Dog Soldiers (2002) – Review

Before werewolves were sexy and CGI ruled the night, Neil Marshall’s Dog Soldiers tore onto the screen with a snarling blend of blood, guts, and pitch-black humour. Set deep in the Scottish Highlands and drenched in practical effects, this cult horror-action hybrid pits a squad of unlucky British soldiers against a pack of terrifying beasts—and it doesn’t let up for a second. Let’s sink our teeth into what makes this low-budget creature feature such a ferocious fan favourite.

The movie kicks off with a vicious attack on a couple of campers by something monstrous, adding more reasons to never go camping – but from here on out, we follow a group of British soldiers on what is supposed to be a routine training mission in the remote Scottish Highlands. Led by Sergeant Wells (Sean Pertwee), the squad includes Private Cooper (Kevin McKidd), who has been recently reassigned after a tense encounter with a ruthless special ops Captain, Richard Ryan (Liam Cunningham). During their training, the soldiers stumble upon the remains of a Special Forces team, slaughtered by unknown assailants, and they soon realize they’re being hunted by something deadly lurking in the woods.

Who will survive?

As night falls, the soldiers are ambushed by a pack of massive, relentless werewolves. Which is not a good thing. Desperate to survive, they seek refuge in a secluded farmhouse, where they meet Megan (Emma Cleasby), a zoologist who warns them about the creatures’ nocturnal nature. Unfortunately, she may have her own brutal agenda when it comes to the pack of werewolves harassing them. The squad quickly turns the farmhouse into a fortress, fighting off wave after wave of attacks from the werewolves, who seem determined to wipe them out. Supplies and ammunition dwindle, and tensions rise as the soldiers struggle to make it through the night.

It’s not a teddy bear’s picnic.

Stray Observations:

• Missing campers are explained away as the result of “an escaped lunatic,” which is the same phrase to describe Jack and David’s attacker in An American Werewolf in London.
• Some of the corpses hanging around in the basement were originally created for and used in the 1997 sci-fi horror classic Event Horizon, which also featured Sean Pertwee.
• Cooper breaking through the bathroom wall to the bedroom mirrors the scene in 1964’s Zulu, where Pvt. Hook is in the Hospital as the Zulus break in.
• One of the soldiers in this movie is called Bruce Campbell, an obvious nod to the iconic star of the Evil Dead movies. Sadly, this particular Campbell doesn’t even make it to the second reel.
• A silver letter opener killing a werewolf, set up in the film’s cold open, is similar to the silver-topped cane in 1941’s The Wolf Man. A Chekov’s Gun of werewolf killing, if you will.
• While silver is their weakness, the film doesn’t explicitly state whether or not the full moon has any effect on a werewolf’s transformation.

The ever-fluid rules of lycanthropy.

Writer/director Neil Marshall makes the most of a modest budget, relying on practical effects that give the werewolves a visceral, real-world weight. And those werewolves! These aren’t your CGI fluffballs; they’re lanky, towering, wolf-headed beasts that hunt in packs, making every encounter nerve-shredding. Dog Soldiers also doubles down on clever survival-horror tactics. The soldiers, holed up in a tiny farmhouse with limited ammo, pull off some makeshift tricks that add to the film’s underdog charm. Plus, it’s refreshing to see characters who don’t make dumb horror-movie decisions – these guys are soldiers, and they act like it, using what little they have with ingenuity and grit.

Note: Neil Marshall claims he wrote this film as a knee-jerk reaction to An American Werewolf in Paris, which he thought was terrible.

The film’s secret weapon is its sharp dialogue and comradely banter amongst this group, which keeps you laughing even as the situation goes from bad to worse (and to “even worse than that”). The squad’s ragtag humour in the face of absolute carnage feels natural and earned, with standout lines like “I hope I give you the shits!” becoming fan favourites. The cast brings just the right mix of tough-guy grit and hopeless camaraderie as they realize there’s no cavalry coming to save them. And yes, it’s gory – but it’s the fun kind of gory. Watching this squad of soldiers desperately trying to stay one step ahead of these relentless werewolves, patching each other up with duct tape and household supplies, is an absolute blast. It’s a horror movie with grit and guts (literally) but doesn’t take itself too seriously, which makes it a scream to watch with friends.

This werewolf film is not for the squeamish.

The practical effects for the werewolves are a standout element, giving the creatures a towering, nightmarish presence that is more terrifying because it feels so real. Opting for practical effects over CGI, Marshall creates a sense of physical danger that few modern horror films manage to achieve. The werewolves are shown sparingly but effectively, lurking in shadows and making sudden, brutal appearances that keep the tension high throughout, helped by Sam McCurdy’s excellent cinematography.

This isn’t a slick Hollywood horror movie; it’s raw, a little grimy, and a lot of fun, perfect for fans who appreciate practical effects, a generous helping of gore, and characters who react like real people would if faced with monstrous creatures in the woods. It’s no wonder Dog Soldiers has become a cult classic – it’s brutal, it’s funny, and it delivers on a simple promise: werewolves versus soldiers in a no-holds-barred fight for survival. A must-watch if you love horror with a side of gallows humour and a lot of bark (and bite).