Dog Soldiers (UK)

Content :- A group of soldiers on a training mission in the Highlands of Scotland run into some big ass werewolfs and thats when the fun begins

Video :- The picture is very good, there is some grain in places but nothing too bad, while most of the film is shot in the dark, it does a good job for a low-budget film, and the blood,guts and gore look great : )

Audio :- The 5.1 track sounds very good, though not the best, it sounds better than some higher-budget films that i`ve seen.

Features :- 2 Commentarys, 1 with cast and crew and the other with the producer, Then there are some deleted scenes and a gag reel, a making of Dog Soldiers, a short film from the director, trailers and storyboards. Some nice extras.

Overall :- A very good film, some nice extras and a good disc I would recommend this to anyone who likes action/horror/comedy.........One of the best werewolf movies around.

Great stuff, some excellent gore scenes, I don`t often jump with fright but there was one scene that gave me a BIG fright, the cow scene! Don`t stop the film as soon as it`s finished, lookout for the newspaper headline with the credits!

MOVIE
A very good British Horror Movie is how this could be summed up. In the vein of The Evil Dead, this is full to the brim with black comedy, gore and werewolves. There`s actually a decent little plot in the movie, with only the drawing in of the token female character the downside. But the nice little twist is well, nice and quite well thought out. Full of British humour and one very good injoke. The acting is good and it doesn`t have any pretences about what it is, it just gets on with it and is all the better for it. Just a shame that it wasn`t totally funded by the UK film industry, as it is very good, but maybe the Olympics that we are never going to get are more important.

PICTURE
The start is very grainy, and it only gets slightly better, but it is on the budget of pennies, so I`m not expecting the Cistiene Chapel on a roll of film. It`s anamorphic and everything, and is respectable rather than outstanding.

AUDIO
The sound fares better, and is pretty good, some nice atmosphere is created in places, liked the camp fire bit and in the house some nice effects.Good effort again

EXTRAS
Just to show low budget doesn`t have to equal a vanilla disc. By no means the most comprehensive set of extras, the commentaries are good, the cast one a lot of fun. The deleted scenes though are throw away really, nothing of real importance, but the directors short film is a nice addition. Also of note is this is the best disc, even better than R1.

A group six soldiers are on some operation in the Scottish Highlands(it`s as Scottish as a location in Luxembourg) when they discover the remains of a previous unit they realise they`re in huge amounts of trouble!!! They retreat to an old farmhouse(a direct lift from Night of the Living Dead) they find themselves surrounded by the occupants...werewolfs.

An average film that puts Aliens, Predator and Jaws into the melting pot and filled with dark humour and what comes out of that melting pot is Dog Soldiers.

Video: In 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreem. There`s seems to be a plague in British films, that plague is grainy video. Although the video quality is very grainy but I think it brings character into the film. On the other hand, it feels like a lazy attempt to remaster the video frame by frame. The picture quality is equally grainy as the Terminator. Not one of the worst but very disappointing.

Audio: The sound quality is no better if not, worse than the video. The only offer for sound is DD 5.1. The front speakers are mostly used. Being an action oriented film, I was expected to hear bullets flying around as if you`re in the action but this is not the case.

Extras: The UK release is the better release this time along with the Swedish release which has DTS. An audio commentary from the producers and a UK exclusive commentary from the director and cast. Most of the time they laugh throughout the commentary but it`s a very lively commentary and is better than the cut and paste kind.

The other commentary is by the producers of Dog Soldiers. Not as engaging as the first but still, it`s worth a listen.

There are deleted scenes and outtakes w/Marshall commentary. These are played together(none of them can be viewed individually) and like the main feature; it is very grainy. Unlike the main feature, it is presented in letterbox 1.85:1.

Next, there is a making-of featurette with interviews from the cast/crew. It clocks in at 20 mins.

The storyboards on the DVD show a comparison between the finished version and the storyboard version and Marshall`s short film.

Overall- As I said in the beginning, if you put Aliens, Jaws, Predator and elements of Evil Dead and threw them in the melting pot; then add a pinch of dark humour, you get Dog Soldiers. Personally, I rate this film as an average film, with a clichéd ending. The extras are average but it`s good news that the commentary with the cast is a UK exclusive. If you`re a horror fan, then you may wish to add this with the rest of your collection otherwise, consider this one a miss.