Generally speaking, I prefer werewolves as a concept more than vampires. Vampires are overused in many ways, often played as romantic or sexy, and there are probably countless memorable vampire movies out there. Werewolves don’t have quite so many, so while I prefer the werewolf in concept, in execution they often leave something to be desired. The primal animalistic monsters that are sometimes innocent humans should maybe get more attention, but often don’t. Probably because vampires are easier to do since they, you know, look human and you don’t need to figure out how to make a giant dog of some kind.
But sometimes a good werewolf movie comes along, and for that, well, I checked out 2002’s Dog Soldiers to see if it was one.
Private Lawrence Cooper (Kevin McKidd), after washing out of SAS training, is sent back to his British army squad and sent on what he and his squad mates assume is a standard training mission in the Scottish forest. However, the SAS had already gone in there, led by the same officer who tossed Cooper out, Captain Richard Ryan (Liam Cunningham). But things get a bit crazy when Cooper’s squad finds Ryan wounded in the woods, and he’s the sole survivor of his own group. There’s something in the woods, something that only comes around during the full moon, and whatever they are, they don’t die easily.
OK, they’re werewolves. They’re big, fast, ferocious, and hungry for human flesh. Soon, the soldiers, a zoologist (Emma Cleasby), and her dog are holed up in a farmhouse, knowing they just need to stay alive until daybreak when the monsters outside return to human form.
This one was a lot of fun. The movie plays a lot like Predator with the hard-nosed, badass military types facing off against monsters that seem to appear and disappear at will. And though the soldiers might seem outclassed, they don’t quit, improvising weapons and even when they’re in a position that they won’t survive, they don’t go out with a whimper. For example, one soldier, upon realizing the land rover he hotwires has a werewolf in the back seat and he’s going to die, screams profanity and jumps onto the creature in the back intent to at least go out fighting. Another actually manages to hold his own in a boxing match, and this isn’t played for laughs in the slightest.
Director Neil Marshall may not have had much luck with the recent Hellboy reboot, but movies like this (and the episodes of Game of Thrones he directed), show he has real talent in this arena…a fact that makes Hellboy even more disappointing. Once the soldiers meet the werewolves, this movie doesn’t let up for a second until the closing credits lie, and even though all of the characters don’t make it out, they get enough personality to make the audience care for them and make the wolves work for every kill. I got a real kick out of this one, so I’ll be sure to add this one to my mental list of good werewolf movies.
Grade: B+
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