Dog Soldiers

2002 Directed by Neil Marshall

Horror Marathon 2024 Day 6 Film 13

A group of soldiers is in the Scottish Highlands doing a special training mission against another secretive unit. They find a bloody camp of the other unit with one survivor, leading to the group having to fight off whatever is lurking there in the forest. Later it becomes obvious that what's stalking them is a pack of werewolves, but most of the film is so darkly lit they're hardly ever seen.

Most of the action is pretty frantic, with soldiers shooting into the unknown darkness or shaky cam frenetic edits. In a silly moment one of the scared soldiers impales himself right into a tree while running... some small jump scares are foretold with a thunderous soundtrack that doesn't seem to fit more of the solemn melodrama of other moments where the soldiers bicker with one another. Mythology around werewolves is talked about, but because most of the time the monster just seems like some unseen force.

I never really feel like I care much about the characters, nor feel much tension as most of the horror is action based. A couple cheezy kills and dialog doesn't help for the eventual "twist" reveals. Outside of that there's enough action for the lo-fi horror vibe of the set pieces. Explosions and gunshots abound, leading to a messy standoff with one of the pack. Sadly the werewolves don't move quickly, usually trying to be as menacing as possible by just leering. It's a goofy romp of werewolves in the woods- with the best moments seeing the group blasting everything in sight. Perhaps this would have been more tense if half the time the soldiers didn't seem to be unpacking overwrought plotting.