Dog Soldiers: Collector's Edition (2002)

Details: By Loron Hays; 25 June 2015

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Dog Soldiers - Movie Review

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Writer/director Neil Marshall doesn’t always get the respect he so admirably deserves. It seems that Hollywood has put all their eggs in Neill Blomkamp’s basket. Marshall, who has yet to fail my expectations, continues to deliver behind the scenes in Game of Thrones but to truly appreciate what Marshall can bring to the table, you have to start when there was very little money. The re-release of Dog Soldiers by Scream Factory is where it all begins. Perhaps now his vision of werewolves in cinema will break out of its cult status and be able to hunt down the audience it so richly deserves.

Dog Soldiers is the tale of a boy and his dog. That boy is Private Cooper (Kevin McKidd) and, as the film opens, he is trying to join a Special Forces unit but fails when he refuses to shoot and kill a defenseless dog. Seems random, right? Trust me, in the context of a werewolf picture, refusing to kill a four-legged canine isn’t. Flash forward a few weeks and Cooper, now returned to the regular British Army, is on a routine training mission against an SAS unit in the Scottish Highlands. When his team stumbles upon the remains of the SAS, the hair-raising mission becomes anything but routine.

Co-starring Sean Pertwee, Darren Morfitt, Emma Cleasby and Liam Cunningham as the formidable Captain Ryan, Dog Soldiers takes Evil Dead’s house in the woods recipe and throws in some pretty heinous-looking werewolves into the mix and then lets it all simmer in an explosively violent manner. The soldiers have one hope when they are rescued by a lone stranger but, when the werewolf attacks continue to take them out one by one, distance and their dwindling supplies threatens – just like the beasts outside the cabin door – to rip them apart.

This movie's meal is best served hot and stunt coordinator Henry Wiessnhaan knows it. Full of broken windows and bullet holes, the rooms in the cabin where the team takes its last stand is used to full effect. There is a great mystery that plays out involving the werewolves that is capped by the human dramatic element between Cooper and the Captain who originally dismissed him from the Secret Forces. Everything comes full circle within these four walls.

Narratively, Marshall and cinematographer Sam McCurdy weave a darkly threaded story that is as satisfying as it is unexpected. It fits snuggly in all the right places with nice angles and visual flair. Much of the detail in Dog Soldiers feels fresh – even if we have seen situations like this one played out before on the silver screen. From beginning to end, Dog Soldiers feels inspired. This includes how the werewolves are brought to life by designer Uli Simon and the company who conducted the special effects, Image FX.

If you are on the hunt for a rare horror find, search no further. Dog Soldiers will leave you drooling.

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MPAA Rating: R for strong violence/gore and language.
Runtime: 105 mins
Director: Neill Marshall
Writer: Neill Marshall
Cast: Sean Pertwee, Kevin McKidd, Emma Cleasby
Genre: Music | Documentary
Tagline: Six soldiers. Full moon. No chance.
Memorable Movie Quote: "Spiders. And women. And... spider-women."
Distributor: THINKFilm
Official Site: http://www.festivalexpress.com/
Release Date: No US theatrical release
DVD/Blu-ray Release Date: June 23, 2015
Synopsis: A routine military exercise turns into a nightmare in the Scotland wilderness.

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Dog Soldiers - Movie Review

Blu-ray Details:

Available on Blu-ray - June 23, 2015
Screen Formats: 1.78:1
Subtitles: English
Audio: English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz, 24-bit); English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 (48kHz, 24-bit)
Discs: 50GB Blu-ray Disc; Two-disc set (1 BD, 1 DVD); DVD copy
Region Encoding: A

Shot on 16mm, the AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.78:1 is a thing of beauty to me. I love the heavy grain. Love it. Some viewers may be turned off by how it appears but, hey, that’s the source material and there is no way in hell you are ever going to get rid of that. There’s no digital gloss whatsoever. Color levels are relatively mild with blues and greens being the thickest of all. Black levels are solid. But consider this, Marshall put in a lot of extra hours trying to track down some surviving prints of the film since the original negative has been destroyed or lost or damaged. What the new transfer has done effectively presents the film better than it has ever been seen before. No qualms there. The sound, presented with both a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 mix, is also revelatory. While not dominating, the sound field is much better than previously released.

Supplements:

Commentary:

Director Neil Marshall provides an entertaining commentary as he recounts the making of the movie. A very solid listen.

Special Features:

Scream Factory doesn’t disappoint and when you see that “Collector’s Edition” label, you know there’s going to be some good snackin’ before meal time. With Dog Soldiers, viewers get a 61-min documentary about the making of the movie as cast and crew retell – in new interviews – their version of what went down inside and outside of yet another cabin in the woods. Very interesting, funny, and engaging. We also get Marshall’s short film, Combat, which proves that the director is insanely talented behind the camera. Also included are two rounds of photo galleries, a brief look at the model of the house used in the film, and a series of trailers for the film.