If there’s one flaw with Dog Soldiers, it’s that Marshall’s editing is a bit too busy overall. The action scenes are sometimes excessively chaotic, with a confusing sense of screen direction. It’s still miles away from the completely incoherent visual anarchy of a Michael Bay film, but Marshall’s confidence in handling action scenes has improved considerably since he made his feature debut with this film. That’s a minor quibble, however, as Dog Soldiers is still a werewolf movie for the ages. It’s a fine example of how a talented director can take a clever concept and overcome the limitations of a minuscule budget, and it proves just how versatile that the werewolf genre really can be. An early poster of Dog Soldiers: Fresh Meat was released with the tagline "Coming 2014" across the bottom on 23 March 2014. [41] D. Eric Allen announced that a prequel and another sequel are in the planning stages, and Fresh Meat would be released on 20 December 2014. [42] This date passed with no release and no additional updates on the film's status. A Blu-ray edition (including a single-disc edition and a double-disc edition with a DVD copy) was released by First Look Studios on 5 May 2009, [27] available only in the U.S. and Canada. A new restoration from the original camera negative approved by Director Neil Marshall and Cinematographer Sam McCurdy

Neil Marshall stated in an audio commentary for Dog Soldiers, that the moment in the film when Megan cuts her hand on a shard of glass was meant to be a setup for a second sequel about werewolf DNA, which would complete a planned trilogy. However, he added that the planned sequels will "probably amount to nothing now." [43] See also [ edit ] Sean Pertwee reflects on Dog Soldiers' legacy, on-set injuries and the sequels that never were". Radio Times. 13 October 2020 . Retrieved 4 August 2023. Marshall wrote the first draft in 1996. [12] It took six years to refine the script and acquire financing. [13] Marshall wanted the focus to be on the soldiers, with the creatures being an enemy that happens to be werewolves. [14] Marshall wanted to avoid cliches about werewolf curses or "how awful it is to be a werewolf", which Marshall felt was a trope exhaustingly used in many werewolf films. [15] Filming [ edit ] A " Little Red Riding Hood"-inspired web series, Dog Soldiers: Legacy, was announced in September 2011 by producer and Kismet vice-president, Allen, now going by D. Eric Allen. A teaser trailer for the series was filmed in northwest Arkansas over the last weekend of August 2011. Directed by Ryan Lightbourn, the trailer included members of Allen's family, including his grandmother Pat "Nan" Allen and his sister Emmy Allen, as Red. Allen also said the Dog Soldiers sequel was in early pre-production. [40] The modern werewolf genre has been a durable but malleable one, with the basic tropes proving surprisingly adaptable into a variety of different situations and narratives. That’s especially interesting given the fact that most of those tropes have little to do with traditional werewolf folklore, but were instead largely created out of whole cloth by writer Curt Siodmak for the 1941 classic The Wolf Man (although he was building on ideas that were first explored in the 1935 film Werewolf of London). Yet as Carleton Young said in The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, when the legend becomes fact, print the legend, and so it’s variations of Siodmak’s werewolf lore that have become indelible in popular culture. That’s a big reason why the genre has proven so versatile: audiences are already familiar with the basic conceit, and that fact frees filmmakers to spend more time working it into different contexts. Diverse productions like The Company of Wolves, Ginger Snaps, Bad Moon, and Teen Wolf have all proven how resilient that werewolves can be, and in 2002, writer/director Neil Marshall added his own unique spin to the genre with Dog Soldiers.The WCG and HDR (as Dolby Vision) gives life and vibrancy to the colours, while maintaining the natural hues and integrity of the original intent. Flesh tones are of the pale variety, greens are lush - that of vegetation and in the army camouflage - see the richness of the yellow of the Land Rover, the cool of the blue skies and how gorgeously gross the reds of the blood and guts are, while the oranges of the explosions are hot! I had the standard Blu-ray edition available for review so I can’t vouch for the 4K Ultra-HD edition, but I’ll be interested to see what the expanded resolution and colour palette bring out of what is a very, very impressive piece of restoration work – the standard Blu-ray is a revelation in its own right. Dog Soldiers was produced by the Kismet Entertainment Group, the Noel Gay Motion Picture Company, the Victor Film Company, and the Carousel Picture Company with the support of the Luxembourg Film Fund. [10] In addition to the credits in the infobox, the costume designer is Uli Simon, the casting directors are Jeremy Zimmerman and Andrea Clarke, the special makeup, animatronic and digital visual effects are by the company Image FX, and the physical-effects supervisor and stunt coordinator is Harry Wiessenhaan. [10] In the United States, the film premiered as a Sci-Fi Pictures telefilm on the Sci-Fi Channel. [10] What a debut feature Neil Marshall had with Dog Soldiers in 2002. Taking the fairly standard ‘group trapped’ movie trope, and pitting squaddies against werewolves, he crafted a tight, scary, gory and funny film that he’s yet to better. Oh, The Descent might be a better horror film, indeed one of the best horror films of all time, but, in terms of all round satisfaction, Dog Soldiers is the one to beat. Shame his filmic outings have been all downhill ever since. Miska, Brad (7 September 2020). "Neil Marshall's 'Dog Soldiers' Gets Restored 4K Release in the UK!". Bloody Disgusting . Retrieved 5 October 2020.

Jamie Russell of the BBC gave it 4 out of 5 and called it "A rip-roaring comedy action fest that'll put hairs on your chest." [22] Audio commentary – With writer and Associate Professor of Film, Alison Peirse, new for this release.In 2002, the film won the Brussels International Festival of Fantasy Film's Golden Raven, the festival's top award, as well as the audience prize, the Pegasus. [25] Home media [ edit ]

A new 4K restoration from the original camera negative approved by director Neil Marshall and director of photography Sam McCurdyWhat is immediately clear is how filmic this image is; the 16mm grain structure gives an authenticity to the picture. Detail is terrific, there is texture to skin, clothing has weave, dirt and grime on the soldiers, wood grain, foliage, tree bark, blood splatter, peeling paint, everything is clear and distinct, with the caveat of the inherent source softness. Update on Dog Soldiers Sequel!". No.58. Rue Morgue via Horror-Movies.ca. July 2006. Archived from the original on 23 March 2010 . Retrieved 26 July 2012. The film contains homages to H. G. Wells as well as the films The Evil Dead, Zulu, Aliens, The Matrix and Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. [11] Writing [ edit ] Taste of Cinema writer David Harkin states that " Dog Soldiers ditches the drama of the original Wolfman of the 1940s and pushes Dog Soldiers into Aliens territory as seven-foot lycanthropes besiege a tiny cottage while macho soldiers fight for their lives". [21] are a little more inscrutable, as we spend most of the time with the squaddies as they defend themselves, it’s not until later that we gather the information to discern which camp the werewolves fall into.