An indy horror film that is decent enough to put some big studio efforts to shame.
A small squad of British soldiers discover that their war games are over when they find their competition, an English special ops squad, slaughtered. Now, cut off from all civilization, the soldiers have to figure out how to survive the night while a pack of werewolves hunt them.
I love indy films. It's not that they try harder, but they are more passionate. Plus, you never know what you're going to get. Sometimes you'll get the steaming pile of shit you'd expect and sometimes you find gems. This is a gem.
My only real complaint about the film is the writing (of course). Don't get me wrong, the premise was great, but they tried to do too much. For example, one "kill" is telegraphed pretty blatantly during the open scene. On top of that, they really tried to get cute with the plot right near the end and it didn't make sense. It didn't ruin the film for me because the rest is so strong, but it pull me out of my immersion long enough to say "Well, that's just stupid." There are actually two "twists", but the first was expected and hinted at through the movie's first act, so I don't really consider it a twist.
The one writing error aside, I rather enjoyed the film. All the actors do a pretty good job within, although I think the Sarge gives us a slight over performance. The main character is quite good and reminds me of a poor man's Jason Statham.
The special effects were an interestingly mixed bag. They didn't spare any cash doing explosions or gunshots, yet some of the wounds were very obviously done on the cheap. The werewolves themselves were pretty damn good. They weren't Underworld good, but they rank in the top 5 of best werewolves on film.
Overall, if you're a fan of horror, indy films, or werewolves, this is worth a rental.
6 out of 10.
Dog Soldiers
The werewolves themselves were pretty damn good. They weren't Underworld good, but they rank in the top 5 of best werewolves on film.
Seriously? They looked like a garage special to me. Saw this flick a couple of years (& seven thousand forum crashes ago). I was not overly impressed.
As a sidenote, one of the characters is actually named Corporal Bruce Campbell.
Diogenes of Sinope: "It is not that I am mad, it is only that my head is different from yours."
Arnold Judas Rimmer, BSC, SSC: "Better dead than smeg."
Arnold Judas Rimmer, BSC, SSC: "Better dead than smeg."
Seriously? They looked like a garage special to me. Saw this flick a couple of years (& seven thousand forum crashes ago). I was not overly impressed.
Maybe it caught me in the right mood, but I was entertained throughout. And to be fair, you hate everything.
The werewolves weren't bad at all, so I'm not sure why you think they were garage sale specials. Granted, they didn't do a million close ups. In fact, most shots were silhouettes, really fast face shots, or shadow shots. You do realize that they were based on the English werewolf legends? More lean than our muscular werewolves and very tall.
The laughable special effects were the wounds. They did a couple of gore shots that was too..."goopy" for the types of death scenes they did. The worst was the guy who got gutted and was holding in his plastic guts.
“Activism is a way for useless people to feel important, even if the consequences of their activism are counterproductive for those they claim to be helping and damaging to the fabric of society as a whole.” - Dr Thomas Sowell
Leisher wrote:And to be fair, you hate everything.
This theory has been refuted repeatedly.
This wasn't exactly a bad film, but it ain't that great. And even the shadow shots of the werewolves had them moving so clumsily & jerkily it just killed my disbelief.
I suppose I'll cut them slack for the small budget, & it was certainly better than some films I can think of, but I can't give commendations for beating those as it's like handing out prizes for breathing in & out.
Edited By Malcolm on 1185206419
Diogenes of Sinope: "It is not that I am mad, it is only that my head is different from yours."
Arnold Judas Rimmer, BSC, SSC: "Better dead than smeg."
Arnold Judas Rimmer, BSC, SSC: "Better dead than smeg."
This theory has been refuted repeatedly.
I must've been out sick the day that happened.
As for the movies you quote, I agree, all are varying shades of ass with Cabin Fever, IMHO, being the asshole itself. However, I must point out that all are big budget feature films.
That makes Dog Soldier[/b[ that much better.
I don't remember jerky, and I wouldn't call them clumsy...I'd go with stiff. They moved very stiffly.
“Activism is a way for useless people to feel important, even if the consequences of their activism are counterproductive for those they claim to be helping and damaging to the fabric of society as a whole.” - Dr Thomas Sowell
This is like saying the sky isn't blue since sometimes it is cloudy.Malcolm wrote:This theory has been refuted repeatedly.Leisher wrote:And to be fair, you hate everything.
Malcolm... do you deny that of our little group, you are the hardest to please?
"Be bold, and mighty forces will come to your aid."
Use whatever adjective you want. I can't give that detail a free pass & call it a decent flick.Leisher wrote:I don't remember jerky, and I wouldn't call them clumsy...I'd go with stiff. They moved very stiffly.
Maybe a decent horror flick, but that's it. I almost think I'm going to start reporting two star ratings in my reviews, one relative to others in the genre & one absolute. Probably will be using ten stars as the ceiling since I find myself all too often handing out 2.5 or something. Why use fractions when I can just multiply all my troubles away?
Diogenes of Sinope: "It is not that I am mad, it is only that my head is different from yours."
Arnold Judas Rimmer, BSC, SSC: "Better dead than smeg."
Arnold Judas Rimmer, BSC, SSC: "Better dead than smeg."
Use whatever adjective you want. I can't give that detail a free pass & call it a decent flick.
Considering the amount of screen time they got, I'm really having a hard time understanding why this, of all things, would turn you sour towards a film.
Still...
From you, that's high praise.Maybe a decent horror flick, but that's it.
I almost think I'm going to start reporting two star ratings in my reviews, one relative to others in the genre & one absolute. Probably will be using ten stars as the ceiling since I find myself all too often handing out 2.5 or something. Why use fractions when I can just multiply all my troubles away?
You've the only reviewer I know who starts his review scores in the negative numbers.
“Activism is a way for useless people to feel important, even if the consequences of their activism are counterproductive for those they claim to be helping and damaging to the fabric of society as a whole.” - Dr Thomas Sowell
And to be fair, you hate everything.
I must've been out sick the day that happened.
Things I hate.
Things I do not hate.
Edited By Malcolm on 1185213613
Diogenes of Sinope: "It is not that I am mad, it is only that my head is different from yours."
Arnold Judas Rimmer, BSC, SSC: "Better dead than smeg."
Arnold Judas Rimmer, BSC, SSC: "Better dead than smeg."
With respect to the rest of the world doing things, yea, probably.GORDON wrote:Malcolm... do you deny that of our little group, you are the hardest to please?
If China would send me a case or two of decent beer per year, I wouldn't be so harsh towards them.
Diogenes of Sinope: "It is not that I am mad, it is only that my head is different from yours."
Arnold Judas Rimmer, BSC, SSC: "Better dead than smeg."
Arnold Judas Rimmer, BSC, SSC: "Better dead than smeg."
I just wanted to make sure you weren't in denial.Malcolm wrote:With respect to the rest of the world doing things, yea, probably.GORDON wrote:Malcolm... do you deny that of our little group, you are the hardest to please?
If China would send me a case or two of decent beer per year, I wouldn't be so harsh towards them.
We love you and your mental health is important to us.
"Be bold, and mighty forces will come to your aid."
Perhaps I was in an exceptionally bad mood when I watched it, but Christ, I just couldn't take anything seriously when I saw the first non-shadow/shade/whatever shot. Even the fleeting glances I caught were so fucking bad. The final "twist" also made me grimace w\ disgust.Leisher wrote:Considering the amount of screen time they got, I'm really having a hard time understanding why this, of all things, would turn you sour towards a film.
If this was being played as anything resembling tongue-in-cheek, I could forgive the costumes. The special effects make-up probably didn't brighten my disposition, either.
Diogenes of Sinope: "It is not that I am mad, it is only that my head is different from yours."
Arnold Judas Rimmer, BSC, SSC: "Better dead than smeg."
Arnold Judas Rimmer, BSC, SSC: "Better dead than smeg."
Perhaps I was in an exceptionally bad mood when I watched it, but Christ, I just couldn't take anything seriously when I saw the first non-shadow/shade/whatever shot. Even the fleeting glances I caught were so fucking bad. The final "twist" also made me grimace w\ disgust.
If this was being played as anything resembling tongue-in-cheek, I could forgive the costumes. The special effects make-up probably didn't brighten my disposition, either.
I really don't get your viewpoint unless you're confusing them with another movie because they weren't that bad.
If anything, the quick close ups looked more like an actual stuffed wolf's head than something fake or plastic.
“Activism is a way for useless people to feel important, even if the consequences of their activism are counterproductive for those they claim to be helping and damaging to the fabric of society as a whole.” - Dr Thomas Sowell
Not when it's splattered with blood, it's jaw is moving, and you only see it for 1/2 a second.
“Activism is a way for useless people to feel important, even if the consequences of their activism are counterproductive for those they claim to be helping and damaging to the fabric of society as a whole.” - Dr Thomas Sowell
I dunno exactly how to explain this, but I did not find the monsters in any way, shape, or form effective. The muppets from Ghoulies or puppets from Puppet Master were more imposing. At least when I saw them, my mind registered them as "little daemons in this movie," not "badly-done costuming someone should be shot for."Leisher wrote:Not when it's splattered with blood, it's jaw is moving, and you only see it for 1/2 a second.
I'm not entirely sure why this is the case, but it is. I do give them props for not exposing such weakness & doing frequent full frontals of the werewolves, though. Most modern monster flicks fuck up when they give you a clear shot of whatever tenth-generation Frankenstein's creation they've thought of.
Diogenes of Sinope: "It is not that I am mad, it is only that my head is different from yours."
Arnold Judas Rimmer, BSC, SSC: "Better dead than smeg."
Arnold Judas Rimmer, BSC, SSC: "Better dead than smeg."
he muppets from Ghoulies or puppets from Puppet Master were more imposing.
C'mon, that's shit.
Had you said Gremlins or even Tremors, I would've agreed, but Ghoulies and Puppet Master suck. You might as well have cited the Tribbles as an example.
And again, indy film!!! Hell, I give them a bonus for effectively using what they had on no budget and no CGI. I think the monsters worked and I'm pretty nitpicky about films normally. You don't think they worked and you're the same as I am with films.
So let's just say that overall it's a fine job done by some creative indy talents, and while the viewers' experiences may vary, they've got to give the film makers props for making a film more entertaining than most of the mainstream Hollywood drivel that passes for horror these days.
“Activism is a way for useless people to feel important, even if the consequences of their activism are counterproductive for those they claim to be helping and damaging to the fabric of society as a whole.” - Dr Thomas Sowell
I'll concede that. Could've been better, though.Leisher wrote:So let's just say that overall it's a fine job done by some creative indy talents, and while the viewers' experiences may vary, they've got to give the film makers props for making a film more entertaining than most of the mainstream Hollywood drivel that passes for horror these days.
Diogenes of Sinope: "It is not that I am mad, it is only that my head is different from yours."
Arnold Judas Rimmer, BSC, SSC: "Better dead than smeg."
Arnold Judas Rimmer, BSC, SSC: "Better dead than smeg."
I'll concede that. Could've been better, though.
Had we been sitting in a pub, I would've broken a bottle over your head once you uttered those words. (I wouldn't have meant it maliciously though, just out of frustration.)
Of course it could've been better. It's an indy. You can't name a single major release that couldn't have been better let alone an indy.
Edited By Leisher on 1185217840
“Activism is a way for useless people to feel important, even if the consequences of their activism are counterproductive for those they claim to be helping and damaging to the fabric of society as a whole.” - Dr Thomas Sowell