The Breed (2006) starring Michelle Rodriguez, Oliver Hudson, Taryn Manning, Eric Lively, Hill Harper directed by Nicholas Mastandrea Movie Review

The Breed (2006)   3/53/53/53/53/5


Michelle Rodriguez and Eric Lively in The Breed (2006)

Isle of Dogs

Horror done doggy style. No I don't mean horror with sex acts, something which is surprisingly sparse in "The Breed", but I mean we have a story about scary dogs. That wouldn't be too bad especially if like me you have a bit of a fear of Fido but what get serves up in "The Breed" is a routine horror where we have a group of friends in an isolated cabin finding themselves prey to some killer dogs. There are occasions where a scene will deliver a fright but far too often what we have is a stock horror which whilst never truly bad is no more than those movies which give us a similar set up.

John (Oliver Hudson - Carolina Moon), his brother Matt (Eric Lively) and girlfriend Nikki (Michelle Rodriguez - S.W.A.T.) along with friends Noah (Hill Harper) and Sara (Taryn Manning) head to an isolated island where the brothers have inherited the home belonging to their Uncle. With Matt busy studying for his Veterinary finals John hopes it will give him time to chill out. But chilling out is not on the cards when they discover the island is inhabited by dogs, dangerous devil dogs which are trying to kill them.

Oliver Hudson as John in The Breed (2006)

Whilst "The Breed" starts with a man and a woman discovering the island as soon as we meet are 5 friends arriving for a week of relaxation it becomes routine. There are numerous movies which all feature a group of friends going to an isolated cabin or house for fun and frolics and this one is no different. It tries to throw some dynamics issues at us as we learn that Nikki use to be with John and that John and Matt don't get on brilliantly because John is the family fuck up but it does little to disguise what "The Breed" is.

What that means is before long are 5 friends end up prisoners in the cabin by the hell hounds outside and one of them is infected with something from having been attacked. It is so cliche that when the power goes out and one of them says he will go into the cellar to fix it you know his time to die has arrived especially as he gives an inordinately long and daft leaving speech. And to be honest right up until the credits role it just delivers predictable horror scenes which you can see coming a mile off.

Now of course the USP to "The Breed" is that we have these dogs as the source of the horror and whilst there have been some famous devil dog movies it does make a bit of a change. It also means that we have the issue of are plucky friends having to kill dogs which despite knowing they are dangerous is something still hard to watch. And it also means that we get some nice moments of horror, not from the killing but a dog suddenly leaping into the frame or doing a Jack Nicholson and crashing there head through a door. It is actually better than that sounds and it is very much the horror of the dogs which keeps "The Breed" entertaining.

And to be frank the horror of the dogs is a good things because are 5 characters are not only stereotypical but also uninteresting. In the end you won't remember that John thinks of himself as a bit of an archer or that Nikki is a bit of an action chick but you will probably remember that Oliver Hudson and Michelle Rodriguez are two of the stars.

What this all boils down to it that whilst the element of dangerous dogs delivers some nice moments of horror "The Breed" is a by the book horror movie which doesn't stink but neither does it do anything better than any other horror with friends in an isolated cabin.

Tags: Dog Movies


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