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That’s a fair point. And only damns this low effort cack even more.

There are also other Disney references I’m sure the writers are convinced were clever.

Cyclist kinda-ish dressed like Peter Pan. An exchange of dialogue that the water is colder than it looks, so “you’ll be Frozen. Let it go”.

Just…low rent, low effort twaddle.

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:


Last word? Last word in Werewolf movies????

What’s Dog Soldiers then.

Boo! Booooooo to you! And maybe a very mild pox. Like an easily treatable but short term deeply unpleasant outer ear infection, upon you.

Booooooooo!

Steady on ol'chap!

The werewolf genre is full of comedy greats, and there is one that took me completely by surprise...A Werewolf In England. It's so intentionally awful that it delivers a scene so shocking and horrifying that you'll squirm and scream until its over...and even then...what has been seen cannot be unseen!

Not even the werewolves of Dog Soldiers or 'London went THAT far!

If you love the comical side of werewolf movies then definitely give a shot.


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 BobtheInquisitor wrote:
Jumping into the Howling discussion to suggest Bad Moon, or at least the last ten minutes of it. It’s not the classic that The Howling is, but it’s quite enjoyable as a werewolf movie.


As for Dog Soldiers, I consider it more of an action movie like Underworld than a werewolf movie in the mold of The Howling or An American Werewolf In London.

Has anyone seen Ginger Snaps? Is it as good a werewolf movie as I’ve heard?

Bad Moon and SIlver Bullet are still on my "must watch" list of werewolf movies.

Ginger Snaps is in the same comical-but-sad booth as American Werewolf In London. The sisters suffering their well-meaning mother(Mimi Rogers) is a funny highlight of the film. Haven't seen it in...oh jesus - 25 friggin years! - but I recall it using practical effects instead of computer animation. It's one of those films that didn't have a large budget for vfx, but they still made the effort regardless.

Oh I’ve seen An American Werewolf In London. And it’s a magnificent movie. All too often boiled down to “gosh, that transformation scene is something else”.

And…yes. That scene is genuinely phenomenal. Right up there with John Carpenter’s “The Thing” in terms of peak practical effects and bloody clever people working within a tight budget but you’d never guess work.

But Dog Soldiers, admittedly building on that is perfection.

From the little pep talks of sarge (so if little red riding hood turns up with a bazooka and a bad attitude, I expect you to chin her), to the reinforcing their position, whilst getting a cuppa on the boil.

Of all the soldiers vs horrors movies I’ve seen (which is a lot!) this one rings true.

Not in a “blimey crikey rule Britannia our squaddies could take anyone” jingoistic way. Just seeing Fairly Basic Training and Morale Boosters come to the fore.

Find your safe location. Do what you can to fortify it. Putting the kettle on is admittedly a very British thing, but represents bringing a tiny island of normality to a situation rapidly going downhill.

In the entire film? I think my favourite moment is when one of the lads is nailing planks across the front door to reinforce it. Werewolf’s hand comes through the letterbox. Sure, the lad has a mild panic, but just batters the hand with the hammer.

I see it as a masterclass in effective military leadership. You might very well be boned. There may be not getting out of it. But if you can settle your men, set them to a task and get them a nice cuppa (tea, coffee, doesn’t matter)? Then your chances of survival, however incrementally, only go up. Force the pretty much entirely justified panic to subside. Get them to remember their training.

I also love the improvised weapons, like pans of boiling water. Doesn’t matter if your foe is supernatural and can rapidly regenerate. A pan of boiling water to the face hurts, and should force them to disengage in at least the short term.

God I love that film!

Nononononoooooooooo....

No....no...NO.

"A Werewolf In England" (2022)

...you ain't getting out of this one 'Doc!


And what? All that talk of Dog Soliders and no mention of "its got Donna from Byker Grove innit!"? Seriously?

Never heard of the 2022 one. But I will look for it.

And I can’t see that the delectable Donna Air Out Of Byker Grove* was in that movie?

*Yes when she was in Byker Grove she was underage, but so was I, so it balances out. And she’s still a stone cold hottie. And in fact she’s a wee bit older than me.

LOL!

I'm thinking of Emma Cleasby. I didn't actually watch Byker Grove( bloody annoying show ) but when Dog Soldiers came out friends kept pointing out she was "Donna from Byker Grove!".

Anything with "Ant & Dec" is an immediate turn off...I'm sure you understand.

To be fair? When they were PJ & Duncan they were ace. Same for SM:TV era Ant and Dec. I still have a soft spot for them, probably because I only watch terrestrial TV very occasionally, so I’ve never had a burn out.

I’ve had a look at Emma Cleasby’s IMDB and there’s no mention of Byker Grove? Also Donna Bell was played by Sally McQuillan, so I’m afraid your friends are filthy liars. Maybe check if they’re Reform candidates?

Also I loved Byker Grove. Just when Grange Hill started to go, well, downhill? Here came Byker Grove to tackle social issues in a serious and only slightly dramatised way.

Yeah, I'm just looking that up myself. One article does mention her and Donna Air having been on the show but they don't say which character Emma actually played in the show.

Maybe a background character called Donna?

I had to admit they were "I don't care dude!" kind of friends. Always mentioning someone from something that I could not give a **** about.

Grange Hill...avoided it like the plague, but I do remember "DANNNNYYYYYY!!!"

SamusDrake wrote:
Yeah, I'm just looking that up myself. One article does mention her and Donna Air having been on the show but they don't say which character Emma actually played in the show.

Maybe a background character called Donna?

I had to admit they were "I don't care dude!" kind of friends. Always mentioning someone from something that I could not give a **** about.

Grange Hill...avoided it like the plague, but I do remember "DANNNNYYYYYY!!!"

Dear England:

Huh?

No sir - turn back while you can! Once in England there's no return! Look at what East Proctor did to the Kessler boy!

Oh. Oh Lathe.

My sweet summer child, with ribbons in your hair!

Remember when that lass from out of off of Saved By The Bell got hooked on caffeine pills* for all of one episode? And Zack being Zack took full advantage of it, appeared to care but then clearly learned nothing by the next episode?

In the UK, we had Grange Hill. Same high school setting, but with brass balls storytelling so immense they scarred viewer and country alike.

Abusive Gym Teacher laid out by another teacher. Kid very almost abducted by a wrong ‘un. Race Wars where Gripper and his crew get their poop wrecked by everyone else. Zamo passed out from heroin in the back of the arcade Ro-Land worked at, and everyone thought he was dead? A kid drowning in the pool on a dare. A kid falling from a multi-storey carpark to his death. Poor old Danny Kendall dying from a brain haemorrhage.

And even the day to day classroom rebellion and comeuppance feeling very real.

An absolutely magnificent TV show.

Sorry for the background buzz, but here’s the Gym Teacher Chinning.




And the pathetic culmination of Gripper’s race war, in which he gets his arse kicked.

Chap also played the ill-fated Admiral Ozzel in The Empire Strikes Back.

Okay, Silver Bullet is turning out to be a cracking werewolf movie.

SamusDrake wrote:
Chap also played the ill-fated Admiral Ozzel in The Empire Strikes Back.

Okay, Silver Bullet is turning out to be a cracking werewolf movie.

No no! You’re thinking of Mr Bronson!

Though given the sheer hell he put Danny Kendall through? Ozzie deserved it.

Bloody good actor though.


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Also? A peak Grange Hill scene.

I must’ve been around 6 at the most when this aired. And it still managed to mostly put me off drugs.




Which lead to…..




And the cast having an audience with Nancy Reagan of all people.

I also remember bringing the song up in my earliest school days, and some gimp* insisting I meant a song about Say No To Strangers. Yup. I’ve had a radical conscience for as long as I can reasonably remember.

*I do remember exactly who it was and their name. But it’s been nigh on 40 years, so I can’t presume they’re still a sheltered gimp child.

Yeah, the one who cried "DAAANNNNYYY!" - now identified as Mr Bronson - was in The Empire Strikes Back.

And that's a wrap for Silver Bullet. Before he hunted vampires in The Lost Boys, Corey Haim was a werewolf hunter. Definitely worth adding to the slate of werewolf classics.

Michael Sheard, who played Mr Bronson also played Hitler in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade and in four other productions!

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:
The Abominable Dr Phibes

Vincent Price stars as the titular, in this comedy horror, with a fairly decent balance between the two.

Dr Phibes is our Loony, out to avenge his wife’s death on the Doctors responsible for the surgery that killed her. Long believed killed in a car crash whilst rushing to his wife’s hospital bed, he’s horribly disfigured. The injuries have left him mute, so aside from some technical toys in his lair which allow him to speak? He’s otherwise a silent character, which adds a certain something to things.

At its core, this had real potential to be a serious and creepy horror. But the comedy touches genuinely work, very gently spoofing the horror genre in a respectful way. The murders are themed around the plagues of Egypt, though liberties are taken somewhat. My favourite so far is dousing someone in Sprout Jam, then getting locusts to have a nibble. But some are quite nasty (death by Bats, death by Rats whilst you’re trying to fly a plane, death by bronze unicorn head catapulted at you from across the street).

Very enjoyable, would recommend.

I was somewhat surprised how much I enjoyed this movie the first time I watched it. I really appreciated that while most of the deaths were absurd in concept, they were quite brutal in practice. Except for the unicorn head. That whole scene was hilarious.

While not horror you should checkout Dr. Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine if you haven't seen it. Pure Vincent Price camp and comedy.


And as for the American Werewolf in London, Howling, Dog Soldiers debate, yes, there were a lot of comedic elements in AWiL, and yes, Dog Soldiers was mostly an action/siege film with werewolves as the baddies, but the Howling begat the Howling II so anything the Howling had going for it is immediately disregarded as the sins of its child are so great.

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:
Michael Sheard, who played Mr Bronson also played Hitler in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade and in four other productions!

That's right!

It was always heart warming to see british actors popping up in the big LucasFilm productions. Jean Marsh and Patricia Hayes in Willow as the two sorceress'. Jeremy Bullock, who kindly signed my Boba Fett poster in Lakeside shopping center, was in shows like Doctor Who, Robin of Sherwood and Chocky - even the odd James Bond movie or two.

I know her character was marmite but I always smile revisiting that Morrisons advert with Daisy Ridley...






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 Peterhausenn wrote:


And as for the American Werewolf in London, Howling, Dog Soldiers debate, yes, there were a lot of comedic elements in AWiL, and yes, Dog Soldiers was mostly an action/siege film with werewolves as the baddies, but the Howling begat the Howling II so anything the Howling had going for it is immediately disregarded as the sins of its child are so great.

Whenever I have to represent An American Werewolf In Paris in an online court of law, the argument is usually along the lines of a dinner party...

The Howling is a super-snob who won't be seen dead with it's slobby siblings, but they show up anyway. Werewolf in Paris tries to make the effort to at least turn up tidy in shirt and jeans, and wearing it's long hair in a pony tail, but Werewolf In London keeps snarling at them for not wearing a suit or having got a haircut, and fussing that they are always embarrassing them.

Then Dog Soldiers turns up like Sean Bean, and would rather be elsewhere, but happy to greet The Beast Must Die, Van Helsing and A Werewolf In England like old mates who were only too happy to muck in when worked needed to be done! Then Dog Soldiers notices Ginger Snaps talking to Werewolf In Paris, and thinks "by heck, who is that gorgeous lass?". Werewolf In Paris is a bro and introduces them...

But The Howling is really there to catch up with The Wolfman and The Cat People, to see if they approved of their achievements, but...Werewolf In London steps in front of them like Jake Lime from Anchor Man 2...and The Wolfman isn't going to be left out on account of it's age...

...and tonight's party...is in the presence of a full moon!

I still haven’t seen ‘The Howling’. I just have dim memories of its sequels, usually starring Sybil Danning.

‘An American Werewolf in London’ might just pip ‘Dog Soldiers’. Both are comedies, but when the wolf is about in AAWIL, then I assure you, it isn’t the least bit amusing. ‘Dog Soldiers’ loses the Sean Pertwee points by having super-low budget wolf heads that look like they’re made out of papier-mâché.

Hmm... how do I get these fine folks to watch Sean Pertwee's newer werewolf film "Howl?"

Maybe if I promise them shoddy CGI werewolves.

I just watched Shin Godzilla in a re-release type thing in the theater, and it was pretty decent. Having previously gone and seen Shin Ultraman with my brother (who is a huge kaiju movie fan) I was curious about this one, so I went with him to see it (he had seen it previously). You could tell the movies were made by the same people as there were some similar type of scenes, but the tone for Shin Godzilla was much more serious than that of Shin Ultraman, and that's probably just reflective of their respective franchises. I will say that while I enjoyed Shin Godzilla, it wasn't as good as the more recently released Godzilla Minus One.

 ZergSmasher wrote:
I just watched Shin Godzilla in a re-release type thing in the theater, and it was pretty decent. Having previously gone and seen Shin Ultraman with my brother (who is a huge kaiju movie fan) I was curious about this one, so I went with him to see it (he had seen it previously). You could tell the movies were made by the same people as there were some similar type of scenes, but the tone for Shin Godzilla was much more serious than that of Shin Ultraman, and that's probably just reflective of their respective franchises. I will say that while I enjoyed Shin Godzilla, it wasn't as good as the more recently released Godzilla Minus One.

I missed Shin Ultraman... how was it?

 Lathe Biosas wrote:

 ZergSmasher wrote:
I just watched Shin Godzilla in a re-release type thing in the theater, and it was pretty decent. Having previously gone and seen Shin Ultraman with my brother (who is a huge kaiju movie fan) I was curious about this one, so I went with him to see it (he had seen it previously). You could tell the movies were made by the same people as there were some similar type of scenes, but the tone for Shin Godzilla was much more serious than that of Shin Ultraman, and that's probably just reflective of their respective franchises. I will say that while I enjoyed Shin Godzilla, it wasn't as good as the more recently released Godzilla Minus One.

I missed Shin Ultraman... how was it?

It was fun, but perhaps less so for me as I am not familiar with Ultraman at all. I still enjoyed it.

 ZergSmasher wrote:

 Lathe Biosas wrote:

 ZergSmasher wrote:
I just watched Shin Godzilla in a re-release type thing in the theater, and it was pretty decent. Having previously gone and seen Shin Ultraman with my brother (who is a huge kaiju movie fan) I was curious about this one, so I went with him to see it (he had seen it previously). You could tell the movies were made by the same people as there were some similar type of scenes, but the tone for Shin Godzilla was much more serious than that of Shin Ultraman, and that's probably just reflective of their respective franchises. I will say that while I enjoyed Shin Godzilla, it wasn't as good as the more recently released Godzilla Minus One.

I missed Shin Ultraman... how was it?

It was fun, but perhaps less so for me as I am not familiar with Ultraman at all. I still enjoyed it.

As long as he wrestled with a kaiju and then dispatched with some sort of beams of light, then it should be as good as the 6 other Ultraman movies I've seen.

The Howling 2 has the most memorable end credits in the whole series.

Yeah, it’s not great, but it’s enjoyable if you like cheesy schlock. I vaguely remember watching 3 or 4, the one with the Marsupials, over and over again back in the day. It was fine. Laughed at parts I probably shouldn’t have, but fine. I only remember the werewolf design from 5 and a lot of dark castle corridor shots.

I never saw American Werewolf in Paris, but I still have the song from the ads pop into my head periodically. “…nothing hurts like your mouth.” That and Mono: Life in Mono kept me awake at night that whole year.

Does anyone remember Werewolf: the Series? That had some great werewolf effects. Still, I think I enjoyed She Wolf of London more, despite its bad, bad werewolf suit…at least until it got retooled into Love and Curses.

Select my movie today:

1. Rear Window
2. Blue Thunder
3. Blade Ii

Late to the 'debate', but dog soldiers is excellent. Very much in the tradition of no budget horror and does a great job with it. Will be my favourite werewolf film despite a few missed notes for the foreseeable given the state of such films today!

But it captures attitude a lot better than other films and does soldiers fighting monsters better than pretty much everything else I have seen. Fundamentally when faced with a werewolf and screwed, the attitude is go for it. Very little of the audience can say stuff like 'well I would have done x...'.

But always I will love the interview with director and producer where they wish they had taken the budget and bet it on the England/Germany game...

I thought it was prime candidate for porting to other countries cinema. Can easily imagine an Indian, Chinese, etc etc version, as its fundamentally your countries military stereotypes doing their best against an impossible foe.

 BobtheInquisitor wrote:
Has anyone seen Ginger Snaps? Is it as good a werewolf movie as I’ve heard?

Its a good werewolf movie, has problems with the landing but that is not uncommon. But manages to stay in the world it creates pretty much all the way through. One of the better 'small town horror' affairs.

I’m glad that any sequels to Dog Soldiers wintered in Development Hell.

There are of course more stories to be told there. But would they live up to the original, especially given its novelty of “soldiers don’t immediately go to pot”? I think not.


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Jurassic World, Rebirth

A silly film with silly people doing silly things and causing silly moments. But man I enjoyed this!

I think what helps is that it’s not concerned it’s silly, instead focussing on just delivering a fun, more or less family suitable, action flick. And I’ll take that most times over an action flick trying and failing to be clever.

Or indeed any film trying and failing to be clever.

The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen

Can a band of misfits work together to save the world?

Rewatching a long time favourite of mine.
Some of the FX's are ageing a bit poorly now (Particularly the CGI) but I still think it's a good and thoroughly entertaining movie.

It's such a shame it's mostly remembered as "That film that did so badly it made Sean Connery give up acting.", it really is an undeserved reputation.

I blame Tom Sawyer entirely for that.

Not that he was shoehorned in. He was just a dreadfully dull character

Still has some excellent lines. My favourite is Dorian Grey “what are you?” says the baddie in horror “I’m complicated” says the workshy fop.

 aku-chan wrote:
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen

Can a band of misfits work together to save the world?

Rewatching a long time favourite of mine.
Some of the FX's are ageing a bit poorly now (Particularly the CGI) but I still think it's a good and thoroughly entertaining movie.

It's such a shame it's mostly remembered as "That film that did so badly it made Sean Connery give up acting.", it really is an undeserved reputation.

You can also blame the success of the Lord of the Rings on Connery's retirement. Because that's what he turned down, and then picked up League.

°°°

But League would be like the other 2 Alan Moore comic book adaptations (V for Vendetta and Watchmen) where you wondered if the screenwriters ever read the comics.

Moore always lamented that Frank Miller's comics (300 and the Sin City series) were translated perfectly, unlike his own work.