Dog Soldiers

What can save a low-budget action B-movie with the visuals of an Austrian television series? A capable and imaginative director. Is Neil Marshall a capable and imaginative director? No, he is not. He can’t even properly film a jeep driving through a forest. (16.08.2003)

Werewolves? Pfff! LOL! My neighbor's Chihuahuas are more dangerous when they grab my legs whenever I pass them. This British attempt at an action flick with lycantropes didn’t work out. Visually it is very poor, it would fit right in with the German or Austrian crap on commercial TV. Stupid dialogues, which is not a handicap in a B-movie, but mainly, most of the time it’s terribly tedious and not even the few bloody scenes with the cheerful werewolves can break that. The one scary scene at the beginning and the last ten minutes are alright, the rest is boring, boring, boring... (18.11.2003)

Pretty weak. I imagined a dark spectacle, backed by my favourite kind of supernatural monster: the werewolf. That said, the atmosphere isn't entirely bad, the deserted and misty forests have their charm, and the idea of a group of soldiers locked in a house surrounded on all sides by bloodthirsty beasts is fun, but there are a few buts. Starting with the smaller problem, the ridiculous look of the werewolves, to the bigger problem, the awful lack of action and blood. Regardless of how bad they look, we don’t even get to see the villains until three quarters into the film! But the biggest handicap I see is in the story itself, which fails to surprise or draw the viewer into the plot and for most of the time boredom reigns on the set. The lighter and rawer ending saves it a bit, but still a weak 50% for me. (11.10.2011)