Werewolves From Dog Soldiers Explained | Celtic Lycans

don't stare back I can't help it hello everyone and welcome back to another video we're going to be looking at the lycanthropy curse from the movie dog soldiers this is a British horror film that came out in 2002 and was directed by Neil Marshall it was mostly filmed in Norway and it stars Kevin McKidd Lee and Cunningham and Sean Pertwee dog soldiers is definitely a cult classic and has great reviews from pretty much everywhere of course I re-watched the movie for this video a few times actually and it really does still hold up well it was a lower budget film at only 2.3 million pounds or about 2.8 million US dollars but I think this actually helped the movie because they used what they had really well and leaned more on good writing and acting than fancy effects or CGI apparently the budget is what led them to filming in Luxembourg because there was great tax incentives to do so dog soldiers takes place in Scotland the film starts with us watching a couple camping in the highlands it must be their anniversary or something because she got him a gift a pure silver letter opener they're in their tent staying warm when suddenly it starts unzipping from outside something grabs the woman and is trying to drag her out and eventually it succeeds and then kills the man as well we don't get to see what did this but it didn't sound good foreign ing scene of the couple in the tent we are now following the main character private Cooper he is running through the forest at night and begins fighting with a group of people that were chasing him but he's eventually overwhelmed we find out from his Superior that Cooper is trying to join Special Forces and is top of the class after that performance that he just put on unfortunately he's denied from Special Forces and sent back to his unit because he didn't obey Captain Ryan's orders to shoot and kill a dog Ryan says if you can't kill a dog what good are you to me send them back to his Squad [Music] it's now four weeks later and a group of six British soldiers are airdropped in the Scottish Highlands for a training exercise private Cooper is among them the first night they are getting ready to sleep in a dead cow suddenly drops in the middle of their group and we see that Captain Ryan is watching them through binoculars some of the men start to panic a bit but the sergeant gets everyone under control while Captain Ryan is watching them he suddenly feels like he's being watched he tries to grab for his gun but he's not quick enough the next day the soldiers find some remains and they look like they're from the cow that dropped in their Camp then they spot a flare in the distance they follow it and find the Special Forces team that was supposed to be part of the training exercise has been wiped out and all that remains is blood and guts while looking around the camp suddenly a terrified Captain Ryan pops out and scares everyone before he goes into shock contact he surprisingly survived the Lichen attack and is the only Survivor on his team he's wounded badly with large claw marks on his chest wallsen struck someone to get on the radio but he can't get a signal somehow the radio fuses are blown and it seems to have shorted out they also find a transmitter inside their radio they were being tracked plus they dropped that dead cow right into their camp like it was some kind of bait there's definitely more going on than we know how's he doing here all I know is his special forces Ryan is making no sense and keeps repeating the same thing there was only supposed to be one and you have to get me out of here before they come back Sergeant Wells tries to ask him before what comes back but he's too distraught he says they tore them to pieces in front of my eyes while looking around for supplies they notice how odd the equipment is giant Nets tranquilizer darts Cooper comments it looks more like a safari Wells says the training exercise is officially over and the men ditched their blanks and grab all the bullets they can Ryan says it won't make any difference they won't die [Applause] oh [ __ ] the men are all startled by the sound of a man's distorted yell following by howling in the distance this is the only time we hear this unique werewolf sound so it must be the sound of one of them transforming they start quickly retreating but don't get far before whatever killed Ryan's men begins trying to attack them Bruce gets separated from the group and starts running through the forest in a panic and impales himself on a branch then when it looks like things can't get any worse a lichen shows up and finishes him off you can actually see the claw in the reflection of his eye Sergeant Wells is wounded while trying to go back for Bruce the Lichen slashed his stomach causing a lot of damage but Cooper still manages to get him to the road sometimes we get these shots from the lichen's point of view in a kind of night vision showing they can see very well in the dark they can run extremely fast not super human fast like a blur but much faster than a human once they reach the road they are almost run over by a zoologist named Megan she tells them to get in but the car gets stuck in some mud while Lycans climb all over but they managed to narrowly escape Megan says she went looking for people after she heard gunshots in the forest last night and while in the vehicle Megan seems to avoid eye contact with Captain Ryan for some reason they arrive at the only nearby home and no one is inside except a dog but the fire is still burning and there's still food on the stove so whoever was here left in a hurry Megan explains the area they are in is extremely isolated the closest house is 50 miles through the forest and the closest town is a four hour drive they patch up Sergeant Wells the best they can and plan on getting out of the area as fast as possible but when two of the men go outside to start the vehicle they find it's been destroyed and the house is surrounded by werewolves they are forced to retreat inside and a lichen nearly gets through the door go [Music] with the vehicle gone they have no choice but to barricade the house and try to last through the night at first the werewolves stay in the tree line and aren't attacking this gives the men hope that the lichens have had enough for one night but Megan says they're just planning finding a weak spot they're very intelligent Megan asks if the soldiers are here because of them like a rescue mission but Cooper says he doesn't even know what they are I guess that's a no Captain Ryan uses the washroom and we see him staring at himself in the mirror with a blank expression on his face not a good sign after surviving a werewolf attack Wells is still bleeding badly so they need to Super Glue his wound the pain is so bad that he ends up asking Cooper to knock him out foreign after Megan and Cooper patch up Wells she explains to all the men what they are dealing with lichenthropes or werewolves a soldier says like full moon silver bullets and eyebrows joined in the middle this is a reference to the original wolf man but I don't think eyebrows is what comes to mind for most people when they think werewolves Megan says look what you've seen is it so hard to believe she's been tracking them for a year and every month when the moon is full they hunt as a team as we see their transformation lasts for more than one night because we're already on the second night now they probably transform back into a human during the day and then back into a wolf at night depending on how long the moon remains full which can last from two to three days these werewolves don't kill their victims for fun either they eat them Megan says she's never found any bodies Cooper decides to question Ryan and his suspicions are confirmed they were placed there as bait so the special ops team could try to capture one of these lycanthropes for military research while questioning Ryan Cooper realizes that he seems totally fine now which is surprising considering he was almost dead a few hours ago Ryan gets extremely agitated and pulls a gun when they try to inspect his wounds but they overpower him and finally are completely healed this gives them enough suspicion to tie up Captain Ryan for now they don't get to question Ryan because the lichens launched their first attack on the house they hold it the best they can and Cooper saves Wells just in time again I like this part where they boil water and then throw it on the werewolves something they probably learned in their training if you're being attacked and running low on bullets while the lichens are attacking the house one of them manages to pull the shotgun out of the Soldier's hands and actually fires it back into the house once before throwing it so they are apparently smart enough to use weapons but just choose not to [ __ ] Megan says their best bet is to wait for Sunrise but unfortunately the soldier Terry is taken away by the lichens and they're now running extremely low on ammo there's no way they're going to be able to last a night here after some talking they find out that Megan and Ryan know each other Megan was the kind of guide for Captain Ryan on his first trip here this catches the other men off guard first trip what do you mean first trip apparently the Special Forces team was sent to investigate some of the stories and claims from the area so Ryan definitely already knew what was out there we also find out the family that lives in the house are the US a Celtic family that has lived in the Glen for centuries I wonder if these people are descendants or if this is the same family that lived here for centuries we don't know how long these lichens can live so it's definitely possible it also makes a lot of sense why they decided to live in such an isolated area Megan tells them about an old Land Rover they keep in the barn so they make a plan to distract a lichens while someone gets the vehicle one soldier named spoon lights a flare to get their attention while two others run to the barn to get the vehicle just as one of them gets to the vehicle and turns it on he Witnesses the other Soldier get his head ripped off and thrown at the car he tries to escape and makes it back to the house but when he does he can see breath coming from the back seat he spins around knife and hand and tries to fight the Lichen but when the remaining soldiers opened up the back of the vehicle there's nothing left of their squad mate they Retreat back inside and now there's only five of them including Captain Ryan Cooper confronts Ryan again so he tells them more about why they were there Ryan asks them if they've ever heard of the special weapons division guys and lab coats that train dolphins to stick mines on submarines and cute furry animals to tear your head off they wanted Ryan to capture a werewolf alive if possible so they could study it unfortunately like Ryan said before there was only supposed to be one they underestimated the enemy and were overwhelmed Wells team was nothing more than live bait Wells becomes furious at this news having lost a number of his men to these creatures tonight in a fit of rage he stands up and punches Ryan knocking him off his chair when Cooper picks him up off the ground his eyes have changed to a yellow color and he seemingly tries to bite Cooper they throw him over the table and they quickly realize what's happening Ryan is turning into a lycanthrope [Music] foreign to be the first thing that changes he goes behind the table and for a few seconds we can hear what sounds like clothes ripping or possibly skin before Ryan pops back up from behind the table fully transformed they burn him and then stab him with the sword they found in the house but Ryan jumps to the window and escapes Ryan was attacked the night before so it took around 24 hours for him to turn although he might have turned earlier if they got into a fight or something sparked his anger the transformation was pretty quick taking less than a minute to fully complete after Ryan escapes Cooper is holding the picture of the family that lives in the house and has a realization werewolves spend most of their time in human form and the only people for miles around live here they're in the liken's home no wonder they are so angry this obviously eliminates the possibility of the werewolves getting bored or leaving Megan says they are good people but Cooper says that's too bad because we're gonna have to kill them all here I make they take a look around for anything silver but Megan says no self-respecting werewolf would keep silver around oh how would she know she also tells him the pack has six to eight members with an alpha pair that leads them the most important thing she tells them is that they will stay together somewhere safe and warm and she looks out the window to the barn their plan is to load a propane or fuel tank into the Land Rover they tried to escape in before and drive it into the barn blowing it up while the remaining survivors are preparing for the plan Cooper notices that Sergeant Wells is doing much better he asks if he's fine and he says yeah I'm fine actually I'm fantastic but that's the problem isn't it he shows Cooper that his gruesome wound he had on his stomach is completely healed he realizes the same thing that happened to Ryan is happening to him Wells is worried that he could change at any moment and attacked him he wants to basically sacrifice himself to help them Escape but Cooper won't let him Cooper cuts the gas tank on the vehicle and drives it into the barn leaving a trail of fuel behind it when he jumps out he yells to light it and Wallace throws a Molotov cocktail at the fuel and it works in perfect Hollywood fashion with a flame Trail going right to the Land Rover and exploding the barn unfortunately there's no time for celebrating just as the barn blows up Megan says I'm sorry uh-oh she tells Cooper this when I found you out there tonight I truly believed you were the best chance I had at getting out but now we've got no chance Cooper realizes that there is nothing nearby and there was no lichens in the barn when it blew up she set them up for failure turns out Megan is a werewolf she was a zoologist Who heard rumors of werewolves in the Scottish Highlands so she came looking for evidence she found something better than evidence she found the uth family I could never hear them clearly pronouncing the name in the movie and some places that I looked up said it was pronounced uwa and others so I apologize if I'm pronouncing it wrong uth is Celtic for horror it's also a sign of death fertility and change in Celtic astrology an obvious reference to the change in werewolves and the death they cause infertility could be the creation of more werewolves Megan was forcefully adopted into the uth family and was infected with the lycanthropy curse she was obviously a little upset about this and that's why she contacted the military about the supposed werewolves this is what eventually LED Ryan and and Wells team to the highlands I think it's very likely the other members of the family are not blood related but were captured and turned similar to Megan probably to keep their species alive or make their pack bigger for hunting by how Megan talks to private Cooper it sounds like she really was hoping that Captain Ryan Orwell's team could capture or kill the werewolves and help her Escape because in her words they're an effed-up family but after so many soldiers were killed she probably lost hope and switched sides she says that she doesn't like being a part of their messed up family but Cooper's had a luck and she's out of time Megan let the pack of lichens into the house and then begins transforming while grabbing her stomach in pain she turns to show her yellow eyes and large teeth but well shoots her in the head originally I thought that Megan was dead because she was shot before she was fully turned and we don't see her again but in the DVD commentary it states that this shot did not kill her and she's actually one of the werewolves in the kitchen after this scene Megan was able to hold off her transformation for a few hours maybe up to five hours maximum after Nightfall but apparently these lichens can only hold off their transformation for so long Megan Ryan and Wells all display having some kind of abdominal pain right before their eyes teeth and voice change then while we actually never get to see the end of the transformation but it happens pretty quickly for Ryan after Megan is shot in the head Cooper and Wells run upstairs and try to hold off to lichens but they have to retreat and hide when Wells and Cooper ran upstairs spoon gets separated and runs into the kitchen where he tries his luck in hand-to-hand combat and anything else he can get his hands on in the kitchen during this fight you can really see that these lichens can take a lot of damage spoon almost gets the better this Viking but another one shows up and the two of them easily kill private spoon Wells and Cooper gets separated in two different rooms so Cooper breaks through the wall to get to him then the two end up breaking through the floor to escape the lichens right behind them when they land on the main floor Wells tells Cooper he has to survive and tell people this happened he tells him to go into the basement and then he closes the door next he grabs a knife and chops the gasoline line to the stove a moment later the lichens walk in when the lichens enter the kitchen we get a really great look at them they are really tall around seven feet and I like how they kind of grabbed the roof making them appear even bigger they have gray fur but the fur only covers their head in parts of their body these lichens walk on two feet have a large wolf-like head in a humanoid body but with large claws when the lichens find Wells he holds up as a lighter but one of the lichens smacks it out of his hand luckily he's in reach of the stove and just as he begins to turn he lets out a guttural yell and smashes the stove igniter lighting that place up like the 4th of July foreign [Applause] Cooper stays in the basement until he sees daylight just to be safe as he goes to leave the basement he started by some dead bodies hanging from the ceiling maybe they kept these as food reserves in case no one wandered into the woods or there are people the family killed for some reason and stored their bodies down here I think all this stuff in the basement is probably from the campsites and murder scenes that they clean up after the fact as to not draw too much attention Cooper Hears A noise in the basement and he's suddenly attacked by a lichen with a sword in his chest it's Captain Ryan Ryan he tried licking your own balls yet Cooper fights Ryan off in the basement and gets lucky and finds a silver letter opener and some of the human remains the same one the young man had in the beginning of the movie as if Cooper's luck couldn't get any better the dog Sam distracts Ryan just long enough allowing Cooper to stab Ryan with the silver letter opener and shoot him and this time the bullet works when he stabbed a lichen a little bit of smoke came out and it seemed to be a much more visible pain than we have seen one before silver weakens their healing abilities making them vulnerable to regular weapons Cooper and the dog Sam were the only survivors foreign [Music] at the end of the film there's kind of an after credit scene or I guess more like after credits still images we get some shots of the werewolves but we also get to see this newspaper throughout the movie some of the men are talking about the big football game or soccer game if you're from North America we see the game score being the big headline and then a much smaller headline for the story of Cooper's Squad being eaten by werewolves it could be the military suppressing the story but I think it's more likely that people just don't really believe him considering it still made it in the paper but the game was bigger news the photos of the werewolves actually came from the camera that Megan was using to disorient them before Cooper got into the basement Wells gave him the film out of the camera very smart okay now let's talk a little more about the lichens one thing that really confused me was how is Ryan still a lichen after the sun came up Megan said they just had to last until sunrise and they would turn back but she was a lichen so she could have been lying unless the only reason he's still a werewolf is because he's not in sunlight so because Ryan was still a lichen in the morning my question is can they always turn into a lichen or only during a full moon or is it that they can always turn but the full moon just forces them to turn Megan does say that she has studied them for a year and they only turn once a month to hunt but again we can't really trust anything that she says Megan was probably just lying about the sunlight thing so they would try to hold out until morning instead of leaving throughout the Lichen Siege on the house Megan used a camera flash to disorient him making them vulnerable for a few moments they have advanced senses like hearing sent and of course Vision including night vision a normal animal in the day might not be harmed by a camera flash but a nocturnal creature with eyes specifically for night would be temporary blinded by a camera flash these werewolves are extremely resistant if you don't have silver weapons or bullets regular weapons and bullets seem to have almost no effect from what we've seen in the film silver seems to be their only weakness lichens can be killed with silver or like we've seen Silver can weaken a lichen so that regular bullets or weapons will be effective if you don't have silver though your best bet would probably be dismemberment or fire could possibly work too the lichens were extremely intelligent able to communicate with each other and plan the lichens also had some level of communication with the dog Sam they seem to be non-hostile to the dog and even Ryan seemed to have a strange connection with the dog while staring at it which is strange given it's established that he doesn't care for canines much while watching I had a theory the cap Captain Ryan was the one who killed his men since he is attacked by a lichen and am found to be the only one alive amongst his men but his chest is still wounded and he said that he's seen his men be torn apart in front of his eyes so he must have made it back to the camp after being attacked just in time to see his team be ravaged by the lichens the lycanthropy curse can be spread through just a scratch the victim does not need to be bitten this is pretty common in werewolf movies such as American Werewolf in London and the cursed just to name a few when someone is infected with lycanthropy it also seems to give them increased aggression we see this with Captain Ryan and Wells but we don't really see this for Megan so maybe it's more of a side effect for new lichens for a movie with such a low budget the sets and the lichens look great story and twists are good enough to spike your interest to make you wonder what's really going on with Captain Ryan and his family of centuries-old Celtic werewolves the term dog soldiers comes from a specific group of Native American Cheyenne they are named named after a Cheyenne Legend in which dogs would transform into ferocious Fighters very fitting for this movie there was supposed to be a sequel named dog soldiers fresh meat that starred the surviving private Cooper and his newly adopted dog Sam the movie would begin with Cooper being picked up by an American team of soldiers who we find out were supposed to be the opponents for the training exercise with Sergeant Wells Squad the sequel was announced in 2004 and there was some work done on the film but by 2008 all the information about the film had been removed from multiple sources and websites in 2015 there was a special Blu-ray re-release of dog soldiers with a new commentary with the director Neil Marshall in the commentary he said I think we can fairly safely say that there's never going to be a sequel now thank you that's my video on dog soldiers occult classic and one of my top five werewolf movies it's a horror comedy just like American Werewolf in London and it's also a British production so I wonder if that has anything to do with it like most movies I cover I would 100 recommend this movie to anyone who likes werewolf or horror comedies I only cover movies and shows that I truly enjoy that's why I always recommend them to you guys if you guys have any movies or TV shows you want me to cover please leave them in the comments below if you enjoyed leave a like and hit that subscribe button if you haven't it helps out a lot and I really appreciate it thanks so much for watching and I'll see you in the next video foreign [Music]

Channel: Cogan Lollins

Views: 350,976

Keywords: dog soldiers, werewolves, werewolves explained, dog soldiers explained, explained, werewolf, lycan, lycanthrope, cogan lollins, celtic, celtic lycans, celtic werewolves

Id: D6e8bKj5638

Length: 24min 45sec (1485 seconds)

Published: Sat Nov 26 2022