6WH: October 20th

Dog Soldiers (2002) directed by Neil Marshall
I felt myself slightly bored whilst watching this one. At the time, I couldn't say why. Now I think it was due to how derivative everything in the film was. Most of the film is a bunch of guys trapped in a house, trying to keep the werewolves out. From Night of the Living Dead to Straw Dogs, I've seen this scenario too many times for it to be interesting unless something unique is done with it. Nothing unique is done here. A couple of the guys inside are scratched by the werewolves. Guess what they transform into later? Some of the guys give their lives heroically for the others. One of the guys was a part of an evil government project to catch a werewolf. One of the characters is even named Bruce Campbell. Lots of been-there, done-that in this one.

I think the werewolf design is kind of cool. At first, they look ridiculous. They're very tall, very lanky and have huge wolf heads. They sort of look like Jim Henson's idea of a werewolf. But, at least it's a different take on the design. We've already seen the Wolf Man, mostly human, take and the American Werewolf, mostly wolf, take. Something different is good. (6/10)