Dog Soldiers *** (2002, Sean Pertwee, Kevin McKidd, Emma Cleasby, Liam Cunningham) – Classic Movie Review 3439

Six soldiers set out in the Highland woods to destroy something out there that is killing everyone off at the time of the full moon.

Writer-director Neil Marshall’s 2002 Brit werewolf chiller is occasionally scary and not too bad at all, but then again is is not too stylish either. It is set in the wilds of Scotland where no one can hear you scream, and has its downsides with drab characters, dull acting from the stars, boring music (by Mark Thomas) and a grungy Brit visual look in Sam McCurdy’s cinematography.

With the wolves on two legs and hugely tall, the werewolf yarn isn’t really a werewolf yarn at all, but a monster-attack movie, gleefully borrowing bits from Predator, Assault on Precinct 13 and Aliens. It is expectedly gory and, with the unnecessary spilling of intestines and failed stabs at black humour, unpleasant and sometimes silly. But it starts well, there’s quite a bit of tension, there are some good horror set-piece sequences, and there is a slap-up finale.

It stars Sean Pertwee as Sergeant Harry G Wells, Kevin McKidd as Private Cooper, Emma Cleasby as Megan, Liam Cunningham as Captain Ryan and Thomas Lockyer as Corporal Bruce Campbell.

Also in the cast are Darren Morfitt, Chris Robson, Leslie Simpson, Tina Landini, Craig Conway.

Marshall went on to make The Descent (2005).

© Derek Winnert 2016 Classic Movie Review 3439

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