Dog Soldiers

Dog Soldiers [2002]

This film is really, really good. British production, and fairly low budget, but the results are astounding. The plot’s good, the acting’s good, the tension and pace is good, directing and cinematography is good. It’s a good film.

A squad of soldiers are dropped in the Scottish highlands for a routine excercise where they square off against a group of special forces soldiers. Once they make first contact they find the entire group of special forces mutilated, bar one; their leader, who is badly injured. They realise that they are up against an unknown enemy and the special forces leader refuses to talk about it, claiming secrecy is of utmost importance.

Half an hour later it’s dark and the moon comes out, together with their enemy, which turn out to be a pack of werewolves. The squad retreats as fast as they can but get picked off one at a time. The remaining soldiers, and their sergeant – meanwhile injured during a run in with one of the werewolves – together with the special forces leader run into a Zoologist, a woman who lives in the area. She has a jeep and she takes them to the nearest farm, isolated for miles around, but the only place where they can take care of their injured and make a stand.

What follows is a nightlong stand off with the werewolves, who keep throwing themselves up against the house, over and over again, killing soldier after soldier. Meanwhile, they’re trying to keep themselves sane, alive and they try to figure out what the hell is going on.

The movie is very good, although it got some bad reviews. Why it did is a mystery to me. And though there is a lot of violence in the film, it is still very Lovecraftian in feel.

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