Dog Soldiers

[00:00:00] Welcome to Movie Oubliette, the film review podcast for movies that most people have mercifully forgotten.

[00:00:10] I'm Dan and I'm Conrad and in each episode we drag a forsaken film out of the Oubliette.

[00:00:17] Discuss it and judge it to decide whether it should be set free

[00:00:22] or whether it should be thrown back and consigned to oblivion forever.

[00:00:30] Movie Oubliette, movie review the films others tend to forget.

[00:00:36] Come with us and let the movie oubliette.

[00:00:40] Hello listeners, welcome to Movie Oubliette, episode 151, the continental connecting podcast with me Dan,

[00:00:48] feeling the joys of sore legs due to cycling in Melbourne Australia.

[00:00:53] And me getting the bug for live shows in Cambridge UK.

[00:00:58] Well in this podcast we discuss forgotten genre films, horror sci-fi and fantasy because we love dogs.

[00:01:05] Vicious seven foot tall standing in testine ripping blood splattering dogs.

[00:01:11] Hello Conrad.

[00:01:13] My favourite, I love those.

[00:01:17] The best breed.

[00:01:19] So the concert bug.

[00:01:22] Yes, I really enjoyed my visit to the O2 in London to see Keen.

[00:01:29] Yeah, yeah, yeah that's right.

[00:01:31] So I'm desperate to go back again now. It's a really impressive venue actually, I had no idea how large it was.

[00:01:37] Oh wow, yeah, yeah. Any theatrics like lights and fireworks or anything? I don't know.

[00:01:45] Oh yeah, no the light show and then they have that thing where they blow off like these massive cannons of little bits of tissue paper in the air for the climax of one of the songs.

[00:01:54] Oh great.

[00:01:55] Yeah, it's a really great atmosphere in there. 20,000 people all singing at once.

[00:02:01] It's a great way to spend an evening there. Really done it before.

[00:02:06] Oh really? Have you not seen many live shows of bands?

[00:02:10] I've been to see Torrey Amos an awful lot and a lot of film music but they tend to be sort of sit down, appreciate and clap sort of shows rather than singing at the top of your voice with 20,000 people.

[00:02:23] Oh right, yeah.

[00:02:24] That's really good fun. I was very hoarse the next time.

[00:02:28] Oh really? Yeah.

[00:02:31] I used to go to a lot of live shows, like a lot.

[00:02:35] Growing up in New Zealand we didn't get many so I would go to everything that came and I went to a lot of big day outs which is like a one day music festival in New Zealand no longer a thing but you'd see like 20 bands in one day.

[00:02:53] Oh wow.

[00:02:55] I've seen a lot, a lot of bands. I haven't been to that many live shows in Australia but I mean some pretty good ones.

[00:03:04] I saw Rady Heard, I've seen Neil Young.

[00:03:06] Oh wow.

[00:03:07] Yeah, a few big ones but yeah it is fun. I do enjoy it.

[00:03:14] So the next one I've managed to book myself in for is they're going to do a live rendition of Jeff Wayne's musical version of The War of the Worlds.

[00:03:24] Okay.

[00:03:25] There's a musical version of that.

[00:03:27] There is, yeah. I think it was probably more of a phenomenon in the UK than anywhere else in the world but I love that.

[00:03:33] It was like a late 70s concept album and narrated by Richard Burton with a whole host of musical stars.

[00:03:44] Singing sort of pop rock songs in a musical form is fascinating.

[00:03:51] So they're doing it live. I don't know who the lineup is, it's probably a whole bunch of X-Factor rejects but I thought it would be fun and they always put up this massive

[00:04:02] sort of alien tripod in the center of the stage and yeah it should be fun.

[00:04:10] Okay, yeah yeah.

[00:04:11] Yeah my only exposure to War of the Worlds is the Tom Cruise movie.

[00:04:16] That's it. I haven't seen the original movie. I haven't heard the radio drama like, it's terrible I know.

[00:04:25] It is terrible yeah you're missing some good stuff there.

[00:04:28] I know.

[00:04:30] Alright well I guess Corrett let's get on to the mailbag. What have our listeners been saying?

[00:04:36] Well we heard from Steve who visited the location from Jabberwocky, Pembroke Castle.

[00:04:43] Oh wow.

[00:04:44] And yeah it's really cool. He wrote to us to say that he'd mentioned recently he had an upcoming trip to Pembrokeshire and he went to Pembroke Castle.

[00:04:54] It was excellent, steeped in history but I'll admit that as the tour guide took us through the centuries of bloody activity there

[00:05:03] my mind was completely preoccupied with thoughts that I was treading in the same spot as Palin and Gilliam during the production of Jabberwocky.

[00:05:12] I've even managed to match a few shots to bore you with and he sent through several shot by shot comparisons and he's bang on.

[00:05:20] Wow.

[00:05:21] That's really good I'll send them to you.

[00:05:23] Also of interest there is an actual oobliette there and he sent us a photograph of the oobliette.

[00:05:31] That's amazing.

[00:05:33] In 1440 poor sod John Whithorn spent seven years in it and went blind from the lack of light and malnutrition.

[00:05:44] Geez wow.

[00:05:46] Good grief.

[00:05:48] Thanks again for an excellent podcast.

[00:05:50] I watched the film in the late 80s but yet again your ace pod brings these films back to life and sparks new interest.

[00:05:57] Oh that's wonderful.

[00:05:59] That's really great.

[00:06:00] Now it was really good to see all the pictures I'll send them to you.

[00:06:03] I think any listener that sends us an actual photo of an oobliette is like a gold star.

[00:06:11] Yes.

[00:06:13] We also heard from Serge of Cold Crash Pictures.

[00:06:19] Hello Serge.

[00:06:20] Hello Serge.

[00:06:21] He says I've started and stopped happiness of the categories three times in the last three days and I just can't dial in.

[00:06:31] I listened to move the oobliettes latest episode about it which helps give it much needed context but I don't think I'm going to try again until I'm in a more experimental mood.

[00:06:43] Yeah definitely not for everyone.

[00:06:46] It's not no it left him cold.

[00:06:50] I mean I admire his determination to try it again at some point but I have to say had I not needed to watch it for the pod I think I would have pressed the eject button myself.

[00:07:02] Yeah I wouldn't have.

[00:07:04] I would have strived through.

[00:07:07] Yeah but thank you everyone for writing especially Steve with his photographs of oobliettes.

[00:07:15] We do love hearing from you.

[00:07:17] Yes yes yes.

[00:07:19] Okay on to the episode today Conrad.

[00:07:22] Let's get into it.

[00:07:23] Yes I'll just scamper on over to the oobliette and find out what we have.

[00:07:31] Oh it's a rather quaint cottage in here.

[00:07:34] What's that noise?

[00:07:35] I don't know there's something outside seems rather keen to get in.

[00:07:39] Yeah.

[00:07:40] Oh look at this there's a sword in here maybe fin them off with that.

[00:07:44] I'll just swing it about.

[00:07:46] Ah lovely.

[00:07:48] Oh let's hear me.

[00:07:49] Every farmhouse should have a sword.

[00:07:51] Oh yes.

[00:07:52] There's a film here too I'll bring that.

[00:07:54] Okay.

[00:07:55] Hey I expect nothing less than gratuitous violence from the lot of you.

[00:07:59] Ah yeah watered off the hounds what do you have?

[00:08:03] I think so.

[00:08:05] So today I have with me dog soldiers the 2002 British action horror film directed and edited

[00:08:14] by Neil Marshall in his feature directorial debut written by Neil Marshall as well.

[00:08:20] And starring Sean Pertwee, Kevin McKidd, Emma Cleeseby, Liam Cunningham, Darren Morfit, Chris Robison and Leslie Simpson.

[00:08:32] Oh yes and what happens in this movie?

[00:08:34] Well after failing his final SAS recruitment test by refusing the sinister Captain Ryan's

[00:08:41] order to shoot an innocent dog, Private Cooper is sent on a training exercise with a six man

[00:08:48] squad in the Scottish Highlands.

[00:08:50] The squaddies spend the night trading ghost stories moaning about missing the footy and

[00:08:56] roasting a dead cow that falls from the sky.

[00:09:00] The morning after they discover the bloody remains of an SAS unit and its lone survivor,

[00:09:07] none other than sinister Captain Ryan and soon come under attack from monstrous wolf man figures

[00:09:14] in the woods.

[00:09:16] Rescued by a passing zoologist called Megan, the group take refuge in a seemingly abandoned farmhouse

[00:09:24] where they come under siege by waves of attack from ravenous beasts outside.

[00:09:30] But why did the squad find a hidden tracking device in their radio?

[00:09:36] Why are their wounded team members healing faster than normal?

[00:09:41] And will the cute sheepdog they found in the cottage survive until the end?

[00:09:47] Find out after the break.

[00:09:54] And we're back to talk about a British movie from 2002 and Werewolves no less.

[00:10:13] Yeah I hadn't seen this movie.

[00:10:15] I think is this the second Werewolf movie that we've covered on the podcast?

[00:10:19] It is after Ginger Snaps.

[00:10:21] Well there's Wolfen which is sort of where Wolf adjacent is not really.

[00:10:27] Yeah not really.

[00:10:29] No I had never seen this movie had you seen it?

[00:10:31] I had seen it yeah it was quite a big thing in the UK when it was released certainly on the DVD market

[00:10:38] I would say it was popular.

[00:10:40] Right did you watch it when it came out in 2002?

[00:10:44] When it came out on DVD yeah so I guess it would be the year after I didn't see it theatrically.

[00:10:50] It was around in theatres it was never released theatrically in the US.

[00:10:55] Wow interesting.

[00:10:57] No it wasn't it went straight to DVD in November of 2002 but in the UK it was released in May 2002

[00:11:06] where it placed third behind About a Boy at Hugh Grant Romcom.

[00:11:12] I love that movie but yes.

[00:11:14] Yes me too a baby Nicholas Holtner who would then be in Renfield.

[00:11:19] Tony Colleton there right?

[00:11:21] Yes it is yeah and number two panic room David Fincher's thriller with Jodie Foster and a very young Kristen Stewart.

[00:11:29] Oh right yeah yeah.

[00:11:31] So came third slipped to five the week later after the release of Star Wars Episode 2 and then sort of slid out

[00:11:38] but it made about $2.9 million by the end of the year.

[00:11:44] Okay.

[00:11:45] Yeah not disastrous but not a huge smash.

[00:11:48] Yeah I mean it's very different in terms of a werewolf movie because it's a squad of trained army guys.

[00:11:55] Yeah.

[00:11:56] Like it's not just like a bunch of different normal people.

[00:11:59] It's not like a farm hand and an accountant and housewife and that sort of thing.

[00:12:04] It's a collection of fully armed professionals against a pack of werewolves not one werewolf a pack of them.

[00:12:12] And so it is very much like a war movie.

[00:12:16] Like it's very tactical, it's very strategic.

[00:12:19] It's like a siege film for the most part as well.

[00:12:22] It's very different to most like every werewolf movie I've ever seen.

[00:12:28] Yeah Neil Marshall talks about that that usually werewolf movies focus on the curse aspect.

[00:12:34] So it's usually focusing on a character who is turned into a werewolf and then you go through his experience.

[00:12:42] That's right.

[00:12:43] And that's been used as an allegory for adolescents like Ginger Snaps which did the gender flip on us

[00:12:51] rather than American werewolf in London which is very focused on a man's experience or Teen Wolf with Michael J Foxx.

[00:12:58] But this all it uses the werewolves for is just an antagonist for a besieged squad.

[00:13:04] It's one of those sort of lost patrol type movies where soldiers suddenly find themselves up against zombies or werewolves or whatever.

[00:13:13] Yeah, so it's one of those movies.

[00:13:15] I did find it very similar to a lot of zombie movies like Night of the Living Dead or even Undead that we saw fairly recently.

[00:13:23] In a farmhouse fending off the hordes of whatever in this case werewolves.

[00:13:29] But again, these are professionals so they're not freaking out as much as not as much screaming and hysteria.

[00:13:36] They're trained for this and they don't really make mistakes like you normally see in similar movies.

[00:13:43] No, well there are a few hilarious mistakes at the beginning which we might get to in the movie awards.

[00:13:50] But no, on the whole it's very much a film for British soldiers.

[00:13:55] The director on the commentary Neil Marshall talks about wanting to make a film that shows a very or as much as he could possibly make it an accurate portrayal of British military,

[00:14:06] British squaddies with their black humour and getting on with it sort of attitude which is you know has a different flavour to it to all the US Marine based movies that we've seen.

[00:14:19] It has to be said the spectre of aliens looms fairly large over this movie.

[00:14:26] I noted a lot of similarities.

[00:14:31] You know you have the sole survivor of the original attack says that soldiers and their weaponry won't make any difference although in this case it's Captain Ryan rather than Newt.

[00:14:42] Newt Cooper squad has been set up by a shadowy organisation that regards them as expendable.

[00:14:49] Soldiers after escaping their first brush with the monsters are rescued by a woman driving a utility vehicle so that's sort of cast Megan as Ripley and when they're escaping one of the monsters is on the roof and punches through and attacks them.

[00:15:06] Short controlled burst somebody shouts out at one point talking about the guns and yeah there's a lot of scenes individual shots even lines and it makes you realise just how monumental how much of an influential genre classic 1986 is aliens really is.

[00:15:27] Yeah yeah I mean I did hear that Neil Marshall was referencing a lot of movies in this movie like a lot of other movies not even werewolf movies.

[00:15:38] There is a line and it because one of the characters is called Spoon and he disappears and one of the characters says we're Spoon and then they find the watch that he was wearing and just like a pile of guts on the floor.

[00:15:52] And the character just says there is no Spoon I thought was that a matrix reference and it definitely was yeah definitely is but not deliberate a lot of people accuse the filmmakers of deliberately calling a character with a spoons so that he can have the nickname Spoon and they could come up with that line.

[00:16:12] But it literally was they got to the point where he disappeared and somebody asked a question where Spoon and then it occurred to them that they can make this gag.

[00:16:21] So wow okay so wasn't intentional from the start.

[00:16:25] No it wasn't set up that way it just turned up as an opportunity that they couldn't let go really.

[00:16:33] I mean like talking about the werewolves it's pretty good effects.

[00:16:37] It's all practical which is amazing so there's no CGI and I don't know I'm at conflict with what Neil Marshall has said so he said that he wanted to develop werewolves that were better than other werewolf movies so he compared the werewolf in American werewolf in London as being naff which I don't think it is but okay.

[00:17:01] Good grief no.

[00:17:02] But he loved the werewolf in the howling but he said that you never see it so he wanted a good werewolf from the howling that you see which I mean it's not terrible not a terrible werewolf special effects but I do find you don't see them that much.

[00:17:20] The edits are so fast.

[00:17:22] Yeah.

[00:17:23] You only really catch glimpses or silhouettes there's a few close ups but not really there are some scenes where you see the size of them which was amazing like quite astounding how tall they were they're not as bulky as other werewolf movies and they're much taller they stand higher and then sort of more lanky even.

[00:17:44] Yeah so they're dancers rather than stunt people.

[00:17:48] Inside the suits and they're also to get that different leg configuration that dogs have they're on still so that they can have that bit at the bottom that sort of comes forward rather than yeah anyway so they are sort of six inches up and they're very very tall dances in the first place and then he built the cottage set which most of the film like the second and third acts are all in this cottage under siege.

[00:18:14] He built the sets with the ceilings deliberately lower than perhaps they would normally make them look taller.

[00:18:20] Yeah so that they are literally sort of brushing against the ceiling or stooping down on sort of lurching over so yeah he does give them make them quite statuesque and there are some beautiful shots where you just briefly see them sort of standing up in rooms and think good grief look at the size of that thing.

[00:18:38] But yeah he cuts but yeah I don't agree with that statement either I mean I think everybody loves American werewolf in London probably principally for the transformation sequence.

[00:18:48] Yes yeah.

[00:18:49] But even I mean I guess he's on all fours when he's attacking people are on the rampage and you don't get to see him an awful lot for obvious reasons yeah it's a guy on a trolley being pushed around.

[00:19:03] I mean there's that one scene where he's walking on the streets of London and it's very brightly lit like I was quite amazed at what they achieved with that.

[00:19:15] You don't see that in werewolf movies like full brightly lit werewolf on a exposed street normally it's shadows and like you know you want to hide the fact that it's just a guy in a suit.

[00:19:29] Yeah my favorite shot of it in American werewolf in London is in the London underground where the guy is it's an overhead shot and the guy is collapsed on the escalators slowly being pulled upwards.

[00:19:40] Yeah and you just see it suddenly walk out from underneath the tunnel and it just keeps going keeps going and then just cuts before you get to the back of it because obviously then you'd see all the wires in goodness.

[00:19:53] But it's really chilling that shot it's really good so yeah that one's all on all fours the howling you get to see all of it standing up quite often I think it's Robert Picardo.

[00:20:05] Yeah that first transformation right yeah it's quite similar to this in terms of screen time I'd say yeah because I was a bit frustrated by the just constant cutting.

[00:20:14] I just wanted to see a full face on werewolf and you do but that's still not quite enough and I did feel like there wasn't much in terms of animatronics with the face movement.

[00:20:26] But then you watch it behind the scenes and there kind of is like the lips move the ears move the eyes move like there was a lot going on like I think Bob Keen did the creature design and it looks good behind the scenes but in the movie itself I think they cut too much

[00:20:43] I think they were too scared to really show it just in case it came across as you know not realistic. The design of the face as well was very wolf like less werewolf like a more a wolf like it did look more animal looking rather than sort of this fantastical beast.

[00:21:01] Yeah now I like the designs a lot I mean I think they're very elegant looking oddly enough.

[00:21:07] It's interesting you said they were dancers because it does remind me of the hello that we did with the monsters and they were also dancers in there and I believed the zombies and risen evil the second one would dances as well.

[00:21:22] So yeah dancers have interesting movements that are great for creature design.

[00:21:27] Yeah I think they are and it does give you a different spin because usually it's just stunt guys being very muscular and brutal and efficient in their movements which again would work but this gives it a different spin I think.

[00:21:40] Yeah and there's a decent amount of gore as well I mean just a lot of spraying of blood so often cutting away or cutting to a wall and then you see the blood splatter but there's I think there's one scene where one of the werewolves like bites off the head of the characters

[00:21:56] and like throws it onto a vehicle.

[00:21:59] Yes you don't see quite enough but it's pretty gory just like buckets of blood.

[00:22:05] Yeah there's just enough of it is certainly enough if you're a gore hound who loves really good kills I think this one disappoint he did excise one of them I think spoons originally have a really brutal ending.

[00:22:18] Oh wow but it came after he delivered quite a funny one liner so tonally just did not work.

[00:22:26] Yeah so we cut it out yeah so you find is the leftovers of what happens to spoons.

[00:22:31] Okay okay yeah I mean the practical effects on this movie really impressive and it gave it quite an 80s feel to it and also because it's filmed on film right so it's not digital

[00:22:46] and that also feels very 80s as well.

[00:22:49] It does yeah and it's filmed on Super 16mm to save on money because the budget was only about 2.3 million pounds so it wasn't huge but by today's standards large for a low budget horror movie

[00:23:05] I guess your Blumhouse or something like that but they used Super 16 for that reason but it also gives the film quite a gritty edge.

[00:23:12] I watched the 4k remaster of it that was released recently in the UK by second sight and it looks amazing but you can definitely see the grain level and it is higher than you would get on 35.

[00:23:26] Yeah it does give it that sort of late 70s early 80s werewolf movie vibe except for the way that it's edited that's the one difference.

[00:23:37] Yeah so we have covered Neil Marshall before his movie Doomsday and it did feel quite similar in terms of editing.

[00:23:46] I mean Doomsday is intolerable but this is not as bad but it is a little frustrating at times where you just don't even know what is going on because there's so many cuts.

[00:24:02] Also camera movement as well there's just so much camera movement lots of shaky cam lots of just unnecessary movement.

[00:24:12] Well you've got like a shot of people getting out of a helicopter and you've got this camera just kind of sliding around unnecessarily.

[00:24:21] And often with the characters not in frame properly as well there's just kind of like to the left.

[00:24:27] Yeah I know it's like I found it frustrating at the beginning yeah that particularly that scene it's trying to inject it with a sense of energy and interest but actually if you just held the damn thing still.

[00:24:42] In that setting because it's a beautiful setting and just let the characters talk I would have been fine with that I wouldn't have been bored at all because it moves along at a good pace it's 104 minutes.

[00:24:53] And it keeps your interest I think it sags maybe a little bit towards the middle just because we are trapped in one location under siege sort of two or three times and you think you're kind of just showing me the same thing again and again and again.

[00:25:08] Yeah yeah sure sure.

[00:25:09] So but it's tricky with those claustrophobic movies.

[00:25:12] It was only really that beginning scene where you were trying to establish characters and get some dialogue out and the cameras flying all over the place and cutting every two seconds that I was annoyed for the main action of the movie.

[00:25:24] I was fine I just accepted it as like a stylistic choice and I still got enough information about what was happening.

[00:25:32] Yeah there were a few scenes where I wasn't sure who was doing what because there's just so many cuts but yeah the action scenes were standouts for me.

[00:25:41] The scene where Megan rescues them and the camera work on there's like dialogue while they're driving and the camera work is like flying everywhere.

[00:25:50] Yeah it's just like okay why like we're past the action but we don't need this like movement with the camera.

[00:25:59] But yeah it did really remind me of Doomsday.

[00:26:01] Doomsday is much much worse though much much worse.

[00:26:05] Doomsday is this on steroids and he recognized some stylistic choices that he needed to dial back perhaps.

[00:26:14] Yeah yeah.

[00:26:24] Another movie I did find this film similar to was The Descent as well.

[00:26:28] So instead of a platoon of army guys you've got a group of splunkers I guess going into a cave.

[00:26:35] So it has the same sort of camaraderie and also instead of a bunch of girls going into a cave it's just a bunch of guys going into the forest.

[00:26:45] So it does have that sort of mate ship between all the characters and everyone knows each other quite well.

[00:26:53] There's no annoying characters which was amazing like apart from Ryan who is supposed to be the villain.

[00:27:00] You're supposed to hate him but everyone else is actually quite lovable and it's sad when they start getting killed off.

[00:27:09] It is yeah I mean you've got Private Joe Kirkley who's just complaining about the fact he's missing the football all the time

[00:27:15] and he's probably the closest you get to an irritating character.

[00:27:19] I have to say I couldn't tell the difference between Terry and Spoon.

[00:27:24] They look very similar so I can't.

[00:27:27] They all dress the same.

[00:27:29] They're all white guys.

[00:27:31] Yeah it was hard.

[00:27:33] It was very hard.

[00:27:34] Like the only characters that were recognizable were Cooper the sort of the main guy sort of the lead.

[00:27:41] The injured sergeant there used to be the sort of commanding officer.

[00:27:45] And then Ryan who I was like we have seen this actor before Liam cutting him and of course he's from Game of Thrones.

[00:27:52] Right Davos from Game of Thrones.

[00:27:55] His voice is so iconic.

[00:27:57] Oh my god.

[00:27:58] Also the character Megan obviously only female and then yeah all the other characters didn't know who was who.

[00:28:06] No it's just a bunch of British squaddies with dark hair.

[00:28:11] It's very difficult to tell which one is which and who has died from one scene or the next.

[00:28:16] I mean I did want to ask that there is a range of accents.

[00:28:19] Can you tell me like where is everyone from?

[00:28:22] All over the place but they are very representative of the class system that you have in built in the British Army.

[00:28:29] So it's a lot of people from the north so you'll have people from Newcastle and from Liverpool and from Birmingham.

[00:28:35] Obviously Private Cooper, Kevin McKitt is Scottish.

[00:28:39] And then you've got the dastardly Captain Ryan who's officer class who was very very clipped English you know Southern English.

[00:28:47] So he's from the private school and went straight up into captain probably you know.

[00:28:52] Yeah so there's that class dynamic in there.

[00:28:54] And Sarge is that Cockney?

[00:28:56] He's Cockney so that's Sean Pertwee who is of course the son of the late great Doctor Who actor John Pertwee.

[00:29:06] Wow, as soon as you know you can see it.

[00:29:08] Okay he's from London, salt of the earth.

[00:29:11] Yeah right right right yeah.

[00:29:13] And also the actress that plays Megan Emma Cleesby she was great.

[00:29:18] She's really great character like she's not screaming you know she's not losing her shit like she's really confident she can handle a gun like really well.

[00:29:29] Nice refreshing female sort of character in this movie.

[00:29:32] Yes although there is a twist to that of course.

[00:29:36] Yes there's a reason she's not screaming.

[00:29:39] There is a reason she's not frightened of werewolves spoilers.

[00:29:43] She is one which I'm not quite sure what that was about.

[00:29:47] There are a lot of sort of twists in the movie that I'm not really sure how they deepen or enrich the movie or pay off.

[00:29:54] So you have this revelation that she knows Captain Ryan because she was part of his first reconnoiter of this area in the Highlands.

[00:30:04] That there have been werewolf sightings in and surprise surprise the military want to capture a werewolf for military purposes or research.

[00:30:13] I don't know it's not really made clear but she was their zoologist expert that accompanied them.

[00:30:20] But I don't know what that does really for the plot it goes nowhere once you find out.

[00:30:26] Yeah I was a bit confused like it works as a twist but when you really break it down like why was she helping them in the first place.

[00:30:35] Like why wasn't she just letting them get eaten by a werewolf.

[00:30:39] Like she shoots a werewolf at one stage.

[00:30:42] Yeah and so she's OK.

[00:30:44] So it's backtrack a little bit.

[00:30:46] So they go to this farmhouse.

[00:30:48] It's been recently vacated.

[00:30:50] The food is still on the stove like there were people there a minute ago.

[00:30:55] Yeah and then it turns out surprise surprise the werewolves are the people that live in the farmhouse.

[00:31:01] Yes.

[00:31:02] Is she also part of the family or did she get turned into a werewolf by the family.

[00:31:08] I would say the latter because she's not Scottish and I think the local family they're called the Eweiths which I think is Gaelic for horror.

[00:31:19] OK.

[00:31:20] And I think that family is a family of werewolves that keep picking off tourists every now and again.

[00:31:26] Right so she got turned.

[00:31:28] I think she got turned when she was with Captain Ryan squad the first time.

[00:31:34] She says something about I came here to be a one with nature and I got more than I bargained for or something along those lines.

[00:31:41] Yeah.

[00:31:42] Yeah.

[00:31:43] So I'm not sure what her agenda is if she's toying with them.

[00:31:47] She says something about I thought you were my one way out of here.

[00:31:51] So I don't know if she's trying to leave the area.

[00:31:55] I don't know.

[00:31:56] Can't she just go.

[00:31:57] Yeah.

[00:31:58] Yeah.

[00:31:59] Or was that just a manipulation.

[00:32:00] There's certain scenes as well where she gets injured and she looks at the injuries like I don't know there's like some sort of meaning behind it.

[00:32:08] Yeah.

[00:32:09] Like what was the point of that when she cuts herself and she looks at it as if oh shit.

[00:32:14] What does that mean.

[00:32:15] Well the only thing I can think of is that she knows it's going to heal much faster than it should do and might give her away but I didn't know.

[00:32:21] Oh OK OK.

[00:32:23] I didn't know that.

[00:32:24] She shouldn't really be bothered.

[00:32:26] Yeah.

[00:32:27] So I think we want to ask as well.

[00:32:29] So we get a few characters turn into werewolves.

[00:32:31] So Ryan eventually turns into a werewolf and then Sarge as well starts turning.

[00:32:37] Yeah.

[00:32:38] How are people turning into werewolves.

[00:32:40] So is it from a bite.

[00:32:42] Is it from a scratch.

[00:32:43] Is it just a blood transmission like what how.

[00:32:47] I think it is.

[00:32:48] Yeah.

[00:32:49] Any and all of those.

[00:32:50] Yeah.

[00:32:51] Anybody that seems to be scratched or bitten sort of zombie style seems to turn.

[00:32:54] Yeah.

[00:32:55] It doesn't have to be teeth like it doesn't have to be a bite.

[00:32:58] It can be a scratch.

[00:32:59] It can be anything.

[00:33:00] It appears so.

[00:33:01] I'm not sure how consistent that is in werewolf lore but they certainly seem to be going for bites and scratches because I think Sarge is only scratched but he still turns albeit slower perhaps.

[00:33:14] Yeah.

[00:33:15] It's a bit disappointing in the case of Megan because there is this underlying story about Private Cooper the main character aside from his backstory of having failed to get into the SAS and pass Captain Ryan's test and therefore he's sort of his nemesis.

[00:33:29] There's also this backstory about him being recently separated from a girlfriend who's broken his heart or something.

[00:33:37] Yeah.

[00:33:38] And there are occasional comments about women at one point they're asking all of them you know what's the thing that scares you the most and I think he says women.

[00:33:47] And then when she turns into a werewolf Megan she's saying these lines about oh women are all evil or something and I'm the worst of all because I'll kill you or something.

[00:33:57] I don't know.

[00:33:58] There's a bit of a slice of if not exactly misogyny but sort of you know the old can't understand women stuff running through it.

[00:34:05] Yeah.

[00:34:06] It's not very well developed but for that I think it's almost worse because it's kind of casually painting women as monstrous in some way.

[00:34:14] I don't know.

[00:34:15] Yeah.

[00:34:16] Yeah.

[00:34:17] I mean again I don't want to excuse it but yeah different time.

[00:34:20] Yeah.

[00:34:21] But I also found the deleted scenes way worse really really talked down to woman in those.

[00:34:29] I'm glad they were cut out because it may have made the movie hard to watch.

[00:34:34] So I think they trimmed it.

[00:34:36] I think it was much worse.

[00:34:38] Yeah and in fairness to Neil Marshall I think he is trying to depict the average British squad and it's not the most forward thinking progressive group of people.

[00:34:49] No.

[00:34:50] You get a bunch of working class guys together in difficult circumstances and you know some of the things that they say are not going to be great.

[00:35:00] No.

[00:35:01] Talking about this movie being British I loved the wit.

[00:35:05] Yes.

[00:35:06] The dialogue is great in this movie.

[00:35:08] Yes.

[00:35:09] There's a lot of good lines really quotable reminded me a lot of Guy Ritchie movies like very Locke Stock and two smoking barrels like very fast witty lots of slang colloquialisms lots of very British say yeah like bone.

[00:35:26] Yes.

[00:35:27] Which I've never heard in the conversation.

[00:35:29] No.

[00:35:30] It's good to get a get the definition spelled out.

[00:35:34] Yeah I don't think this movie would have worked as an American film.

[00:35:38] I think it's very British and that's why it works.

[00:35:42] Yeah it's distinctive.

[00:35:44] I do wonder on the DVD whether the subtitles were turned on a lot when it was watched in the US.

[00:35:51] Oh right.

[00:35:52] I don't know some of the accents and some of the phraseology might have fox them a bit.

[00:35:56] I do wonder that.

[00:35:57] Okay.

[00:35:58] Yeah.

[00:35:59] Right.

[00:36:00] Yeah I mean a lot of it's very similar to Australia New Zealand sort of slang.

[00:36:03] There's a few things that I was like okay I never heard that before.

[00:36:08] Yeah it's interesting you make the Guy Ritchie connection because Neil Marshall used to make super eight movies with a guy he refers to as Mike Johnson but he's actually credited as Michael Robert Johnson.

[00:36:21] Okay.

[00:36:22] When he was the screenwriter of Guy Ritchie's Sherlock Holmes movie in 2009.

[00:36:27] Oh wow.

[00:36:28] Yeah there is a connection there.

[00:36:30] So it's kind of a I don't know it's a cultural thing if you're going to show working class British guys being wise cracky with each other it's going to have that flavour to it I think.

[00:36:39] Yeah again it did kind of remind me of Undead as well so just a lot of quotable dialogue.

[00:36:46] Yeah.

[00:36:47] Like I really loved it and all throughout the movie as well and even the sort of more reflective moments where they were just sitting around a campfire and talking and telling you know it's scary stories.

[00:36:57] And stuff that was really great like really really good dialogue scenes which you don't get in a horror movie about werewolves.

[00:37:06] No and I think it's a testament to Neil Marshall working on the script for 16 years I think.

[00:37:13] Wow yeah that's amazing.

[00:37:15] From the moment that he first got the idea to the moment that he actually had the funds and the deal all put together for him to make it.

[00:37:24] Yeah.

[00:37:25] It took a long time and he went through multiple drafts so it's kind of like you know when a band first hits with their debut album it's full of bangers because it's essentially their greatest hits of their entire creative life up until that point.

[00:37:39] And making a second album is harder so I think it's even more credit to Neil Marshall that he pulled it off because the descent is probably his best movie to date.

[00:37:51] Yeah yeah I would agree.

[00:37:53] And also with the characters and the Britishness like the army guys were very convincing.

[00:38:00] They felt like they were a squad of close knit military men.

[00:38:06] It felt very authentic and I think Neil said I'm making a soldier movie with werewolves not a werewolf movie with soldiers.

[00:38:14] So he really wanted the soldier aspect of it to be as genuine as possible and the werewolf part was secondary even though you know it's still important.

[00:38:23] Yeah they're just antagonists you could literally lift them out and turn them into aliens or zombies or whatever it would still be the same movie.

[00:38:30] It's window dressing around what he was really trying to make which is a good lost patrol British movie in a fantastical genre.

[00:38:38] I think he's particularly proud of the fact that this was a popular movie amongst servicemen.

[00:38:44] He talks about it being something that was on frequent rotation in Afghanistan and Iraq during tours in those campaigns.

[00:38:53] So yeah he's proud of that.

[00:38:55] He knows that there's probably dozens of mistakes and technical errors in there that make soldiers wince or laugh but I think he got a lot of it right.

[00:39:04] I think certainly the tone of it the feel of it seems right as an army kid myself.

[00:39:09] It feels very authentic.

[00:39:11] There was mention of it being compared or like sort of influenced by Zulu.

[00:39:16] Have you seen that movie?

[00:39:17] I haven't.

[00:39:18] No it's Michael Cain isn't it 60s.

[00:39:21] Yeah I see it at thrift stores all the time.

[00:39:24] I've been addicted to that but maybe I should.

[00:39:26] Yeah it's one of those classics that you feel like you should watch at some point.

[00:39:30] Yeah like Spartacus which is still haven't seen.

[00:39:34] Oh right yeah I haven't seen Spartacus.

[00:39:36] Yeah the Zulu thing though it's still like it makes me reluctant because obviously you know colonialism is not great.

[00:39:45] It's cheering the wrong side let's be honest it's not great.

[00:39:49] Exactly.

[00:39:51] So yeah maybe one day maybe one rainy Sunday or something.

[00:39:56] Yeah that's definitely an of its time type of movie.

[00:40:00] Who knows maybe it's laced with commentary I somehow doubt it.

[00:40:07] Now it's time for Random Trivia.

[00:40:10] So Dan what fabulous piece of trivia did you find in a skeleton filled closet today?

[00:40:17] Well I read this on IMDB so I hope it's true so please confirm if it's true if you'll read it somewhere else.

[00:40:24] But the scene where Sarge is getting his guts super glued back in.

[00:40:30] Oh yeah.

[00:40:31] He's like scaling on a bottle of whiskey or something and he gets cooped in a knock em out because he's in so much pain.

[00:40:39] So the first punch is a stage punch by Kevin McKidd.

[00:40:43] The end the character asks him to punch him again so he punches him again and it's a bit misjudged

[00:40:49] and he does actually catch him on the nose.

[00:40:52] Oh no.

[00:40:53] But the actor that played Sarge, Sean Pirtwee didn't feel it because he was actually drunk in that scene.

[00:41:02] Oh.

[00:41:03] So yeah real booze in that bottle and yeah a bit too much that wasn't acting that was real drunk.

[00:41:14] Okay well fair enough I may as well use it if it works.

[00:41:19] Yeah yeah yeah exactly that's authentic.

[00:41:22] Yeah I heard that that part was improvised to a certain degree but it wasn't in the script.

[00:41:28] It punched me again it wasn't hard enough.

[00:41:31] And that's our trivia.

[00:41:41] Let's talk about the music.

[00:41:42] It's pretty good.

[00:41:44] I wouldn't say it's terrible.

[00:41:46] It is a bit generic you know you've got your it's classic orchestral strings brass percussion.

[00:41:51] There are some moments I did love though there's one scene where they enter the farmhouse for the first time and it's very atmospheric since I think yeah really great really good sort of horror cue.

[00:42:04] And there is the use of clear the loon at one point which I think is the cheesiest piece of music by Corn de Pussy that's just in everything.

[00:42:13] Like I looked it up and it's in everything everywhere all at once sort of most recent.

[00:42:18] Oceans 11, twilight, Atonement, Giant, Frankie and Johnny, Seven Years in Tibet, the right stuff so it's overused for sure but I did notice the French translation of clear the loon is moonlight which is very appropriate for this movie.

[00:42:36] It's a bit on the nose yeah she sits down at the piano and plays a not moonlight sonata which would have been obvious

[00:42:42] but she plays clear the loon and then the wolves howl outside as we pan to the moon.

[00:42:48] Yeah yeah and she's a rare wolf I don't know yeah it's a bit much as well.

[00:42:53] Yeah yeah it is a bit much but I mean what were your thoughts on the music?

[00:42:58] Yeah I quite liked it Mark Thomas is the composer he's a Welsh composer and he has won an Emmy award for his music for the TV series episodes I don't know if you've seen that.

[00:43:11] I've seen bits of it it's a Met La Blanc one that's right with the woman from Black Box I can't remember her name.

[00:43:17] Yeah she plays Fran in Black Box, Black Box is my favourite TV show of all time.

[00:43:22] Yeah it's a pretty good show it's very meta and self-aware.

[00:43:25] It is yeah that's Tamsin Greig.

[00:43:27] That's right that's right.

[00:43:28] I love her from Green Wing as well she's wonderful.

[00:43:31] Oh yes Green Wing is an odd show.

[00:43:34] It is yeah I do love it.

[00:43:36] It's been resurrected as a podcast on Audible recently if you're interested.

[00:43:40] Really interesting interesting yeah but Mark Thomas is a composer for this I think it's very bombastic it's very forward it's very grandiose very not typical of the 2000s I think the 2000s was going much more towards the hands in the stripped back repetitive with much more synthesiser integration.

[00:44:05] Yes that's true.

[00:44:07] Whereas this is quite grand and forward in the mix a lot of the time but it does have some sort of atmospheric and touching moments one of the main themes is sort of a doomed soldier piece for the Sarge and his very affectionate relationship with Cooper.

[00:44:24] So yeah it's got some variation in there I quite enjoyed it but yeah it does sound like somebody trying to do big Hollywood movie on a budget.

[00:44:33] Yes although it is orchestral but it does sound like orchestral on a budget.

[00:44:38] Yeah I mean at least it doesn't sound like plug-in no it doesn't sound like a VST or anything it still sounds live just like you can obviously hear it's not a big orchestra.

[00:44:49] No it's not but I mean in terms of you know taking a unique instrumental or stylistic approach to horror movie no not at all it's by the numbers pretty much.

[00:45:01] Yeah but I do applaud the fact that Neil Marshall is going for a filmmaking style both sonically and visually that isn't 2002.

[00:45:10] Yes like if he was really going 2002 he would go electronic you know and that would have probably killed the movie.

[00:45:19] Yeah it definitely would have done so all credit to him for holding out for an orchestral score and getting something that's probably been tracked with aliens.

[00:45:28] I think sometimes I can feel similar rhythms.

[00:45:31] Right but yeah it's good stuff it's okay I don't hate it yeah it's just kind of obvious I think.

[00:45:39] Yeah a little bit yeah one interesting thing about this movie is there's a final boy yes not a final girl.

[00:45:47] I know that's why I'm kind of disappointed that Megan is revealed as a sort of last minute villain for no reason that doesn't have any emotional or thematic significance.

[00:45:57] Yeah and even if it does it's sort of a disappointing one so yeah there's no Ripley from Megan we're focusing on Cooper instead.

[00:46:05] Yeah but I kind of like that I think it would have been cheesy if she ended up not being a werewolf and they both survived and then they kiss.

[00:46:13] Oh God yeah we've got the cliche you know romantic here at the end like I think they would have been worse so I kind of like the way that it went.

[00:46:23] Yeah I mean the closest that you get to a romance in this is Cooper and Sarge who I mean Sarge does at one point declare his love for Cooper and Megan does say shall I leave you two alone.

[00:46:36] And at one point later in the movie I did enjoy the fact that they end up squirreled away in a closet together that's full of skeletons.

[00:46:44] That's right.

[00:46:45] There isn't an awful lot of homo erotica to enjoy in this movie but I enjoyed that undercurrent in that scene.

[00:46:52] Oh yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah.

[00:46:54] But I think it was very much you know brothers in arms rather than anything romantic so it was quite nice to have an action movie with no undercurrent of romance at all.

[00:47:04] Yeah it was.

[00:47:05] And Cooper was a good character I thought I liked him.

[00:47:07] I like Cooper yeah I mean he wasn't completely flawless you know he wasn't one of those guys that just seems invincible but yeah I kind of wanted a little bit more sort of conflict between him and Ryan as well because of the opening scene with their sort of encounter together and shooting the dog.

[00:47:30] Yeah.

[00:47:31] Which is awful but there wasn't really I felt like Ryan could have been a bigger character maybe.

[00:47:36] Yeah he does get a final show down with Ryan in werewolf form.

[00:47:40] That's true.

[00:47:41] With check off sword thrusts through him I did wonder why the hell there's a sword in a farmhouse but lo and behold it does have a function and the dog the dog survives.

[00:47:54] I do want to point that out.

[00:47:55] The dog does.

[00:47:57] I want to give the movie and the old martial bonus points for that because not only does it survive it has a thematic payoff so Ryan tries to force Cooper to shoot an innocent dog at the beginning of the movie he refuses.

[00:48:10] Yeah.

[00:48:11] Ryan shoots the dog and then at the end of the movie the cute little dog that they find in the farmhouse who presumably coexists with werewolves if the family is a family.

[00:48:22] I don't know how that works but he proves to be pivotal in Ryan's downfall so go doggy.

[00:48:30] I can't remember what the dog's name is Sam isn't it Sam the dog.

[00:48:34] Yeah Sam the dog go Sam I was really pleased about that.

[00:48:38] I like that.

[00:48:39] Yeah yeah I thought the silver little dagger thing so at the very start of the movie there are these campers and one is gifted a little silver dagger or letter opener.

[00:48:51] I'm not entirely sure yeah but that shows up right in because Cooper uses it to stab Ryan and it is solid silver so I guess the myth's true about silver and werewolves.

[00:49:02] Yeah they do kill them.

[00:49:04] I thought that was a very unexpected payoff.

[00:49:07] Yeah.

[00:49:08] That was almost like what how did this even get here.

[00:49:11] Yes.

[00:49:12] But I think it's because I think I've read somewhere that it's because the werewolves they're hunting all of these hikers and they're killing them but they're also storing them in their basement as this kind of like Lord of House meat fridge I guess.

[00:49:29] Yeah.

[00:49:30] And one of the corpses is the camper from the beginning.

[00:49:33] Yeah.

[00:49:35] Interesting as well.

[00:49:37] It means that the farmhouse people the werewolves they're eating the meat so the stew that the guys eat when they first enter the farmhouse is presumably human flesh.

[00:49:51] It is yeah spoon says it's taste like pork but it's not.

[00:49:56] Yeah.

[00:49:57] Oh no.

[00:49:59] Oh my god.

[00:50:00] No the stew is people people.

[00:50:02] It's not great.

[00:50:03] Yeah.

[00:50:04] He does throw it up later all over Ryan doesn't he so.

[00:50:07] That's right.

[00:50:08] Yeah.

[00:50:09] It doesn't sit very well.

[00:50:10] It does not no.

[00:50:12] But yeah the other thing I was going to mention about that campersine right at the very beginning is actually quite frightening.

[00:50:18] It has.

[00:50:19] Yeah.

[00:50:20] I think the thing that scares me about it the most is it's not scored and yeah the wife who gets pulled out of the tent and savage to death she's not screaming.

[00:50:31] Yeah.

[00:50:32] They're just struggling to stop this from happening.

[00:50:34] It's not sort of screamy screamy scream it's just sort of I don't know there's something so brutal and realist about it.

[00:50:40] Yeah.

[00:50:41] I found yeah shocking for an opening scene.

[00:50:44] Yep.

[00:50:45] I always say like if you want to make something more brutal and visceral don't score it.

[00:50:50] Yeah.

[00:50:51] Don't put music because it's much more horrifying when you just hear the sounds of what's going on.

[00:50:56] Yeah.

[00:50:57] Now I was really impressed with that as a tone setter that one was quite the slap in the face and you don't see a werewolf at all during that.

[00:51:04] No.

[00:51:05] And interesting that one of Neil Marshall's ideas for a sequel for this movie was to continue the story of the camper.

[00:51:13] Ah okay.

[00:51:14] Yeah so he was going to have the male character in the opening scene as having survived.

[00:51:20] Right.

[00:51:21] And him and Cooper ending up in a psychiatric hospital with the camper saying I'm going to turn into a werewolf by the time of the next full moon.

[00:51:31] Yeah.

[00:51:32] And Cooper tried to convince everyone that he's right and the clock ticking in this enclosed environment.

[00:51:39] Oh wow.

[00:51:40] And then werewolf rampage.

[00:51:42] That would have been great.

[00:51:43] Yeah.

[00:51:44] That would have been really really interesting.

[00:51:45] Yeah I would have loved to have seen that but nope didn't happen.

[00:51:48] Yeah.

[00:51:49] It does make sense because the actor that plays the camper Craig Conway is in like subsequent Neil Marshall movies.

[00:51:57] So he's in the descent as one of the cave creatures and he's also in Doomsday as well.

[00:52:04] So yeah.

[00:52:05] He used him in other movies.

[00:52:06] Yeah I think Neil Marshall has a bit of an acting troupe that follows him around certainly in his early movies.

[00:52:13] Yeah because Emma Cleeseby is also in Doomsday as well so yeah.

[00:52:17] Yeah.

[00:52:18] She's utilising his regulars.

[00:52:19] Yeah why not.

[00:52:20] Coming to you live from the movie Ubliet Theatre it's the prestigious Moobly Awards.

[00:52:30] Hello it's everyone's favourite part of the podcast the Moobly Awards where we nominate our favourite primal howling parts of the film and a number of head severing and guts spilling categories.

[00:52:41] Best quote.

[00:52:43] I imagine there are going to be a lot of favourite quotes in this movie but.

[00:52:47] Yeah it's a lot.

[00:52:49] If I had to pick one I would go for something from Harry Wells, Sean Pertwee and it's early on in the film and it's when he's giving his team a pep talk and he says I expect nothing less than gratuitous violence from the lot of you.

[00:53:06] And I thought as a mission statement for the movie I think that's great.

[00:53:10] Yeah yeah yeah yeah it delivers for sure.

[00:53:14] It does yeah.

[00:53:15] My favourite quote is the definition of bone.

[00:53:20] One of the characters says this is bone in which Megan asks what does bone mean and then someone replies bone bollocks naff not very good.

[00:53:32] Which is yeah great I needed the definition I did because I never heard that saying before.

[00:53:38] Yeah you almost need one of those movies where the sort of footnotes appear at the bottom sometimes just sort of explaining some of the terminology.

[00:53:47] Best hair or costume.

[00:53:50] For me my favourite was the floppy eared hat that Megan is sporting when she turns up to rescue them.

[00:53:57] Ah yes.

[00:53:58] It's very practical for the cold Scottish winters.

[00:54:02] It's called a Sherpa hat, a trapper or a you shanker.

[00:54:07] Oh okay.

[00:54:08] In Russia I might be pronouncing that wrong but yeah there you go.

[00:54:12] Let's be warm.

[00:54:13] Yes.

[00:54:15] My costume that I'd like to point out is also from Megan.

[00:54:19] It's when shit gets serious she strips down to a white singlet.

[00:54:25] Cool.

[00:54:27] That's what a strong female character in an action movie must always do is strip down to a tight singlet at the top because I've noticed that's also what Sarah Connor does.

[00:54:40] It's what Rona Mitra does in Doomsday Tomb Raider is another character that does it.

[00:54:48] Jovovich and Brisbane Evil.

[00:54:51] It's the attire of the action female.

[00:54:57] Certainly for that decade that's very naughty isn't it action chick?

[00:55:02] Yes.

[00:55:03] Most naughty movement.

[00:55:05] Well I would say a second resurgence of Werewolves because IMDB lists 51 werewolf related movies in the 80s which doesn't surprise me but there were 62 in the 90s including yes Ginger Snaps from 2000 and then you've got Underworld 03 Van Helsing in 04, Harry Potter in the prisoner of Azkaban in 04.

[00:55:34] Brothers Grimm, Cursed, the Wes Craven movie which really was a cursed text that would have been interesting one to look at.

[00:55:42] Another British film called Wild Country that's often mentioned in the same breath as dog soldiers although it's not as widely seen as it might be worth checking out.

[00:55:53] It's on Amazon Prime if anybody wants to check it out.

[00:55:57] Skinwalkers, Trick or Treat of course, Michael Doherty's film has a good werewolf segment in it with a bit of a twist that's fun.

[00:56:06] And of course you've got Twilight, New Moon, Werewolves or Go-Go. Love triangle with werewolves.

[00:56:15] For me the most naughty thing about this movie is the shaky cam. Just so much movement with the camera just everywhere.

[00:56:24] It is such a naughty thing.

[00:56:27] Favorite scene.

[00:56:29] I thought all the action scenes would stand out but one I did want to point out because we haven't talked about it is the lighting of the barn scene.

[00:56:38] They hatch this plan where they think all the werewolves are in the barn for some reason because it's sheltered and warm.

[00:56:45] So they rig up this vehicle, they puncture the fuel tank so all this petrol is just pouring out of it and then they drive it into the barn.

[00:56:58] So now you've got one of the Army guys at the house trying to light this fuel trail with a match that's just not lighting whatsoever.

[00:57:08] And you've got Cooper sprinting back from the barn.

[00:57:12] It's just really tense and the score under it is just snare drum.

[00:57:18] I think it's just one drum just drumming away which is really interesting choice.

[00:57:23] And then to save the day Sarge comes flying out with a flaming Molotov that he smashes on the ground and then the fire trail goes towards the barn and then big explosion.

[00:57:35] It's just such a standout action scene really tense, really greatly, really interestingly scored.

[00:57:42] Some slow-mo as well so it really heightens the suspense and yeah just I thought a very well executed scene.

[00:57:51] Yeah that's a really good pick actually because it's another great example where they slightly change the location which keeps it interesting when it's mostly been a siege movie up until that point.

[00:58:02] That's where they go on the offensive.

[00:58:04] Yes, that's right.

[00:58:05] That's right.

[00:58:06] Yeah.

[00:58:07] Favorite scene for you?

[00:58:08] For me it's the first siege of the cottage which I think is another love that too.

[00:58:13] Really great sequence very much like John Carpenter's assault on Precinct 13.

[00:58:19] And just there's this one particular moment I like it's either spoons or Terry.

[00:58:24] I'm not sure which he's in the hallway between the front door and the back door of the farmhouse.

[00:58:30] And I love that when he looks the other way because he hears a door rattling behind you which in the sound design actually does play behind you.

[00:58:41] I've got surround sound which is really fun.

[00:58:43] As he looks away you can see through the glass in the door behind him one of the werewolves peeks in for a moment and then disappears again and he misses it.

[00:58:55] There's just lots of little moments like that that are just so beautifully designed both spatially and sound design.

[00:59:02] I thought oh this is good, this is good stuff.

[00:59:05] Yeah.

[00:59:06] Most cliche moment.

[00:59:08] I was actually going to pick the cheesy black and white POV shots for the werewolves.

[00:59:14] Oh yes.

[00:59:17] Didn't we have the same thing in Wolfen?

[00:59:19] No it was some horrible digitized thing.

[00:59:22] In Wolfen there was much worse because didn't they flip out as well so it was like inverted black and white or something.

[00:59:31] It was ugly.

[00:59:32] Best to like infrared or something.

[00:59:34] At least it was just straight black and white which is fine.

[00:59:37] It's fine.

[00:59:38] It's playing on I think the old theory that dogs can only see in black and white which is not actually true.

[00:59:47] No it's not true.

[00:59:49] It's kind of muted colors they can see.

[00:59:52] It is yeah apparently they lack red and green, the cones that can differentiate between red and green so they are red and green color blind dogs but they have more rods in their eyes so they can see in the dark much better than we can.

[01:00:07] But yeah if you want to give your dog a really attractive toy give them a yellow or blue one because they can't really see red or green.

[01:00:15] Yeah.

[01:00:16] Best special effect.

[01:00:18] For me the best special effect is that moment when you get the first full body shot of a werewolf and he or she stands up and just fills the entire height of the room.

[01:00:29] Yeah it's just stunning and in a bodily configuration that is not obviously human so you just look at it.

[01:00:38] Wow it's weird.

[01:00:39] Yeah I love that.

[01:00:41] Yeah I thought the creature design was when you saw it.

[01:00:45] When you did see it was pretty amazing.

[01:00:49] Yeah I really liked that shot I think it was great.

[01:00:52] Favourite style defect.

[01:00:55] I think we might pick the same one but I think we will.

[01:01:00] Okay surely there's only one noise that gets everybody sort of clenching and trying to force themselves back in their chair in horror and that is the moment when the wolf version of Captain Ryan pushes the sword that's been impaled through him forcibly into Cooper's teeth

[01:01:21] and you get this ceramic scraping squeaking noise and it just makes you go every part of me is now clenched in horror.

[01:01:32] It's excruciating they picked the right noise for that scene.

[01:01:37] Oh it is it's grating it's you really feel that.

[01:01:43] Oh yeah.

[01:01:44] Most funniest moment.

[01:01:46] He by far the funniest moment in the film and I'm not sure it's supposed to be is when a soldier in the very first encounter with the werewolves is so panicked that he manages to run with such force that he impales himself on a tree branch that's as thick as a coffee mug by several feet.

[01:02:09] Which is I mean that either he was going at supersonic speeds or his bodies made out of Jello I don't know how he got on that branch.

[01:02:19] It's amazing but he looked down at himself and I just burst into hysterics because I thought it was ridiculous.

[01:02:28] I had questions like how is that physically possible and yeah like I did find it odd and odd scenes.

[01:02:36] It's very peculiar and that character's name although it's not mentioned in the film I don't think is corporal Bruce Campbell.

[01:02:44] Yes yes yes yes and I think Sarge his full name is Harry G Wells so HG Wells.

[01:02:54] Yes yeah yeah it's quite another loving homage in the movie though.

[01:03:02] The funniest moment I would like to point out is a dialogue scene between Sarge and Coop and they're discussing about how Sarge is becoming a werewolf and he says maybe it's like when you need to take a piss or something.

[01:03:15] I don't know when you got to go you got to fucking go and then Cooper responds with well maybe it's more like needing a shot just because you need one doesn't mean you dropped your kegs and pinch one off.

[01:03:30] It's just Shakespeare isn't it.

[01:03:32] Beautiful dialogue.

[01:03:35] It's amazing like who wrote that that I mean you're Marshall Bravo.

[01:03:40] I love it.

[01:03:43] And that's how move please.

[01:03:45] Yes.

[01:03:47] Hi I'm Bernard Rose the director of paper house and you're listening to movie Oobliate.

[01:03:59] Okay it's time for the final verdicts should a dog soldiers from 2002 be set free from the depths to how under the moonlight have an all you can eat buffet on unsuspected hikers and be celebrated or should it be impaled with a medieval sword and plunge back into the Oobliate and become a long forgotten local myth Conrad your team of dog soldiers before does it hold up today.

[01:04:25] Well it's a yeah it's very much not the sort of film that I would naturally gravitate towards it's very blow key.

[01:04:33] Marshall said that it was deliberately made to be the sort of movie that you'd watch after you've been in the pub all night and I can definitely see that.

[01:04:43] Yeah.

[01:04:44] It's very much a British soldier movie which is nice because you see a lot of American soldiers in movies very authentic and you know it's a pretty good low budget fun action packed movie it's got some of that early or irritating camera work and editing but not too much to be distracting.

[01:05:05] It really punches above its weight in terms of its action sequences some of the characterization is disappointing especially what they do with Megan.

[01:05:14] Don't know what the point of that was but I love the main characters I love the witty repartee and although it's not really a classic for the ages but it's a good fun watch with a lot of creativity and ingenuity thrown in so yeah I would definitely recommend it.

[01:05:31] I think people are more familiar with the descent.

[01:05:34] I think people perhaps are not as familiar with this especially in the US.

[01:05:38] Yeah.

[01:05:39] So I would definitely recommend it to you.

[01:05:41] Yeah I would agree.

[01:05:44] I think it's an amazing first effort movie like this is astounding what he's able to achieve on such low budget and the care and creativity with the dialogue is so so.

[01:06:00] Stand out to me in a film like this which should be campion trashy which it is at the same time but you're really cheering on the characters you don't want anyone to die.

[01:06:12] And yes I guess it is a bit blokey but it doesn't go too far which is good.

[01:06:19] Yeah action scenes can be a little bit like too many edits but it achieves so much this movie achieved so much and I would definitely recommend it.

[01:06:29] I would say I'm putting it in my top five in terms of favorite werewolf movies really enjoyed this movie really loved the British wish and comedy.

[01:06:43] It's great.

[01:06:44] It's just a really well rounded movie and I would put it up there with undead in terms of first efforts like it's so impressive what was achieved.

[01:06:54] And yeah 100% gotta watch this movie if you haven't watched it.

[01:06:58] It's a really great take on werewolves with army guys like wow who would have thought that would work.

[01:07:08] Yeah no it works really well and I think that's probably why it works because it's a fun take on a familiar genre.

[01:07:15] It is yeah yeah.

[01:07:18] Okay and what do our patrons think.

[01:07:21] Wow how are you ready.

[01:07:23] Yes Conrad.

[01:07:24] Okay patrons vote please.

[01:07:28] Great news they said it free.

[01:07:30] Oh yes I'm not surprised surely no one would hate this movie.

[01:07:35] Well there are some it wasn't unanimous.

[01:07:39] Okay yeah 83% for 17% against Eddie Coulter said let the dog soldiers out of the Ubliett kennel.

[01:07:49] Neil Marshall's career hit the ground running with this gem and wow doesn't deliver the goods kick back with some popcorn and a beer and watch the werewolf carnage unfold.

[01:08:01] Jasmine says I saw this movie when it first came out and ever since I've been so anxiously awaiting to say throw this steaming sack of dingy dull doggy doo doo right back in the Ubliett where it belongs.

[01:08:15] I know darn well that won't happen as I will be in the miniscule minority but wow it felt really good to say that sentence.

[01:08:27] Which is yeah fair enough yeah yeah very fair enough of course.

[01:08:32] James Salzburg says let that wolf roam free and whip out the DPM camo.

[01:08:40] I found this one flipping channels on cable it was my first time seeing Sean Pertwee and I didn't even need to look it up to see his name so much of his dad in his eyes.

[01:08:52] Yeah very true.

[01:08:54] Film aficionados said presumably the title testosterone versus werewolves was too verbose and on the nose.

[01:09:03] Or snout but I suppose dog soldiers is acceptable.

[01:09:07] I have a lot of fond memories watching this one on DVD back in college.

[01:09:11] I'm pleased to report that it's still an intestine gluing good time.

[01:09:16] Release it take it for a good walk but be sure to muzzle it before it eats anymore scots.

[01:09:24] But finally wicked person said Bennett bucket loads of tediously interminable sound and fury signifying nothing the most predictable twist ever.

[01:09:35] Hi I'm here with a truck to rescue you from all of the werewolves I myself am definitely not going to turn into a werewolf.

[01:09:43] Yeah I did think that.

[01:09:46] It's very very true.

[01:09:48] The twist was yeah it was pretty visible from a mile away.

[01:09:53] But on the whole everyone wants to set it free apart from a handful of detractors.

[01:09:59] So here we go dog soldiers let me let the leash off off you go.

[01:10:04] Run away.

[01:10:08] Okay Conrad what's happening next episode what movie will we be checking out.

[01:10:14] Well we did something fun this time we asked all of our patrons to vote on a selection of films that they had nominated in the past.

[01:10:23] And they had a really good time doing this and talking about which ones were their favorites.

[01:10:29] Oh yeah but in reverse order they came out as in joint third place we had the hidden and pumpkin head.

[01:10:38] Oh very good choices.

[01:10:40] In very close second we had the frightners from Peter Jackson 1992 movie.

[01:10:47] Yeah but coming out on top with the most votes it was the 1979 American science fiction film.

[01:10:59] The black hole.

[01:11:01] Oh it's another Disney movie.

[01:11:04] It's another dark Disney era movie.

[01:11:08] From 1979 directed by Gary Nelson and starring Maximilian shell Robert Forster Joseph Bottoms Yvette Mimeur Anthony Perkins and Ergnes Borgnein.

[01:11:23] Right right right I have seen this movie but I don't remember it at all.

[01:11:29] Wow.

[01:11:30] Yeah well be really interesting to revisit.

[01:11:36] Yeah well this will be a childhood nostalgia one for me.

[01:11:40] Get the jingle ready.

[01:11:42] We'll do we'll do.

[01:11:47] Okay listeners if you do want to keep up to date with our recent episodes you can follow us on all platforms as MovieOobliot and you can email us directly at movie.oobliot.com

[01:12:00] And if you would like to nominate films to feature in future episodes and get access to exclusive extended portions of the show head on over to Patreon where you can get on board for as little as a dollar but for five dollars you get bonus monthly minisodes and for ten dollars you can be an executive producer like Chazilla, Eddie Coulter, Isaac Sutton, Dr Doggie, Serge Iconographer and Ryan A. Potter.

[01:12:27] Really really appreciate the support.

[01:12:30] You can find Mission Dice on Redbubble and we have a YouTube channel and if you haven't already give us a rating and review on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, whatever you're listening to us on it does help us spread the word and you know get some more listeners.

[01:12:48] Always need those.

[01:12:50] Yes.

[01:12:51] Yeah.

[01:12:52] Alright that's it for another episode Conrad.

[01:12:54] Yep bye for now.

[01:12:56] Goodbye walkies.