Battledogs

It is always a nice treat to witness when The Asylum manages to spew out a movie that excels compared to the rest of their movies. Every now and then The Asylum manages to put out a movie that is actually above the usual cheesy and campy stuff they dabble in.

"Battledogs", aside from the horrible title, was actually a nice movie. It was a different take on the werewolf myth and genre, and a rather bold take. But it ultimately worked out well enough.

Mind you, I am not saying that "Battledogs" is ready to challenge the leading werewolf movies, but for a movie from The Asylum, then it is well worth checking out.

The story is about a mutated strain of lycanthropy running rampart in Manhattan. The military contains the outbreak, but want to utilize this newfound potential source of power and turn it into a weapon - of course. And they will stop at nothing in order to succeed. But when things get out of hand, the military are forced to take to drastic measures.

Storywise, then "Battledogs" was alright. It wasn't the best of stories, and it was predictable, yes, but still it was a step up compared to many other movies from The Asylum. The story is fast paced and full of action and even an occasional thrill here and there.

As for the acting, then they did have some good names on the cast list, and people did good with the characters and roles they were given. Sure, many of these characters were generic and stereotypical, but the actors and actresses still manage to get something watchable out of that.

Which leads me to the CGI. The werewolves did look good, although at times the CGI animation was wooden and stiff, but still, the effects worked to the extend that they were meant to. Just don't get your hopes up for being blown away by a multi-million dollar CGI extravaganza.

If you enjoy werewolf movies, and don't mind movies that range in the lower scale of the budget, then definitely check out "Battledogs" - don't mind the awful movie title.

Battledogs (2013)

** (out of 4)

The Asylum strikes back with this rather confusing mix of sci-fi and horror. An evil Lt. General (Dennis Haysbert) does battle against the good Major Hoffman (Craig Sheffer) over a woman (Ariana Richards) who was bitten by a wolf (or dog) and turns into a wolf (or dog) and goes on a rampage in NYC. With the virus spreading, Hoffman wants to try and save her for a cure but the General wants more wolves (or dogs) so that the Army can use them in wars. BATTLEDOGS is a pretty confusing picture on one major level and that's the fact that I'm really not sure what the monsters are. They act and sound like werewolves but the title refer to them as dogs. Even stranger is that throughout the film they are called wolves by some, canines by others and some call them dogs. I'm really not sure what they are but the CGI used for them makes them look decent but they're still clearly fake but this here is to be expected with such a small budget. The film on the whole doesn't work but I think it contains a few entertaining things for those who line up week after week to see what SyFy is giving us. The biggest attraction to the film is its cast members as many familiar faces from familiar films are on hand. Not only do we get Haysbert (MAJOR LEAGUE), Sheffer (A RIVER RUNS THROUGH IT) and Richards (JURASSIC PARK) but there's also Wes Studi (DANCES WITH WOLVES), Kate Vernon (PRETTY IN PINK) and Ernie Hudson (GHOSTBUSTERS). Obviously the screenplay doesn't give any of them a real chance to act but I thought all of them were fine in their roles and certainly raised the material. It was also fun seeing Richards back in a film after a six year break. The CGI effects are all pretty cheap and bad but The Asylum did give us some real, practical effects, which allowed for plenty of gore. I say this after everyone of these movies but if you're expecting quality then you're not going to find it here. If you looking for cheap entertainment then this here offers a little of it.

SyFy have a notoriously bad reputation, though there are some tolerable movies of theirs out there even if they are too far and between. Battledogs was a movie that I wasn't sure what to make of, it wasn't a particularly good one but neither was it a disaster. I am in complete agreement with the acting being the best asset, the cast were a good one to begin with and they all give fun performances, especially Ernie Hudson. Battledogs is a better-looking movie than most SyFy movies, true the CGI is not particularly great(not really much of a surprise though) but the dogs/werewolves were fairly convincing, the scenery is good and the editing is not too choppy. The music and sound mayn't win any awards as such, but they are atmospheric and sharp enough and serve their purpose well. The car wreck scene was quite an exciting set piece, and the gore isn't too shabby either. Battledogs is not without its flaws though. There is some nice tongue and cheek humour in the script, but too much of the dialogue is cheesy, unnaturally flowed and not always fitting in certain scenes. There is also a rather make-it-up-as-you-go-along feel. The story is a mixed bag. The good news is, it didn't bore me particularly and the nods to King Kong, Free Willy and Day of the Dead original were nice; the bad news is, nothing comes out as original and the mix of sci-fi and horror is confused. Maybe it would help if those two elements individually worked, sadly they don't; it is not thrilling enough to be good sci-fi and it's not scary enough to be good horror either. And it is largely to do with the overall quality of the CGI, the poor suspense and how tame and uninventive the attacks seemed to be. I'd forgive the fact that the characters are overused stereotypes if anything interesting was done with them, but despite the efforts of the actors the characters never were developed or likable enough. And how inaccurately and poorly the military are portrayed is likely to get people even more infuriated, especially if they're part of the military themselves. In conclusion, not terrible or great. 5/10 Bethany Cox

With decent actors and a decent script and decent CGI programmers you could make a decent movie out of it. But the problem with this movie is that the actors suck, that the writer is a Van Dyke, and that the computer generated images are made by an amateur. It was really painful to watch. I should have seen it before I started watching it that it would be a disaster. Last time I watched something that Shane Van Dyke wrote (6 Guns) I promised myself never watching something he is involved in again. But my mistake, I forgot to check it before I started watching this abomination. What a total waste of time. Avoid this movie(?) at all costs.

I actually couldn't finish the movie because the CGI werewolves were way worse than the one from American Werewolf in Paris. It's bordering on cartoonish or a parody. Couldn't take the movie seriously. I'll never understand how people think they can have a werewolf movie with a horrible werewolf or in some cases no werewolf at all. I was surprised at how bad the quality was because the cast was impressive.