Dog Soldiers is a Gritty and Violent Film Filled with Entertaining Werewolf Action

I finally watched Dog Soldiers last night, and I can't believe I waited this long to check out this masterpiece. This was like finding that one needle in a haystack moment, because I think this is one of the best horror films ever made, hands down. I was not expecting this movie to be so over the top when it came to the werewolf action, it was directed to perfection, and the cast sold the terror of the werewolves that were determined to take them all down one by one. 

Having trained soldiers battle powerful werewolves beings was a genius idea, and I was obsessed with this film from beginning to end. There were so many twists and turns, and it continued to make the film ten times better, as I watched this movie with both awe and fear as I was left wondering how the film was going to end. 

It was like watching 28 Days Later, but instead of zombies, you get werewolves, and this time around, you are rooting for the soldiers to live. 

Warning: We do get a dog death in this movie, but thankfully, it's off screen, but it still pissed me off. It's the most unnecessary death in the whole film, and it's a good introduction for a random character you will hate throughout the film. 

We follow the story of a soldier named Cooper, who is kicked out of a high-ranking soldier team for defying orders to kill a dog.

After we witness a horrific mystery murder of a couple innocently camping together in the woods, we now follow the story of a soldier named Cooper. He is training for a chance to be placed in a Special Ops team of soldiers, but he gets kicked out when he refuses to murder a dog. His boss named Ryan, kills the dog without mercy, and kicks out Cooper. 

We now see Cooper with a new team, now training with this team, that consists of 5 soldiers. Spoon, Bruce, Terry, Joe, and the captain, referred to as Sarge. The team is sent out to a woods like area, where they learn from one of the soldiers about werewolf attacks, but none of them take it seriously. 

Until a cow's body suddenly drops right in front of the soldiers while they are camping, scaring all of them. They assume it had fallen from the cliff they were nearby, but the soldiers noticed the animal-like markings on the body of the cow. 

The soldiers decide to follow the blood trail of the cow, and they discover the Special Ops team has been wiped out, leaving only blood and their weapons behind. Ryan is the only survivor, and he is saved by the group. The soldiers get confused with his sudden outbursts of claiming "there was only supposed to be one of them," as the soldiers are trying to help Ryan. 

The soldiers take the weapons for defense, and help Ryan, but they learn very quickly that whatever killed the team is now coming for them. 

The soldiers are brutally attacked by this terrifying threat.

The soldiers are instantly attacked by the same threat who wiped out Ryan's whole team, and they attempt to escape. Bruce ends up accidentally running into a tree branch, impaling himself, as the creature finishes him off. The Sarge is also attacked, torn open by the creature. Cooper is able to save him, and leads him away with the rest of the remaining group. They are saved by a random woman named Megan, who shows up in her car. 

She takes the group away, and they barely escape from the creature. They arrive to a home that Megan claims good people live in, and they break in, to take refuge from the creatures that are hunting them. They treat the Sarge's wounds, as they try to figure out their situation. The group also meets another member of the family, who is a cute dog. 

Megan tries to convince the group that the creatures are werewolves, but the soldiers refuse to believe her. They are attacked several times, and they end up losing the car. The group wins another fight; Terry is suddenly taken by the werewolves. The group accepts that he's dead, and the soldiers are heartbroken over another loss. 

Joe decides to take a risk, and go to the barn to get the car for the group, to hopefully escape. Spoon offers to be a distraction for Joe, and he uses a flare to catch the attention of the werewolves. He runs off, while Joe goes into the barn to get the car. He unfortunately witnesses a still alive Terry, who is being slowly consumed by one of the werewolves. 

Terry is killed in front of him, and Joe escapes from the barn with the car. He parks the vehicle in front of the house, but he is killed by a werewolf that was secretly hiding behind him in the car. Spoon barely makes it to the house, and the group finds Joe's body inside the car, and they go back inside the house. 

The group learns that Ryan's team was in charge to capture a werewolf to use for experimentation, and Cooper's team would be used as bait.

Upon learning this information, the group gets outraged, and the Sarge, who is now miraculously recovered from his injuries, attacks Ryan in anger. Ryan transforms into a werewolf, due to the injuries he had received from the creatures, and escapes through one of the windows. The soldiers then get more shocking information, when they learn the 'kind people' who live in the house are the werewolves. 

Megan claims that the werewolves are most likely living in the barn, and the group comes up with a plan to blow up the barn. Before the plan is enacted, the Sarge tells Cooper that his wounds are now fully healed, and he believes he is now going to become a werewolf next, as Cooper is broken over this. The team blow up the barn, but then get another shocking twist, with Megan revealing herself to also be a werewolf. 

She tells the group that the family had welcomed her into the pack, and she had lied about the werewolves living in the barn. She had unlocked the back door to the house, to let them in, as they slowly arrive, standing behind Megan. 

Before Megan can transform, she is killed by the soldiers. 

Cooper and the Sarge run upstairs as Spoon stays in the kitchen to fight. 

The trio fight to the death.

Spoon fights to the death with one werewolf, and is actually close to winning the fight, before a second werewolf shows up to finish him off. Spoon dies with honor, and he is consumed by the creatures. 

Spoon's fight scene is incredible. He knew he was going to die, but still gave it his all before his death. He even spit in the werewolf's face before it ate him. Dude died a legend. 

Cooper and the Sarge are the last survivors, and they make their way through the house to escape from the monsters, but they can only do so much to avoid death. The Sarge makes a sacrifice, and he tells Cooper to escape, to tell the world what really happened to the group. Cooper escapes, as the Sarge blows himself up with the werewolves, before he also turns into a werewolf. 

Cooper is now in the underground area of the house, and he runs into Ryan, a fully transformed werewolf. Cooper battles Ryan, and before he is killed, the dog saves him. Cooper finds a piece of silver from the couple in the beginning of the film, (the werewolves loved to collect pieces of their victims, but I don't think they ever noticed their mistake of taking this silver piece), and he stabs Ryan, winning the battle. 

Cooper leaves the destroyed home with the dog, providing some relief that he was able to at least save one life. 

The film ends with the story getting leaked to the press. 

I don't think we will ever get a great werewolf film like this ever again. The action, the practical effects, the gore was amazing, and the characters were so awesome too. I fear that this could be the last great werewolf film ever made, but I believe that the film that is coming out until Christmas this year could possibly be another great one to add to the list. 

Dog Soldiers is nothing short of a masterpiece, within both the werewolf, and horror genre. 

---

Thank you for reading!

Emy Quinn