Dylan Dogg
Director: Kevin Munroe Certificate: 15
Writers: Thomas Dean Donnelly, Joshua Oppenheimer.
Cast: Brandon Routh, Sam Huntington, Anita Briem, Brian Steele, Kurt Angle, Peter Stormare, Taye Diggs,
Review: There are few films these days that surprise the viewer, and Dylan Dog Dead of Night pulls no separate punches that would elude you into thinking any the less. With a mixed bag of various ‘Similarities’ to Buffy, Angel, Blade, Moonlight, Fright Night, Lost Boys and Underworld, Dylan Dog packs them all – and more besides – as from simple Go Between of the Pure Bloods and The Werewolves, his journey unfolds into an array of great entertainment.
Dylan Dog (Brandon Routh of Superman Returns) and his trusted side kick Marcus (Sam Huntingon) take on a case that leads to a fatality – or two fatalities including that of the original victim – which also sets off a sequence of events set around the young and beautiful client Elizabeth (Anita Briem) who Dylan tries to protect from what he believes to be some Blood Feud war between old Monster rivals The Pure Bloods (Vampires) and The Lycans (The Werewolves), while right in the middle are the Zombies and Dylan Dog. The build up to the story is fast paced, it is also truly informative of the storylines, the characters basis, the not so linear flashbacks show previous history with the main set characters and last but not least, the killings and blood spattering’s are not over the top gore-horror-violence scenes.
The parts played by Vargas (Taye Diggs of House on Haunted Hill) and Gabriel (Peter Stormare of Constantine) made worthy adversary choices by the casting director, while Wolfgang (Kurt Angle) slots in nicely to appraise the finishing touches that really get the film lifted off the ground for a Non-Stop ride of the Highs and the Lows from which the whole cast play their parts perfectly.
The deception between the characters throw red herrings out on occasion, but not enough to stop you watching as Dylan gets to grips and unravels the mysteries surrounding a particularly strange artefact of extremely unnatural power. With the assistance of little needed special effects than in most other films, the last forty minutes of Dead of Night gives a display of absolute mayhem which has any Horror fan updating their Twitter status to share the awesome battle scene ending.
Giving this film a 7* Rating seems a little unfair, to say the least, as it really has shown more promise than some other viewers have let on over the past couple of weeks. The whole picture was not as low budget as we were led to believe, or the acting that of an amateur gathering of semi-skilled players looking for stardom. In our belief, Dylan Dog Dead of Night was very much as enjoyable to watch as Lost Boys and Blade combined.
DVD Archive Rating: 8.3/10 (9/10 if Sean William-Scott was starring alongside Sam Huntington)
© Marcus De Storm 2011.
Dylan Dog Dead of Night (Official Trailer)
