was the "Native Canadian" guy... his accent was pretty awful... it's just weird to me seeing a guy speaking french with a bad accent in a movie where everyone else speaks perfect french.

[Anonymous]

I guess Robert Stone can't sue. Does this mean I can make a zombie flick and call it "The Old Man and the Sea"?

[DrCrypt]

Dog Soldiers was already made into a movie in 1978, if I recall, under the embarassing title "Who'll Stop The Rain". It had Nick Nolte in it.

[Jason Becker]

I remember seeing this movie on the SciFi channel a few months ago. I never knew the title as I started watching it about 30 mins in. It wasn't too bad considering the budget they probably had for it.

[ydejin]

... I thought Brotherhood of the Wolf was a pretty good movie. It wasn't a werewolf movie, so if you think that's what it was, you need to give it another watch. But some of the scenery in that movie was just amazing. THe only thing that did bother me was the "Native Canadian" guy... his accent was pretty awful... it's just weird to me seeing a guy speaking french with a bad accent in a movie where everyone else speaks perfect french.

I'm with you Tom, I liked Brotherhood of the Wolf. Sure it was more style than substance, but hey, it's just a movie - they don't all have to be profound. I thought it was fun.

I can't comment on how bad the French accent was, since my French (learned in high school some 20 years ago) is atrocious. However, if you think about it, it would make sense that the Native Canadian/American Indian would have a bad French accent. It wasn't his native language - I assume he grew up speaking Iroquois.

Haven't seen Dog Soldiers yet, but it's in my Netflix queue.

[Tyjenks]

After some recommendations here and there I had Netflix send it to me.

It. Was. Atrocious. I can deal with the bad special effects, but there were so many just stupid things that I got angry by the end.

Brotherhood of the Wolf was not great, but I would say it was 87 times better than this.

[russellmz00]

After some recommendations here and there I had Netflix send it to me.

It. Was. Atrocious. I can deal with the bad special effects, but there were so many just stupid things that I got angry by the end.

Brotherhood of the Wolf was not great, but I would say it was 87 times better than this.

the i hope i give you the shits line is awesome, though. i'll be trying to say it if i ever get eaten.

[Erik J.]

Weird. I enjoyed Dog Soldiers. Liked the "alien" look of the werewolves minus the one you see wearing sneakers as he goes out the window. Some good lines, amusing scenes. Spoon taking on the werewolf one on one was a bit over the top but funny.

[Rasputin]

Anyone who doesn't enjoy Dog Soldiers is worthless as a human being. There, I said it.

"What are you afraid of?" "Spiders. And women. And... spider-women."

[Eric P]

dog soldiers ruled as do most other Neil Marshall films, but he works in the same vein as Tarantino making movies which are conversations about movies.

[Tyjenks]

It is one of those movies that walks the line of teh funny and teh horror-y. Some pull it off and are really good and others fail at both. I think this type of film is a love/hate one as it obviously worked for a lot of people, but did not for me.

Where's Spoon?

There is no Spoon.

That one worked. :)

[Gabe Lewis]

dog soldiers ruled as do most other Neil Marshall films, but he works in the same vein as Tarantino making movies which are conversations about movies.

I liked Dog Soldiers and loved The Descent, but Doomsday and Centurion are just awful. And that is every movie he's ever made. He's 2 for 4, and the shitty are on the top end here.

[JM]

Dog Soldiers is great. I was happily living my life believing no-one would actually dislike it.

You've ruined my life, Tyjenks. I hope you're happy.

[dermot]

I liked Dog Soldiers and loved The Descent, but Doomsday and Centurion are just awful. And that is every movie he's ever made. He's 2 for 4, and the shitty are on the top end here.
I haven't seen Centurion but Doomsday is fantastic. I think someone here described it as 'Baz Luhrmann's Escape from New York', 'Baz Luhrmann's Ladyhawke' and 'Baz Luhrmann's Mad Max: The Road Warrior' all rolled into the same film. And it's got a topless shotgun-wielding chick in a bath. What's not to love about that?

[Eric P]

Centurion was ok. It was standard peplum just transferred to the UK. I didn't like the excess of cgi blood though. I found that distracting.

[Jon Rowe]

My friends and I used to pick up movies based on the cover, we got this one once. It was turned off due to lack of interest almost immediately.

Talk about the waste of a good premise..

[JM]

If you turned it off almost immediately how the hell do you know if the film is any good or not?

[Jon Rowe]

I sure don't know. How could I have made that oversight!?