DOG SOLDIERS (2002)
2-Disc Collector's Edition
4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray
Label: Scream Factory
Region Code: Region-Free (UHD), A (Blu-ray)
Rating: R
Duration: 105 Minutes
Audio: English DTS-HD 5.1, English DTS-HD MA 2.0 with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 2160p HD Widescreen (1.78:1)
Director: Neil Marshall
Cast: Liam Cunningham, Kevin McKidd, Thomas Lockyer, Emma Cleasby, Sean Pertwee, Neil Marshall
A squad of six British regular Army soldiers lead by Sgt. Harry G. Wells (Sean Pertwee, Gotham) are dropped by helicopter into the chilly Scottish Highlands for what should be a standard military exercise, only for the hardened soldiers to find more than they bargained for. They're up against a Special Ops unit lead by hardcase Captain Ryan (Liam Cunningham, Centurion), but the training exercise turns to shit when the soldiers find the Special Ops unit have been eviscerated by an unknown enemy, their encampment is covered in blood and guts, the only survivor is the critically wounded Ryan, who keeps repeating "there was only supposed to be one"... soon enough the unknown enemy attacks the second group, who retreat into the forest, not sure what they're up against. In the ensuing panic one of the soldiers bloodily run himself through on a tree branch (a gore-gag later borrowed by Tucker and Dale Vs Evil) while fleeing in fright and Sgt. Harry is disemboweled by what turns out to fucking werewolves! The squad patch up the Sgt. and head for cover, and are luckily found by Megan (Emma Cleasby, Doomsday), a zoologist, who transports them to a nearby woodland cottage where they attempt to regroup, treat the injured, and come up with a plan to fight off this supernatural threat. Meanwhile, the werewolves gather around the cottage and lay siege throughout the night. Neil Marshall made quite a werewolf film back in 2002, it's a darkly funny and gory mash-up combining a a gritty soldier films with a gory Howling-esque terror film, that at its peak feels a bit like Assault of Precinct 13 with werewolves thrown-in to the mix.
We get a great assortment of actors who imbue their testosterone filled characters with some minor depth as they each share war stories, fret about missing the soccer match, and barb each other about this and that, the dialogue is snappy and vibrant and the pace is brisk from start to finish. They all come off as decent blokes, except for maybe Ryan, who is a real turd and is keeping vital information from the other soldiers, and whom strangely has recovered from his injuries in record time, I wonder... The look of the film is terrific, loads of atmosphere, good suspense and the rugged wooded areas of the Scottish Highlands (it was shot in Luxembourg actually) are an inspired backdrop, with loads mist-laden greenery with rocky outcroppings made even more ominous by the black and white wolf-vision employed by the filmmakers for the POV shots of our toothy antagonists. The design of the werewolves is also a highlight, seven foot tall beasts with the head of a wolf, their bodies are somewhat hairless with long manes, long-clawed fingers and long arms with quite a reach... the better to disembowel you with with, my dear. The design is absolutely descended from Joe Dante's The Howling, though we do not get any elaborate transformation scenes. What we do get is done quite simply with yellow contact lenses and a set of teeth, they duck down below a table or whatnot, and boom, when they re-emerge they're transformed. I love that Marshall went practical for the appearance of the werewolves, thereby avoiding the CGI shitshow that was An American Werewolf in Paris, this has an great old school special effects vibe that hit me right in my practical FX sweet spot. The humor is also appreciated, there are oodles of quotable dialogue but hand down my favorite is when a soldier is face-to-face with the lethal lycanthrope with no hope and in defiance he says "I hope I give you the shits you fucking wimp"!, that's it! I thought the shine might have worn off this flick, and I was quite pleased to find I'm still gushing over it 20-years later, this is a classic werewolf flick and is still one of the best horror flicks of the early oughts.
There are two audio options, English language DTS-HD 2.0 stereo and a 5.1 surround mixes with optional English subtitles. Dialogue, the score and special effects audio are nicely balanced, the surround sound option is more active with some use of the rear surrounds during the more action-oriented sequences with some pleasing ambient sound and gunfire. The only issue I could detect was what sounds like an errant audio pop at about the 28 min 35 sec mark. It's a tiny imperfection but it's noticeable if you're looking for it, and is present on both the 2.0 and 5.1 options, and notably it was present on the previous 2015 release as well - so it might be baked into the original sound recording. I'll be curious to see if the Second Sight 4K UHD in the UK has the same issue.
Scream Factory carry-over all the previous extras from their 2015 Collector's Edition Blu-ray, plus we get a handful of new bonus junk (over 90-minutes worth) celebrating this phenomenal lycanthropic classic. New stuff starts off with a brand new Audio Commentary by writer and associate professor of Film Alison Peirse (which I have not partaken of, yet), then onto the 38-min Werewolves, Crawlers, Cannibals and More – an interview with Neil Marshall wherein the genre-mashing director talks about his entire career, beginning with his love of film from an early age thanks to his father, vintage horror books, coming from an artistic family, thinking he would go into visual FX before coming into directing. The genesis of the film, scraping
together financing and resources, the rough go at the start of filming, it's success. He also gets into the claustrophobic classic The Descent, being ahead of the curve for the 80's love with Doomsday, shooting the latter in South Africa and the comfort of shooting with a much larger budget, and how it was a critical and commercial failure, but how it prepared him for Centurion, chasing down films that never manifested, and landing the gig on HBO's Game of Thrones and how that became a quite successful TV career that includes Black Sails, Constantine and many more genre series, as well as directing the ill-received Hellboy reboot, saying it was terrible script and a "miserable experience", and furthermore stating "you can't polish a turd". Love it when we get this sort of candid appraisal of one's own work.
Also new is the A History of Lycanthropy – author Gavin Baddeley on Werewolf Cinema, a 33-min conversation with author Baddey who recalls the fall of UK horror cinema in the 70's as Hollywood entered the big-budget horror market further pushed down by the vide nasties scare in the 80's, and not really being reinvigorated until the early 200s. He then focuses on werewolf films, the two categories of types of werewolves, the reluctant killer (The Wolfman) versus the willing killer-beast (The Howling), also touching on various werewolf designs and transformation scenes, from the classic Universal film on through to Paul Naschy's incarnation, the Dante and Landis versions, and then into the origins of the werewolf folklore, and movie mythology versus traditional mythos, and. It's a well-rounded chat that I found quite entertaining, a nice addition.
The last of the new interview is the 23-min Werewolves, Folklore and Cinema – a video essay by author Mikel J. Koven in which he explores the historical record of werewolves in mythology, and then tracing the creatures cinematic evolution beginning with Universal classic onward. This is another informative and much appreciated addition. Something not new but was absent from the previous Scream Factory release, appearing here, is an Audio Commentary by producers David Allen and Brian O'Toole from previous US/UK DVD edition, glad to have it here.
Archival extras include the 62-min Werewolves vs. Soldiers making of documentary with input from Director Neil Marshall, Producers Christopher Figg And Keith Bell, Actors Kevin McKidd, Sean Pertwee, Darren Morfitt, Leslie Simpson And Emma Cleasby, Special Effects Artist Bob Keen. There's also a new featurette with Production Designer Simon Bowles who brings out a scale model of the cottage and speaks about the design and logistics of the cottage sequences. We also get Audio Commentary with director Neil Marshall that is loaded with anecdotal info about the making of the film, the cast and crew, and the genesis of the project. Combat – A short film by Neil Marshall (1999) is a fun war-themed version of the pub dating scene. We also get the 13-min A Cottage in the Woods - a look at the production design with production designer Simon Bowles, and the extras are tidied up with the UK Theatrical Trailers, U.S. Home Video Promo, and a pair of Still Galleries. The only extras present on the UHD disc are the three audio commentaries, the remaining extras are on the accompanying Blu-ray disc which also features the 1080p version of the 4K scan.
Notably, we still do not get all the extras the from previous DVD editions that were absent from the previous Scream Factory release, these include a group Audio Commentary by writer/director Neil Marshall, producer Keith Bell, cameraman Sam McCurdy and actors Kevin McKidd, Liam Cunningham and Sean Pertwee. Also absent are a brief Making of Dog Soldiers featurette (found on the R1/R2 DVD) and a selection of Deleted Scenes and Gag Reel with optional audio commentary by writer/director Neil Marshall - which are only found on the R2 DVD from Pathe. Depending on your love of extras you might want to hang onto those DVDs if you have them or seek them out if you need them.
The 2-disc release arrives in a black keepcase with dual spindles holding the discs inside, each with unique artwork. The single-sided wrap features a new illustration by Laz Marquez, which is also featured on the slipcover. I don't care that much for the new artwork, and I wish they had included the artwork from the previous Collector's Edition by Nathan Thomas Milner, even if only so I could trade my copy in, but because I'm weird that way I now have to hang onto it.
Special Features:
Disc 1 (4K UHD):
- NEW! 4K Restoration from The Original Camera Negative by Second Sight Films – Approved by Director Neil Marshall and director of photography Sam McCurdy – Presented in Dolby Vision
- NEW! Audio Commentary by writer and associate professor of Film Alison Peirse
- Audio Commentary with Director Neil Marshall
- Audio Commentary with producers David Allen and Brian O’Toole
Disc 2 (Blu-ray):
- NEW! 4K Restoration from The Original Camera Negative by Second Sight Films – Approved by Director Neil Marshall and director of photography Sam McCurdy
- NEW! Audio Commentary by writer and associate professor of Film Alison Peirse
- NEW! Werewolves, Crawlers, Cannibals and More – an interview with Neil Marshall (38 min)
- NEW! A History of Lycanthropy – author Gavin Baddeley on Werewolf Cinema (33 min)
- NEW! Werewolves, Folklore and Cinema – a video essay by author Mikel J. Koven (23 min)
- Audio Commentary with Director Neil Marshall
- Audio Commentary with producers David Allen and Brian O’Toole
- Werewolves vs. Soldiers – a look at the making of Dog Soldiers featuring Interviews with Director Neil Marshall, Producers Christopher Figg and Keith Bell, Actors Kevin McKidd, Sean Pertwee, Darren Morfitt, Leslie Simpson and Emma Cleasby, Special Effects Artist Bob Keen and more! (62 min)
- A Cottage in the Woods - a look at the production design with production designer Simon Bowles (13 min)
- UK Theatrical Trailers (5 min)
- U.S. Home Video Promo
- Combat – A short film by Neil Marshall (8 min)
- Two Still Galleries – Photos from the Film and Rare Photos from Production Designer Simon Bowles and Special Effects Artist Dave Bonneywell's Archives (62 Images)
Dog Soldiers (2002) is the best werewolf movie we've gotten since the The Howling and An American Werewolf in London back in '81 in my opinion, it's a fucking classic, and Scream Factory's second stab at the film with the new 4k scan and wealth of extras is absolutely something to howl the moon about!
- Combat – A short film by Neil Marshall (8 min)
- Two Still Galleries – Photos from the Film and Rare Photos from Production Designer Simon Bowles and Special Effects Artist Dave Bonneywell's Archives (62 Images)
Dog Soldiers (2002) is the best werewolf movie we've gotten since the The Howling and An American Werewolf in London back in '81 in my opinion, it's a fucking classic, and Scream Factory's second stab at the film with the new 4k scan and wealth of extras is absolutely something to howl the moon about!
Screenshot Comparison:
Top: Scream Factory Blu-ray (2015)
Bottom: Scream Factory Blu-ray (2022)
