Trivia / Dog Soldiers

• Ability over Appearance: Cooper was not intended to be Scottish, since Jason Statham was the forerunner for the role. While Kevin McKidd has often had to do an English accent for roles, he used his natural voice. This might explain why Cooper doesn't question Megan's inaccurate statement that the nearest town is a four hour drive away (Kevin gleefully pointed out during production that nowhere in Scotland is that far away).
• Awesome, Dear Boy: Sean Pertwee was so keen on doing a werewolf film that he told Neil Marshall he was on board before they'd even secured funding - in the hopes that his name would help get the film made. He happily waited for a year and a half before production finally began.
• Bad Export for You: The film wasn't released theatrically in America - save for a one week run in LA - and premiered on the Sci-Fi Channel.
• Breakthrough Hit: Neil Marshall had only directed short films before and was working as an editor. This was his first feature.
• California Doubling: Set in Scotland, filmed in Luxembourg, due to tax deals and having access to crew and student facilities provided by a company based in Luxembourg. The helicopter landscape shots were the only parts actually done in Scotland.
• Cast the Expert:
  • Neil Marshall cast dancers to play the werewolves in the hopes of giving their movements an otherworldly appearance. This "went out the window" when said dancers had to stumble around trying to move in the the costumes, which they could barely see out of.
  • For insurance reasons, they couldn't have the actors jump out of the helicopter at the start, and the crew members had to do it. As the crew were local to Luxembourg, which required military training for everyone, this worked out rather conveniently.
• The Cast Show Off: Darren Morfitt is a trained boxer, so they have him use Good Old Fisticuffs in Spoon's one on one fight with a werewolf.
• Creator Backlash:
  • The sequence of Sgt Wells being found with his intestines spilled out was especially unpleasant for Sean Pertwee. To begin with, they used raw sausages which quickly went off and stank on set. Then the amount of fake blood he was covered in dried and got sticky, and would actually freeze in the cold weather (they filmed in Luxembourg in the winter).
  • Neil Marshall didn't like the title screen, feeling it looked too cheap.
• Development Hell: The sequel seems to be stuck here. It's been over a decade since the announcement of Dog Soldiers: Fresh Meat, and though a trailer for Dog Soldiers: Red was revealed in 2011, very little is known about the status of the production.
• Enforced Method Acting:
  • The outdoor scenes were filmed first on location in Luxembourg, allowing the actors playing the soldiers to properly bond and build up a camaraderie. Most of the film was shot in sequence overall for this reason.
  • Sean Pertwee was actually drunk for the scene where Cooper and Megan stitch up his wounds.
  • Sean also recalls not having to act in one scene because he was genuinely terrified:
    "But when I saw one looming over me, coming to get me when I was in the bed, it was like what nightmares are made of. It was terrifying. They were extraordinary performers, so my hat goes off to them.”
  • The whole film was shot in near chronological order, with the result that actors would leave the production once their characters were killed off. As they all bonded during filming, they felt a genuine sense of loss.
• Executive Meddling:
  • Megan and Ryan's backstory was added by producers and Neil Marshall dislikes it - feeling it doesn't make sense. There was more in the film, but he cut out as much as he could.
  • Subverted in another case. A producer tried to get them to change the title to 'Night of the Werewolves', but Neil Marshall refused.
• Extremely Lengthy Creation: The idea was pitched in 1995 and the first draft was written in in 1996. It took six years to refine the script and acquire financing.
• Fake Brit:
  • The British Captain Ryan is played by the Irish Liam Cunningham.
  • A milder example is Craig Conway, a Newcastle native, putting on a southern RP accent as the camper in the opening.
• Friendship on the Set: The actors became like a Band of Brothers during filming, with Sean Pertwee and Kevin McKidd becoming so close that the former says that, since he was wrapped before him, they would be on the phone "every five minutes" while he was still shooting Cooper's final scenes.
• God Never Said That:
  • The Other Wiki at one point said that the film's Working Title was 'The Last Stand'. Neil Marshall refuted that on the BluRay commentary, stating that 'Dog Soldiers' was always the intended title.
  • He's also disputed that Spoon's name was specifically to set up the "there is no Spoon" Shout-Out to The Matrix.
• Never Work with Children or Animals: Acer, the dog who played Sam, was described as "lovely but the worst trained movie dog".
• No Budget: Made for about £2.3 million. Neil Marshall jokes that today it wouldn't be considered as low, since home technology has improved.
• On-Set Injury: Kevin McKidd broke a rib filming the squad's introductory scene when he slammed into the side of a tree, only two days into filming. He kept it hidden for two weeks out of fear of losing his part.
• Prop Recycling: Some of the corpses hanging around in the basement were originally created for and used in Event Horizon.
• Real-Life Relative: A picture of Neil Marshall's sister Sue stands in for Sgt Wells's wife Annie.
• Scully Box: The dancers playing the werewolves had to have stilts in their costumes that made them a foot taller.
• Shown Their Work: It's implied that the movie takes place on the 1st September 2001 - where England did beat Germany 5-1. That night was indeed a full moon.
• Stillborn Franchise: Neil Marshall envisioned a trilogy but has said that it probably won't happen, as the rights don't belong to him. His plans alternated between Cooper battling more werewolves or other supernatural creatures (which is foreshadowed when the men wonder what other mythical beasts are real).
• Throw It In!:
  • During the scene where the delirious Sarge demands that Cooper knock him out, Kevin McKidd accidentally punched Sean Pertwee and broke his nose. The pause where McKidd checks on Pertwee after feeling the punch connect was left in the film.
  • The above-mentioned scene was just going to have Sgt Wells getting stitched together. But Neil Marshall heard about superglue being developed during the Vietnam War and changed it so that Cooper and Megan use that on the wounds.
  • A clock on the wall is broken. Neil Marshall smashed it to make sure that the hands moving wouldn't cause continuity problems.
  • It took less time than expected to shoot the end scene. So once they had all the shots they needed, they asked Neil Marshall what else he'd like. They then grabbed a prop werewolf head and came up with the shot of Ryan's head exploding as Cooper shoots him.
• Trolling Creator:
  • Neil Marshall jokes about doing several takes of Terry throwing up on Ryan's head.
  • Chris Robson (Joe) revealed he couldn't drive right before filming the bit with the truck. Neil Marshall made him attempt it anyway, and he "ran off the road".
• Troubled Production: Less so than most examples, but the film was in development hell for the longest time; most British studios weren't interested in the concept, feeling horror didn't sell, and were only looking for dramas or romantic comedies. Neil Marshall also faced people claiming it was too ambitious for his first feature film, although he did eventually find backers in America. Shooting in the Scottish highlands would have been impossible, so they had to find a substitute. While Luxembourg allowed them to film thanks to a tax break, the erratic weather proved a bit troublesome; sudden rainfall would make the terrain too muddy or slippery, and sudden snowfalls would ruin continuity. This required them to improvise or get creative; the scene of Megan driving the soldiers to the house was filmed in the barn with crew members rocking the van, because they couldn't shoot outside. Kevin McKidd also broke a rib shooting the first scene of the soldiers together, only a couple of days into principal photography - and he kept it hidden for two weeks out of fear of being recast. But by all accounts, filming itself went smoothly, and the cast all spoke highly of the project. They even wrapped ahead of schedule.
• What Could Have Been:
  • Jason Statham was originally cast as Cooper, but then the opportunity to do Ghosts of Mars came up. As Dog Soldiers was still in development, Neil Marshall urged him to take it. Kevin McKidd was offered Cooper as well early on, but had to turn it down due to a commitment to another film. But by the time Dog Soldiers was entering production, he'd become available again.
  • Simon Pegg was offered the role of Spoon, but turned it down to save his first horror film for Shaun of the Dead (he had promised Edgar Wright).
  • Another actor was cast as the male camper who gets killed in the beginning, but dropped out the day before filming. Craig Conway was in rehearsals for a play and pretended to be ill so he could fly out to Luxembourg for two days.
  • Spoon's death was originally shown on screen, where he would be ripped in half by a wolf. It was given a Gory Discretion Shot because Neil Marshall didn't think audiences could handle such a graphic death for a beloved character.
  • The part where Megan cuts her hand on a pane of glass was - according to Word of God - meant to be set-up for a second sequel about werewolf DNA.
  • Sam tugging on Sarge's bandages was scripted to be his actual intestines.
  • Bruce was meant to die by being thrown off a cliff. This proved too difficult to do, so him being impaled on a tree, and then attacked by the wolves was done instead.
  • One sequel idea had Cooper being committed to a mental hospital...where he would meet the man from the opening scene, who not only would have survived the attack, but was now a werewolf too and would unknowingly change in the hospital at the full moon.
• Word of God: Neil Marshall says the werewolves merely feel compelled to change on the night of the full moon, and can hold it back if they wish. This retroactively makes the family even more evil - since they apparently change willingly.
• Write What You Know: Neil Marshall says part of the Gallows Humour the men display comes from what he knows about the military - since his father and grandfather served.