2002 horror, dir. Neal Marshall, Sean Pertwee, Kevin McKidd:
IMDb /
allmovie. There are scarier
things than squaddies in the woods tonight.
This was Neal Marshall's first feature, and it's the one that got
him noticed enough to make The Descent a few years later. But it
absolutely rests on Sean Pertwee, as the actual experienced actor out
of this cast, and after some solid scenes establishing his character
he's sadly offstage for much of the central section of the film.
One can see where the film's military advisor was involved, or at
least listened to. The sitting around telling stories is very true to
life for the British squaddie (at least in his own mind; the real
thing would involve much more lying about sexual conquests). But when
the action starts, they're woefully undisciplined; that may be what
audiences expect after Vietnam films, but the British Army of the
early 2000s is not a conscript force, and they're generally far more
disciplined than is shown here. Working together with your mates
rather than blazing away on your own is how you stay alive.
There's one big and reasonably effective twist: Megan is set up to be
the Ripley or Final Girl figure, and then turns out very much not to
be. But if what's said later is the case, an earlier action by the
werewolves makes no sense. I think you're supposed to appreciate this
film in the moment, rather than thinking about it.
So I notice that flashbangs (the term any British soldier would use to
refer to what the script calls "stun grenades") are not, in reality, a
big slow ker-boom: it's all about the intensity and short duration,
and they make a sharp crack much like a rifle shot.
So I notice the tremendously bright light from outside, which is
apparently meant to be moonlight but which doesn't move over the
course of the night. (I assumed that it was meant to be some sort of
outside lantern, except of course that they've cut the power. How can
they cut the power, man? They're animals.)
There are decent ideas here, and it's great to see a representation of
the British rather than the American army on film for a change, but
for me the execution falls down too often.
I talk about this film further on
Ribbon of Memes.