Dog Soldiers, 2002 - DVD

Right off the bat, it's going to be difficult for people to recognize most of the stars in this film. That's ok... this isn't a movie about star power, although I'm sure you'll recognize Sean Pertwee from such movies as Event Horizon, Soldier, Formula 51 and Equilibrium.

You might even recognize Kevin McKidd, from Trainspotting, Max, Nicholas Nickleby or De-Lovely.

The remainder of the cast have been in some mainstream movies that have made it across to America... but my point is that this film wasn't made because of its star power. The film was made due to a good script, dedicated actors, and a talented director.

Having written and directed a few short films, this is Marshall's first feature film under his command, and I have to say I'm very impressed. Writing, directing and editing this picture must have been a joy. The cast and crew put together a film that should easily be accepted into the werewolf genre as inventive, imaginative and original.

I have no info at hand as to what the budget on this film was, but it had to be relatively low budget. But where Marshall and the producers did spend their money... it was all in the right places. One of the producers, Christopher Figg, has had experience turning a low budget horror film into a genre classic. Figg has been producer on the first three Hellraiser pictures (along with co-producing Trainspotting)... and I'm sure his experience was a welcome addition to this production.

First off, the effects were astounding. I was very impressed with the work done on the werewolves, along with much of the blood work. Very well done, my hat is off to the entire make-up department, under the supervision of Dave Bonneywell, whose only produced work was part of an animation crew. Surprising, but he pulled it off with the make-up crew.

Second, the music in the film struck me as pretty powerful. Mark Thomas hasn't done too much you'd recognize in the last few years, save possibly Twin Town, but he just recently scored the sequel to Cody Banks... pretty good deal there. The score is powerful, dramatic and adds a great edge to the suspense of the film.

Acting wise, the entire cast does a bang up job. I was really entertained throughout, by everyone.

Army stories are hard to do... most actors don't really have the experience, and what training they go through can't make them overly convincing... which is why it's key to have a good story, to develop the characters into soldiers. Marshall is able to provide us with a group who act like brothers, a team of soldiers who seem to be a combination of soldiers we've enjoyed in the past... say the Marines from Aliens? In fact, there's a line in the film that is lifted from Aliens. "Short, controlled bursts." I wouldn't be surprised if Aliens is one of Marshall's favorite films.

Sam McCurdy was the DP on this film, and there were some very inventive shots. You have to think that with a low budget, the directors of these films have got to use their imaginations, to provide a viewing experience more apt to grab the audience member and entrance them, for a little while. A prime example of this would be Sam Raimi's super inventive camera work on The Evil Dead.

McCurdy and Marshall worked to get the film to look medium to high budget, with some decent camera techniques that showed thinking and planning, rather than having the script shoot itself. I thought it was very clever, the night vision of the werewolves, shooting in b/w and obviously in daylight... clever. Rather a bit like how the vision of the dragons was filmed in Reign of Fire, but without all the CG. Well done.

Marshall's first produced work, a film called Killing Time in 1998, was shot by McCurdy. The two would then work on Combat, a short of Marshall's.

This is just another wonderful addition to the growing trend of overseas horror films. Hell, you can even forget the 'overseas' part. We've all been incredibly lucky to have been flooded with low budget, smart horror films of late. Cabin Fever, House of 1000 Corpses, Session 9, and, of course, the recently released Shaun of the Dead.

Now, keep in mind... how much can you really do with the werewolf genre that hasn't already been done? An American Werewolf In London, The Howling, Wolfen... those are the biggies. Then you have Bad Moon, An American Werewolf in Paris, Silver Bullet... and we have Cursed, written by Kevin Williamson and directed by Wes Craven... a movie that's supposed to have been rife with problems during the production (the original cast was let go, and a new cast was hired... Wes has kind of abandoned the project, but we shall see)...

I think this is a solid genre piece that, sticking to the werewolf ideology, tells a good story with some well developed characters, a decent plot, great special effects, great dialog... all the ingredients for a fun horror movie.