'DOG SOLDIERS' - THE SECOND SIGHT 4K DELUXE EDITION REVIEW
THE PLOT
A routine military exercise turns into a blood n’ gore spattered nightmare in the Scottish wilderness as a hardened squad of marines come face to face with a pack of ravenous werewolves…
THE REVIEW
If you’re a first-time director, your feature-film debut is likely to go one of two ways; it’ll be objectively awful, or it’ll be passable, but that’s ok. Movie making ain’t easy, and while it’s fun to get all your ducks in a row prior to committing anything to celluloid (or, as is more often the case these days, digital), it all starts to fall apart once you realise that the act of actually making a movie is physically and mentally exhausting.
Every so often, though, a motion picture debut appears which defies not only expectation, but our understanding of human artistic capability itself. Films like SAM RAIMI’s EVIL DEAD, and S. CRAIG ZAHLER’s BONE TOMAHAWK, are probably the finest examples of this (and not just within the horror genre).
DOG SOLDIERS (AKA: THE BEST WEREWOLF MOVIE SINCE “THE BEAST MUST DIE”), writer/director NEIL MARSHALL’s feature film directorial debut, is so good. It’s so good, that I’ve owned it across three separate home video formats, and that’s not a claim that many of the movies I own can make. It currently sits at 6.8 stars out of 10 on iMDB.com; a mere .7 percent (?) of a star higher than RESIDENT EVIL: APOCALYPSE - - a film so egregiously terrible that for a period of time during the mid 2000’s, the U.S government were looking for a way to weaponize it for use in Afghanistan (citation needed). It is a lean, mean, fat-free machine which successfully achieves what it sets out to do, and all within the space of an hour and a half.
MARSHALL has assembled a formidable cadre of acting talent in both the lead and supporting roles. SEAN PERTWEE, who is ever watchable regardless of the production, is an absolute delight in the role of Sergeant Harry Wells; chucking out zingers like “We are now up against live, hostile targets. So, if Little Red Riding Hood should show up with a bazooka and a bad attitude, I expect you to chin the bitch.” and ”Yeah, that makes perfect sense. I mean, think about it. We bust into their house, we eat all their porridge, we sleep in their fucking beds. No wonder they're pissed.” with ease. KEVIN McKIDD and LIAM CUNNINGHAM too are excellent, taking on the roles of cooly confident Private Cooper, and shadowy, suspicious arsehole Ryan respectively. Indeed, the surprisingly complex father/son/mentor relationship which exists between the three is a welcome addition to the narrative, while the actors making up the compliment of Sergeant Wells’ squadron are nicely fleshed out with a very palpable sense of camaraderie.
MARSHALL was wise to keep the werewolves themselves bathed in shadow and/or poor lighting; not because of any short falls in the costumes themselves (sure, they’re lacking in a bit of expression, but one shouldn’t really be concerned with the emotional complexities of a ravenous gang of lycanthropic murderers), but because keeping them concealed helps us continue to see things from the soldier’s point of view.
The obscene amount of homages and references in the film are actually handled with care and subtly, and while MARSHALL himself may feel that he went overboard, it’s actually really quite charming seeing a distinctly British version of ASSAULT ON PRECINCT 13 but with werewolves (Fun Fact: JASON STATHAM was down to play the role of Cooper, but backed out in order to appear in JOHN CARPENTER’S GHOSTS OF MARS; another thinly veiled riff on CARPENTER’s original “white hot night of hate”).
THE PRESENTATION
SECOND SIGHT have delayed, and delayed, and delayed this release, but for very good reason. In doing so, they are not only ensuring that the best source materials are being harnessed, but they are also avoiding the ever burgeoning series of disc problems which are plaguing other boutique labels at the moment. Simply put, DOG SOLDIERS has never looked this good before. True, there are always limitations when, say, a premium film stock source is not readily available to the director at the point of filming, but squeezing the absolute best out of what you’ve got should be the gold standard. Labels such as SECOND SIGHT are unlikely to ever receive the same degree of ire which is currently being directed towards some of their contemporaries if they maintain current high standards, and going by the evidence of this transfer (and, indeed, this entire package), they have little to be concerned about.
The wealth of special features (which can be found below) are frankly embarrassing, and include MARSHALL’s short film COMBAT, archival and brand new commentary tracks, as well as a plethora of documentary footage.
THE SPECIAL FEATURES
• A new 4K restoration from the original camera negative approved by director Neil Marshall and director of photography Sam McCurdy
• Features 4K UHD and Blu-ray with bonus features on both formats
• 4K UHD presented in Dolby Vision HDR
• Archive audio commentary by Director Neil Marshall
• Archive audio commentary by Producers David E. Allen and Brian O’Toole
• New audio commentary by writer and Associate Professor of Film Alison Peirse
• Werewolves, Crawlers, Cannibals and More: a new 40-minute interview with Neil Marshall
• A History of Lycanthropy: author Gavin Baddeley on Werewolf Cinema
• Werewolves, Folklore and Cinema: a video essay by author Mikel J. Koven
• Werewolves vs Soldiers: The Making of Dog Soldiers with Neil Marshall, Producers Christopher Figg and Keith Bell, Actors Sean Pertwee, Kevin McKidd, Darren Morfitt, Leslie Simpson and Emma Cleasby, Special Effects Artist Bob Keen and more!
• A Cottage in the Woods: an interview with Production Designer Simon Bowles
• Combat: a short film by Neil Marshall
• Deleted Scenes and Gag Reel with optional commentary by Neil Marshall
• Trailers and Photo Gallery
• Optional English subtitles for the hearing impaired
LIMITED EDITION CONTENTS
• Rigid slipcase with new artwork by Chris Malbon
• 108-page book with new essays by Craig Ian Mann, Alison Peirse, Zoë Rose Smith, Anya Stanley, exclusive interview with Neil Marshall by Matthew Thrift, plus behind the scenes photos
• Six collectors' art cards
The full contents of the Limited Edition packaging
DOG SOLDIERS will be released on AUGUST 22ND and is available to pre-order from zavvi.com, amazon.co.uk, and, of course, secondsightfilms.co.uk.
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