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Dog Soldiers (2002)

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Average Rating: N/A
Critic Reviews: 3
Fresh: 3 | Rotten: 0

audience

75

liked it
Average Rating: 3.5/5
User Ratings: 56,908

My Rating

Movie Info

British director Neil Marshall's directorial debut Dog Soldiers resurrects and embraces the low-budget horror-comedy. Sergeant Harry Wells (Sean Pertwee) leads a team of British soldiers on a routine expedition to the Scottish Highlands. The six men would rather be at home watching the game, but they are even more dismayed when a carcass lands on their campfire. The next morning, they happen upon a severely injured Captain Richard Ryan (Liam Cunningham) and the bloody remains of his squadron.

R,

Horror

Neil Marshall

Nov 5, 2002

Artisan Home Entertainment - Official Site External Icon

Cast

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All Critics (37) | Top Critics (4) | Fresh (24) | Rotten (7) | DVD (20)

Marshall puts a suspenseful spin on standard horror flick formula.

January 31, 2003 Full Review Source: Boston Globe
Boston Globe
Top Critic IconTop Critic

One of the most gloriously unsubtle and adrenalized extreme shockers since The Evil Dead.

October 25, 2002 Full Review Source: Seattle Times
Seattle Times
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There is a welcome lack of pretension about the film, which very simply sets out to entertain and ends up delivering in good measure.

June 25, 2002
Hollywood Reporter
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Falls back mainly on army squad clichés and rote conflicts, along the way delivering a group of protagonists woefully short on personality.

March 30, 2010 Full Review Source: Lessons of Darkness
Lessons of Darkness

One of the best all-out, no-apologies, hell-bent-for-leather horror films to emerge from the beginning of the 21st century

July 10, 2008 Full Review Source: Cinefantastique
Cinefantastique

One of the best horror movies of 2002

June 17, 2008 Full Review Source: ESplatter
ESplatter

A relentlessly gripping werewolf thriller. One of the best horror films of recent years.

October 8, 2005
Fantastica Daily

One of those 'exception to the rule' horror movies in which a little humour and a lot of effort go a very long way.

August 23, 2004 Full Review Source: Apollo Guide
Apollo Guide

Pretend it's a werewolf itself by avoiding eye contact and walking slowly away. It's fun, but it's a real howler.

March 23, 2003 Full Review Source: Sunday Times (Australia)
Sunday Times (Australia)

every once in a while, a movie will come along that turns me into that annoying specimen of humanity that I usually dread encountering the most - The Fanboy

March 18, 2003 Full Review Source: eFilmCritic.com
eFilmCritic.com

To call this one an eventual cult classic would be an understatement, and woe is the horror fan who opts to overlook this goofily endearing and well-lensed gorefest.

January 1, 2003 Full Review Source: eFilmCritic.com
eFilmCritic.com

Audience Reviews for Dog Soldiers

A classic. An explosive and heart-pounding horror film debut by Director, Neil Marshall. A real triumph in the genre. It`s Predator meets Night of the living dead with Werewolfs. A blood-pumping and hair-raising thrill-ride from start to finish. It has a solid story thats packed with strong characters, development and non-stop suspense that keeps you going until the end. Sean Pertwee, Liam Cunningham and Kevin Mckidd give strong and terrific performances. One of the best horror films i have seen in some time. It`s extreamly entertaining and totally enjoyable.
May 14, 2012
allan913

Super Reviewer

Could this be the British werewolf equivalent of 'Aliens'? a group of soldiers forced into a tight space, trapped and being taken down one by one, it does feel like it when you watch.

But lets not take anything away from this film, its a low budget basic thriller which works beautifully utilizing all the right tricks in the book. The werewolves are kept out of sight for much of the time, lots of shadows and darkness, a good barren wilderness location, tense sweaty and claustrophobic with some good amounts of gore, not overblown.

Marshall really has taken a leaf outta Cameron's book, a leaf? nay...a whole flippin bush! as previously said the film really is 'Aliens' with werewolves but its so damn fun to watch (and British made) that you have to forgive the blatant concept rip off. The small group of soldiers really work well together and you do care for them as Marshall wisely builds the characters before hand, you know they're all gonna die but never sure which one will remain in tact at the end. Of course everyone is rather cliched and predictable with their dialog and portrayals, Cunningham is the nasty outsider ('Burke') who obviously will die but calmly growls and snarls his lines of doom to the rest in the mean time...just asking for it really.

Some brilliant sequences that go from outright horror to dark gallows humour such as Pertwee having his bowels/intestines superglued back inside him after a nasty attack. Things get quite tense towards the end as the lycans get too close for comfort and we start to see more glimpses of the pretty solid effects used. Men in suits of course and they do look original in design albeit a little like over grown Alsatians.

Its gritty, dirty, bloody, basic, effortlessly British, has cool movie posters and you want Cunningham to die right from the very start after he kills that poor doggie. At times it does feel like it could use a bit of Hollywood to really make more of an impact for some sequences and the score seems a tad lackluster. Overall this is a great human vs werewolf flick that really does show what 'Underworld' could of been.
May 12, 2012
phubbs1

Super Reviewer

    1. Sgt. Harry Wells: My guts are out Coop!
    2. R/man Lawrence Cooper: We'll just put 'em back in then!
    3. Sgt. Harry Wells: They're not gonna fucking fit!
    4. R/man Lawrence Cooper: Of course they'll fit, man!
    – Submitted by Jaymz S (20 months ago)

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