Dog Soldiers (2002) This Ain't Your Dad's Universal Studios Werewolf Movie!

Added: 2026-06-01

[00:00:00]Might be one of the best werewolf movies ever.

[00:00:02]>> It's definitely up there. Like it definitely set a bar.

[00:00:06]>> It's original. It does its own thing and it stands on its own.

[00:00:09]>> Yeah, two legs.

[00:00:16]>> Hello and welcome to today's edition of frightfully forgotten horror movies. And today we are tackling 2002's Dog Soldiers. Before we get going, what are we drinking here?

[00:00:27]>> Uh Wolfsbane Bitter English Bitter.

[00:00:30]>> Very fitting for this movie.

[00:00:32]>> I bet you.

[00:00:33]>> Directed by Neil Marshall. He did The Descent, which is another good [ __ ] movie.

[00:00:37]>> Another fantastic movie. Dog Soldiers stars Sean Pertwee. He's probably recently mostly known for playing Alfred in the TV show Gotham, which is quite good. I really enjoyed Gotham. I also have to mention that he is the son of the actor who played the third doctor in Doctor Who, Jon Pertwee.

[00:00:56]>> Of course, you'd bring that up. You're a huge Doctor Who fan.

[00:00:59]>> Nah, I'm not a big Doctor Who fan.

[00:01:01]>> What are the tapes down there?

[00:01:03]>> I got a couple of tapes, so what?

[00:01:05]>> The DVDs?

[00:01:07]>> Over time, you know, someone acquires a bunch of DVDs over the decades.

[00:01:13]>> The books over there on your coffee table?

[00:01:15]>> The research for this episode.

[00:01:17]>> The toys over there uh on display?

[00:01:20]>> Who doesn't have a vintage 1987 Doctor Who play set?

[00:01:25]>> And uh what about >> Okay, okay, okay. I'm a big Doctor Who fan, okay? I admit it.

[00:01:31]>> All right, all right. I didn't say there was anything wrong with it. Why are you getting so defensive?

[00:01:36]>> Have you SEEN THE LATEST SHOW?

[00:01:37]>> THIS MOVIE ALSO stars Kevin McKidd, who's probably most known for Trainspotting. And he was also in Hannibal Rising. Liam Cunningham is also in this, and he's in tons of things, but most recently he's probably best known for being in Game of Thrones.

[00:01:52]>> Yeah.

[00:01:52]>> So the movie starts off, uh we see this couple camping in the woods. The girlfriend, got her boyfriend a little gift. A letter opener.

[00:02:01]>> What can I do with this, YOU [ __ ] NONSENSE LETTERS AND ALL.

[00:02:05]>> [laughter] >> THE [ __ ] >> IT'S THIS nice like silver letter opener. Kind of getting a little busy and he starts unzipping her pants and as he's doing that, we start to see the tent slowly getting unzipped as well.

[00:02:20]She gets dragged away and like you see all this blood and everything splatter right over >> him. Yeah, hands out and like you hear him screaming and then you hear like all this howling and everything in the distance. We then see >> Cooper?

[00:02:32]>> COOPER.

[00:02:33]>> COOPER. COOPER. COOPER.

[00:02:35]>> AND HE STARTS FIGHTING all these guys and everything starts kicking everybody's ass and like you're wondering what the hell's going on. It turns out that this is sort of a training exercise. Captain Ryan says to Cooper, he's like, "Well, you passed the test. The last test that you have to do is shoot this dog."

[00:02:51]>> No, stop.

[00:02:51]>> Are you saying you won't shoot a dog?

[00:02:53]>> will not kill that dog for no reason.

[00:02:55]>> And he doesn't, he refuses to do it and so Captain Ryan shoots the dog. Cooper failed, so he gets sent back to his old squad. We then see a nice panoramic shot of the Highlands in Scotland.

[00:03:07]>> You kind of expect to see Connor MacLeod in the >> in the distance.

[00:03:11]>> training with [laughter] the Sean Connery.

[00:03:14]>> Cooper again with his old squad and they all get dropped off in the woods.

[00:03:18]They're on a training exercise against another squad. They've got blanks in their guns.

[00:03:23]>> Glorified [ __ ] paintball game.

[00:03:26]>> Yeah, basically. We get introduced to the characters, too. Sergeant H. G.

[00:03:30]Wells >> played by Sean Pertwee.

[00:03:32]>> Yeah. Private Cooper and all the other men taking the piss out of each other, right? You feel that they're real comrades, you know.

[00:03:40]>> Yeah, complaining about missing the soccer >> Yeah, yeah. Missing the football >> Well-oiled unit.

[00:03:46]>> They're well-greased.

[00:03:47]>> [laughter] >> Their wangs are well-greased. While they're hiking, you see that they're actually being watched by somebody. They end up camping for the night. Sergeant Wells starts telling them a story of a guy he knew stepped on a land mine picking up his pieces and >> Yeah. Yeah.

[00:04:02]>> that piece where he got that tattooed.

[00:04:06]>> [laughter] >> Cuz he got a tattoo on his ass and then he sees that piece of tattoo.

[00:04:10]>> Yeah. [laughter] >> So the next morning they kind of suit up and start hiking again and they end up coming across nothing but blood and guts and like all these intestines and everything like stepping on it.

[00:04:23]>> You hear the squishing and [ __ ] >> And there's one man left alive and it's Captain Ryan. The rest of his squad has been slaughtered. Only thing that he keeps repeating is that there was only supposed to be one. One what?

[00:04:35]>> One what? Yeah.

[00:04:37]>> It turns serious right away. Exchange their blanks for real bullets. So they got to hike out with this wounded soldier now. Something starts running towards them. You see like the POV shot of something. He tries shooting it but the [ __ ] gun doesn't work and he gets up and he takes off and he ends up impaling himself on a branch. Poor bastard.

[00:04:58]>> have been running really [ __ ] fast to impale yourself on a branch. Like that's that's really fast.

[00:05:04]>> Right through? Like your bones and everything?

[00:05:08]>> [laughter] >> The entire squad is under attack by something. They don't know what and we don't know either as the viewer. You just see these quick glimpses of >> Yeah.

[00:05:17]>> Sergeant Wells stumbles across half of a soldier. Turns around and you just see the swipe. Cooper comes in and finds Wells.

[00:05:26]>> COOPER! COOPER!

[00:05:27]>> on the ground >> Yeah.

[00:05:29]>> with his guts hanging out. [laughter] And he's like, "We got to go. We got to go. Come on. Get up." HE'S LIKE, "ME GUTS ARE HANGING OUT."

[00:05:37]>> [laughter] >> SO THEY STUFF HIS [ __ ] GUTS BACK IN the best they can and he takes him and they kind of start limping away. Make their way to this road that runs through the forest. This happens to be some big Jeep coming down, right? Woman's driving the Jeep. She's like, "Get in. Get in.

[00:05:53]Get in." Jeep starts being attacked and it's shaking. You see these big arms, these big hairy arms, these monstrous arms coming into the top with these claws.

[00:06:03]>> Yeah.

[00:06:04]>> Stabbing at the arms and [laughter] the little quick glimpses of like what's outside. They drive all the way to the nearest farmhouse, which is pretty isolated, right? There's nothing else around and she says she knows the people who own this house and they get in and no one's home except for this dog, right? Close the door and instantly you see these arms coming through. They're stabbing at the arms and trying to board this door up. In the meantime, the dog's all freaked [laughter] out like attacking poor Wells and like grabbing at his GUTS AND EVERYTHING.

[00:06:38]>> AS IF HE'S NOT IN ENOUGH PAIN, RIGHT?

[00:06:40]The dog.

[00:06:41]>> So, they kind of get the house boarded up and they're they're temporarily saved. And what are those things? We find out this woman who picked them up, her name is Megan.

[00:06:49]And she's actually out there to do research on wildlife and animals and she kind of chimes in, "Well, I think these might be, no better term for it, they're werewolves." Take Wells upstairs to try to patch him up. So, they grab superglue and they get him hopped up on painkillers and whiskey.

[00:07:08]>> [laughter] >> YOU'RE MY BEST MATE.

[00:07:11]>> [ __ ] UP AND EVERYTHING. BUT, he's still not [ __ ] up enough. He hear him screaming as [laughter] they're trying to superglue him together, right?

[00:07:19]>> On the main level and you can hear him screaming upstairs.

[00:07:22]>> They're kind of looking up and you hear him screaming in agony. So, he eventually just has to punch him out.

[00:07:29]>> He has to punch him twice, too, cuz the first one wasn't enough.

[00:07:32]>> [ __ ] wankers.

[00:07:33]>> [laughter] >> The Jeep has been totally ripped to shreds, but Megan says, "Well, I'm quite sure that this family has another car in the barn over there. They send one guy out to be the decoy and they send another guy out to go and hot-wire whatever car is in the barn. Turns on the car, the headlights go on and you see this werewolf eating THIS GUY'S HEAD.

[00:07:58]>> [laughter] >> THROWS THE HEAD AT THE CAR.

[00:08:06]Gets to the house but he ends up being killed and then they wreck the car. So that car is now wrecked. Yeah. Basically they have decided we got to sit here now and wait until sun comes up and hopefully they'll turn back into humans.

[00:08:19]>> So they're counting their ammo and they're like >> They don't really have enough to last them the night if they keep being attacked. They figure that Ryan knows more than what he's saying, which is nothing.

[00:08:29]>> Right.

[00:08:30]>> Right. He's not saying anything.

[00:08:31]Suddenly he seems to be not dying anymore. Where he there was all those claw marks from before are all healed up. Ryan tells them that yeah, we knew something was out here, some sort of creature. And we were going to capture it and take it back to experiment on to use as a weapon. Make like super soldiers out of these [laughter] things.

[00:08:52]But they didn't expect there to be a whole clan. They just needed one.

[00:08:56]Cooper's squad was sent out as bait and Cooper's [ __ ] pissed off. He's ready to kill Ryan. He looks up, all right, and his eyes are all different and his teeth have turned into fangs and Ryan starts transforming into a wolf.

[00:09:11]Inside the house as the wolves outside are starting to trying to get in again.

[00:09:17]And that's where we're going to end the plot. If you want to see how Dog Soldiers ends, watch the movie.

[00:09:22]>> Yeah.

[00:09:23]>> But first, why is it such a good [ __ ] movie?

[00:09:26]>> Original twist on the whole werewolf mythos, right? And they do a [ __ ] fantastic job.

[00:09:33]>> It's just solid.

[00:09:34]>> Yeah, it's >> From front to back.

[00:09:36]>> Start to the end, it's like balls to the wall. So fast-paced, but yet you're immersed into their world almost instantly, dragged into it kind of, and you just you're on the edge of your seat, you can't look away.

[00:09:50]>> The entirety of the movie, you're you're like this, there's no break. And even in spots where it slows down, you're still on the edge of your seat because it's the subject matter, right?

[00:10:01]Wells telling the story >> Yeah.

[00:10:03]>> about his friend who stepped in the landmine. Well, that story puts you on the edge of your seat, even though it's not nothing's happening on screen. It's just a guy telling a story. You're still >> [laughter] >> You're still like this, right?

[00:10:17]>> Yeah.

[00:10:17]>> Oh, yeah, the pacing is [ __ ] fantastic. It's bang, bang, bang. It's relentless.

[00:10:22]>> Yeah, yeah. And it's relentless in a good way, cuz sometimes it can be in a bad way where it's like, ah, it's too much.

[00:10:29]>> Like action movies where it's just all action?

[00:10:31]>> Yeah.

[00:10:32]>> Yeah.

[00:10:32]>> But like this movie, no, cuz it allows you to breathe.

[00:10:35]>> Yeah.

[00:10:35]>> It allows the movie to kind of expand a little bit on the plot and who these people are, what's going on. But in amongst that, there's chaos. There's nothing but, you know, all this [ __ ] going on.

[00:10:47]>> There's a lot of mysteries in this movie. Like at first, you don't know what's attacking them, but you find that out. You don't really know like what that other squad, like Ryan's squad, is doing there, but you find that out. Like everything is answered. Like that's one thing I like about this movie is like there's a lot of what ifs or what's going on, a lot of mystery, but they answer it all. They answer it at the perfect spot.

[00:11:09]It's one of those movies you're like, Yeah, but what about Oh, okay, yeah.

[00:11:14]>> They're doing [laughter] it.

[00:11:14]>> You you answered it. Thank you. You know, like perfect spot. You knew You knew I was asking that question at that moment, and you answered it. Very few movies do that.

[00:11:23]>> That's right. And I like how they just give you enough to answer it, too. They don't keep going with some stupid ex- They just give you enough, and it's like the kids satisfying, right? The story is fantastic and it's simple. Director said, "Well, I had an idea for a movie and it was soldiers versus werewolves."

[00:11:41]>> Well, that's it.

[00:11:42]>> Yeah, that's That's what [laughter] this is, yeah. A few plot lines which don't connect >> Yeah.

[00:11:48]>> at first, but they meet in the in it's perfect, right? Everything comes full circle in this movie, which is great.

[00:11:53]Even the letter opener in the beginning that you completely forgot about >> Mhm.

[00:12:00]>> has something to play with at the end of the movie. Of course, it's made of silver.

[00:12:03]>> Of course, yeah. Uh it's extremely well written. That's the you know, it's like and the the the simplicity of it helps with that, right? It's like it's not over complicated. That's what allows it to be rewatchable as well. It's like it's it's such an enjoyable movie.

[00:12:18]>> A lot of that is the way that it's paced and edited. So, we mentioned the pacing is balls to the walls, but that that has a lot to do with the editing, too.

[00:12:25]>> There are scenes that there's so many [ __ ] cuts. I was watching like, "Holy [ __ ] they're cutting every 3 seconds."

[00:12:32]And sometimes I can get nauseating, but in this movie it works so perfectly.

[00:12:36]It's like, "Oh man, like they want you to be just glued to the screen." And the way it's edited, you just can't [ __ ] take your eyes off this movie. The wolves, you never really get a good glimpse at it, right? Like it's little hints here and there. You see the hands.

[00:12:51]>> Mhm.

[00:12:52]>> You see little quick [laughter] quick things, but like even when you see the thing full on, it's for like seconds.

[00:12:58]>> Yeah. Yeah.

[00:12:59]>> You never really get to linger on this thing. Usually it's like, "Ah, we spend all this time and money, you got to like milk it." They didn't milk it at all.

[00:13:07]They really kept you like, "What does that thing look like?"

[00:13:11]>> Well, that's what keeps you watching though, too, right? You oversaturated.

[00:13:15]If they were to show them full on right away, well, then it kind of spoils the whole thing. Interesting thing is too, cuz a lot of B movies that do that, they do it because they know that it looks shitty.

[00:13:28]>> Yeah.

[00:13:29]>> But in this case, it doesn't look shitty. And they still chose to not ever linger long on the wolf.

[00:13:36]>> Yeah. That's how you do it. That's just how you do it.

[00:13:39]>> And the wolf design is awesome. Like when you see that finally see the thing head to toe, it's like holy [ __ ] the thing's huge.

[00:13:46]>> Yeah. And yeah.

[00:13:47]>> Like it stands up, right? Head hits the roof. The way they did that was pretty impressive cuz they put guys on stilts.

[00:13:56]But the foot on a stilt would usually go like this. They had to bend the foot down. So it was super painful to be in those suits.

[00:14:04]Which is why you don't really see the wolves head to toe much because it was too painful for these guys to actually be in the suit and walk around.

[00:14:14]Cuz their foot was all contorted, right?

[00:14:16]To fit make it look like a straight leg.

[00:14:18]So it kind of makes sense now why they did those quick cuts.

[00:14:21]>> The character building too for this movie is awesome. There's a lot of characters and you care about all of them. And they made you feel like they're all comrades. And they did that through all of the interesting dialogue.

[00:14:33]English >> slang >> and everything. You're taking the piss.

[00:14:38]You tosser. This shite. A six-pack or a telly. You plonker. Bollocks to them.

[00:14:44]You twatter. I'll slot you myself. We stay or we snuff it out. Drop your kegs.

[00:14:51]>> [laughter] >> That's my favorite.

[00:14:52]>> Just awesome stuff.

[00:14:54]>> All the actors got along.

[00:14:56]>> Right.

[00:14:56]>> Right? So they they talk about that too in the featurette for this film where they had a blast making the movie. They really got along and became friends and that comes across >> Right.

[00:15:07]>> screen, right? That bleeds through the screen. That's because they were a team off screen, too, right? They they knew that they were making this kind of cool movie >> Yeah.

[00:15:17]>> with not much of a budget. Let's make a splash together, you know?

[00:15:20]>> Yeah. Yeah.

[00:15:21]>> And that comes across.

[00:15:22]>> And the acting, too. Like, never once do you think in this movie that anybody is shitty.

[00:15:27]>> Or acting.

[00:15:27]>> No, or acting.

[00:15:28]>> Everyone is fantastic.

[00:15:30]>> Yep.

[00:15:30]>> Sean Pertwee is [ __ ] great. When he tells that story, >> Mhm.

[00:15:35]>> [ __ ] you believe like every second. You buy it all.

[00:15:38]>> Liam Cunningham, too. He plays a good [ __ ] He's the antagonist, basically.

[00:15:43]You're going to do something that's going to [ __ ] everything up.

[00:15:46]>> it's coming.

[00:15:47]>> Yeah.

[00:15:47]>> Yeah.

[00:15:48]>> And it's just when is it going to happen?

[00:15:49]>> Right.

[00:15:50]>> It's funny, too. Like, it's pretty blatant. He's all in black.

[00:15:52]>> Uh-huh.

[00:15:53]>> You know, like it's he's the bad guy.

[00:15:55]He's got He's wearing black. He's got a black hair.

[00:15:58]He's like the complete opposite of Wells, but they're on the same team, so to speak. But, he's like the company man, you know?

[00:16:06]>> Yeah, exactly. Yeah.

[00:16:07]>> You know.

[00:16:08]>> He's the guy that you love to hate. And the settings for this movie is awesome.

[00:16:12]Like, and it's so simple. It's just mostly the woods, right? And then the house. But, you have this huge expanse of everywhere to go, but you can't go anywhere. You can't escape.

[00:16:25]>> There's like this claustrophobia, right?

[00:16:27]>> Beautiful.

[00:16:28]>> Yeah.

[00:16:28]>> But, also like you get the sense of dread.

[00:16:31]Cuz it's cloudy. It's Scotland. It's cloudy and dreary. And it's like, "Oh, man, that looks beautiful, but I still don't want to be there."

[00:16:39]>> Yeah, exactly. [laughter] >> And it's cold. Like, there you see their breath. And it's like, "Yeah, it's It's not It's not very pleasant looking, you know?"

[00:16:48]>> tell that they were actually in the >> cold.

[00:16:51]>> There was no drawn-in CGI breath.

[00:16:53]>> No, [ __ ] that CGI breath. I hate that [ __ ] >> these guys were cold out there.

[00:16:59]>> Yeah.

[00:16:59]>> They were actually living it. Comes across the screen that these guys were actually cold >> Yeah.

[00:17:04]>> in that shot.

[00:17:05]>> Well, it's >> [laughter] >> It's like one less thing that they have to act.

[00:17:09]>> Yeah.

[00:17:10]>> Exactly.

[00:17:11]>> It makes their job easier.

[00:17:12]>> Yeah.

[00:17:13]>> And the way this movie's shot is fantastic. It's like it's shot almost like a documentary. Hand held and shaky.

[00:17:20]Kind of a 2000's trope. That was kind of a big thing. It's like 28 Days Later kind of really capitalized on that big time. This movie does it really really well cuz it does feel like that you are the other person in the squad. You feel like you're with the guys. Nothing is like perfectly framed. It's not just like a camera on a tripod. You never get that feeling at all.

[00:17:43]>> Feel the chaos that's going on around in the movie.

[00:17:46]>> Yeah, you're immersed in the chaos, right?

[00:17:48]>> Yeah. And then also like when things get jittery, there's a good reason for it.

[00:17:53]It's not just to throw you off somehow or whatever, right? It's like there's yeah, it's like because they have to run. So then the cameras yeah, it's like you're you're with them. And there's a lighter side to this movie as well, right? With a little bit of the humor that's peppered throughout. All the ribbing that the guys do to each other using all the English terms and [ __ ] But there's also things like where that dog attacks Wells' guts. Like that's funny that part, right?

[00:18:21]>> funny.

[00:18:22]>> [laughter] >> Hand-to-hand combat with the [ __ ] wolf and like kind of boxing with it.

[00:18:27]>> Yeah, and he's doing a good job, too.

[00:18:28]>> on top of it with the knife and he's >> [laughter] >> stabbing it and it's like it's it's done in a funny way. Or even when the wolf throws the head at the camera.

[00:18:36]>> Yeah, there's that, too, yeah.

[00:18:37]>> [ __ ] you. [laughter] This movie is definitely inspired by other movies.

[00:18:43]>> Yeah.

[00:18:43]>> You know, there's definitely some like aliens in there, Evil Dead, >> Yeah.

[00:18:48]>> Predator, >> Predator for sure.

[00:18:49]>> multiple werewolf movies, but it doesn't really hit you over the head with any of those influences. They're just influences. You just you can tell the director liked those movies and you they they bleed in here and there, but it's not like, "Well, that's [ __ ] Predator. That's Evil Dead." Like you don't feel like you're watching a knockoff or a rip-off or a carbon copy. It's completely original. But, you also see the influences, and I love that. It's It's a love letter to all these things, while also being completely original. And not just movies, but also like fairy tales. Like, there's definitely a Goldilocks element in this.

[00:19:27]>> Yeah.

[00:19:27]>> Where it's like when they're in the house and no one's home. You get that feeling, right? They look at the picture.

[00:19:33]And the family's there, but there's no family in the house. You're like, Hmm.

[00:19:37]>> Yeah.

[00:19:38]>> Oh, okay. Okay, what's going on here, right? There's even that line. EATING THEIR PORRIDGE, SLEEPING IN THEIR BED.

[00:19:46]They're [ __ ] pissed off.

[00:19:47]>> Yeah, okay. Yeah, you're borrowing from like those classical fairy tales, too, which >> Yep.

[00:19:53]>> are timeless, and it'll always work, you know, if you do it right. It's got a great climax, two climaxes. You think it's over, >> Yeah.

[00:20:00]>> and then it keeps going, right? And that's where that letter opener comes into play later, right? Kind of like Return of the Living Dead, where it's just chaos. But, the best type of chaos.

[00:20:12]>> Exactly.

[00:20:13]>> entertaining, rewatchable chaos. And strategic.

[00:20:17]>> Yep.

[00:20:17]>> You know, it's You can tell the filmmaker knew exactly what they were doing.

[00:20:21]>> Yep, they kept the tone perfect. Little bits of humor here and there, but nothing that takes you out of the movie.

[00:20:27]>> Might be one of the best werewolf movies ever.

[00:20:30]>> It's definitely up there. Like, it definitely set a bar.

[00:20:33]>> It's original. It does its own thing, and it stands on its own two legs.

[00:20:38]Behind legs, yeah.

[00:20:39]>> [laughter] >> If you're in the mood for a wicked werewolf movie, man, this is it. This will basically tick all the boxes. Like, if you haven't seen Predator in a while, >> but you want something new, >> Mhm.

[00:20:50]>> yeah, check it out. Definitely check out Dog Soldiers. You'll love it.

[00:20:54]>> Oh, yeah, it's tons of fun.

[00:20:56]>> And until next time, >> keep drinking.

[00:21:30]>> Mhm.