Dog Soldiers - DVD

This lean, efficient horror flick stands well above most bloated blockbusters. "Dog Soldiers" follows a military squad on a training mission in the Scottish wilds, where they run into a pack of werewolves. There's nothing fancy about the plot--the soldiers hole up in a farmhouse and desperately try to fend off the werewolves until dawn--but the script is full of smart dialogue and clever ideas, the direction is dynamic, and the performances (from Kevin McKidd, Sean Pertwee, Emma Cleasby, and Liam Cunningham, among a solid cast of relative unknowns) are strong and committed throughout. "Dog Soldiers" pays homage to "Night of the Living Dead", "Aliens", and "The Evil Dead", among other films, but the references are woven into the fabric of the movie. An unpretentious, tension-inducing flick like this is a pleasant reminder that even crude special effects can be more evocative than expensive computer flashiness. "--Bret Fetzer"