THE BREED
US/South Africa, 2006, 87 minutes, Colour.
Michelle Rodriguez, Oliver Hudson, Taryn Manning, Eric Lively, Hill Harper.
Directed by Nicholas Mastandrea.
In the 1970s, in the spirit of Jaws, there was a whole spate of animal menace films with titles like Grizzly, Rats and The Empire of the Ants. There was also The Pack as well as Dogs. This one could be called either of those titles. It is a brief, straightforward little terror story, filmed in South Africa, with some frights and some chills – depending whether you are a dog-lover or not.
The island is remote. A couple land and the woman is pursued by unseen presences in the woods and then dragged away. There is a deserted secret installation and buildings. Then five rich young adults fly in for a weekend at the house the two brothers in the group inherited from their uncle.
Well, in a way, anybody could have written the script from then on. The genetically modified dogs who roam the island after the labs were closed down, growl, snarl, bare their fangs, leap and throttle, terrorise the group, bite them, isolate them, gnaw through the moorings of their plane – and are omnipresent.
Who will survive, and how? That is the be all and end all of the film. The characters are a bit older than the teenagers whom you would generally like the dogs to devour and the issues between them slightly stronger. The cast is led by an athletic Michelle Rodriguez and Oliver Hudson (son of Goldie and brother of Kate).
1.An entertaining horror film? Animal menace?
2.The South African locations standing in for North America? The sea, the island, the forests? The plant and the installation? The atmospheric score – especially for jumps, horror, suspense?
3.The conventional material, the small group on an island, the elimination of various members of the group? The animal menace? The expected dialogue, the expected behaviour (going into the cellar with a torch)? The trite dialogue for the relationships between the members of the group? The opening and the yacht?
4.The human sequences – familiar, minimal? The girl and the man on the boat, lovemaking, drinking, her going ashore, terrorised in the woods, dragged away, her death? The man, his disappearing, his reappearing and being torn by the dogs? Conveniently leaving the yacht?
5.The young group, a breakaway? Their attitudes, light-hearted, drinking, sexual innuendo, relationships? The feeling between the two brothers? Their parents’ expectations? John seen as the loser? Matt seen as the success, younger, to be a doctor? The rivalry throughout the film, the discussions about it? Inheriting the house from their uncle? The familiarity from when they were young? The two girls, Nicki and her love for Matt, her athleticism? Sara, her love for John? From childhood? Noah and his being there, a man of colour, friend? His histrionics? The various familiar themes – together, alone, menaced, Sara being bitten and her being treated, the arrow and Nicki being wounded?
6.The dogs, seemingly ordinary, menace? The pack? The explanations – genetic engineering, training attack dogs? The plant being closed down? The official information about rabies? The wild dogs roaming? The sense of menace?
7.The attacks of the dogs, audience response to the dogs, their savagery? Attacking Noah? Their seeing the captain of the boat? In the house, the attempts to get to the plane, the dogs chewing through the rope, it drifting away? John trying to swim, the dogs on the wings and their pursuit? Being trapped in the house, the background of the fuse? Noah knowing how to fix it, his death in the basement? Sara and the effect of the bite, a form of genetic change? John and Matt, Matt and his being infected? The rope slide to the water, the car in the garage, Nicki and her getting the connection and into the house? The car? It not starting? The continued menace of the dogs? Getting out of the house, all in the car, the pursuit of the dogs? Leaving Sara to die – and the attack on her? Her wanting this?
8.The installation, getting over the fence, getting the signals, connecting the wires, the batteries? The information about the installation? The dogs entering in – the smoke, Nicki exploding the facility? Getting the car? John and Matt and the fight with the dogs? Nicki saving them? The background of the car going to the cliff, now going down and into the water? Their getting on the boat?
9.On the boat in safety, knowing that they were to get a doctor, adrift in the sea – and opening the door and finding a dog on board? The proper ending for this kind of horror terror film?
