The Breed (2006)

RELEASED IN 2006 and directed by Nicholas Mastandrea, "The Breed" details events when five American youths spend a party weekend at a scenic isolated island. Unfortunately, the island is inhabited by scores of mad dogs, literally. Oliver Hudson and Eric Lively head the cast as rival brothers: one a wild screw-up and the other proper & academic.The cabin-in-the-woods horror element is old hat, dating back to "Night of the Living Dead" (1968), but "The Breed" is more realistic than most of these kinds of creature features, particularly since the 'creature' in this case is a bunch of rabid canines, which brings to mind movies like "Wolfen" (1981) and "Night of the Wild" (2015). "The Breed" is more akin to the latter, but with a limited cast and isolated setting.The prologue is highlighted by Lisa-Marie Schneider in a bikini and the gorgeous South African locations (although I'm sure the island is supposed to be somewhere off the American Northwest coast). Michelle Rodriguez & Taryn Manning appear as the two main females in the cast; they're likable enough and moderately appealing, but nothing to get overly excited over. It's nice to see Michelle in a role that deviates from her typical kick-axx cliché.Despite the by-the-numbers plot and some horror trappings, e.g. the black dude (Hill Harper) dying first (which isn't a spoiler), it all comes down to whether or not you can buy the setting & the characters; and does the movie build-up suspense by the final act? The answer to both questions is 'yes.' It may not be a resounding 'yes,' but it's a good enough 'yes.'I heard a couple of critics pan the film on the grounds that the youths look way older than teens or even college age, but listen closely and it's established that they're all in their mid-20s. For instance, the younger brother is 25, which means that the older brother is around 27; and the blonde girl is 24 if you do the math.THE FILM RUNS 90 minutes and was shot in George and Cape Town, Western Cape, South Africa. WRITERS: Robert Conte & Peter Wortmann.GRADE: B-

Have you ever seen a movie where you thought "what a great idea!" only to be let down by the execution? Well, "The Breed" is sort of the opposite. It's a fairly silly idea pulled off fairly well, especially in the horror sub-genre of animal/nature attacks. The cast is all pretty decent, no egregious under or over-acting. Rodriguez has a nice change of pace as the strong but friendly female lead.Basically this film plays off of everyone's fear of a wild dog, although to spice it up a little these dogs rely on planning and strategy just as much as brute force. A little out there perhaps, but at least the dogs used are real and there isn't once a hint of a bulky puppet or too-slick-to-be-real CGI.One aspect that sets "The Breed" apart from similar horror films is the logistical reasoning of the characters. Everyone's actions are generally understandable. Instead of the usual Act 2 fall-apart of all but the best horror movies, rife with teenagers who unleash a maniacal bloodlust or the bookworm who suddenly takes down several trained military personnel or (of course) the young adults who scoff at death with unchained promiscuity and substance use, we can clearly identify each of these characters as fairly average college-aged people. Another big plus is the absence of a gun as a plot device. The bow and arrow is the closest parallel, but realistically, it is used inefficiently and lost long before some pivotal moment of group survival. So often in horror movies I am befuddled by where so many guns pop up and why, if so many guns are floating around, no one can consistently seem to use one throughout the film.So "The Breed" does get a nod for being as realistic as high-concept horror can, but unfortunately there isn't enough originality to keep it within memory very long. No spectacular atmospheres or moods generated, no breathtaking special effects or breakout performances; it's simply a fairly mundane idea pulled off quite well.

Film starts out pretty non-eventful. Random teens go to an island for a weekend of vacation but UH OH, the island is infested by rabid dogs! They don't explain too much about how the dogs get there but it starts off all cuddly when the group of young teens adopts some puppy. The puppy escapes one night and said hot blonde chick who I really wanted to go nude gets bitten by a rabid wild dog! From here you can assume what happens but the dogs all look so innocent and cuddly I couldn't help but make, "OOOH SA BABY BOY!" noises when they came on screen. There's no way those dogs would've hurt me. Anyway, the rest of the plot is unbelievably awesome and why this movie deserves box office gold.After setting the scene, Mike Vick pops on scene about 45 minutes in with crazy metal background music and start chucking 100 mph footballs at the dogs rescuing the folks. He also starts out running the dogs and using his crazy football moves to dodge their attacks, etc.Then at the very end, he is going down. He has like 5 dogs cornering him... and Alge Crumpler pops into the scene after gut checking a dog and says, "Looks like you could use some HANDS!" At this point Alge Crumpler is FULL on Falcons uniform and as the camera pans back Mike Vick is now in uniform also but with a ninja mask! Then the two get up and start out-dodging the dogs. Mike Vick continues spamming footballs which auto generate and an F-22 jet starts shooting missiles out of nowhere. Right now we've got crazy guitar playing and Vick is throwing footballs all over and Alge is catching them and power slamming dogs at the same time. The jet is still circling and a commanche helicopter busts onto the scene piloted by Arnold Schwarzeneggar who says calmly, "It's a hell of a day for a dog fight." He naturally blows the F-22 out of the air with no reasoning what so ever. The FX sequence takes at least 3 minutes.Dogs are getting mowed down all over. One tries to assassinate Vick but he grabs it, electrocutes it, folds it into a ball like object, CHUCKS it at another dog. DOG goes down big time. The Husky and Cuba Gooding Jr. pop out of nowhere but Ahnuld takes em out with double helix style missiles.This goes on for like 30 minutes and finally it's all over. Vick, Crumpler, Ahnuld and the survivors survey the damage. One dog barks over the horizon and charges in. Ahnuld grins at Vick who says, "Dog eat dog." and charges the dog. They leap at each other and Vick BITES his head off and ROARS, I said ROARS!!!!!!1!!!!!111 The movie ends with hardcore metal playing as the three... Vick/Crumpler/Ahnuld walk outta there. The remaining teens are not shot as nobody gives a **** about them anyway.

Pack of lusty college kids--bosomy gals and horny, smirking guys--vacation on an isolated island overrun by mutant mutts; when one of the girls is attacked and bitten, there's talk of leaving the locale, but... Ridiculous thriller sparks serious derision, especially with the point-of-view camera-work from the four-legged freaks, but what can one say when the dogs wind up giving better performances than the humans? The screenplay, credited to Robert Conte and Peter Wortmann, is the chief embarrassment, though the youthful cast members do themselves no favors by posing instead of acting. Executive producer Wes Craven should have been the one to sniff out the lack of potential in this fang-fest...perhaps he was temporarily blinded by the shorts, suntans, and cleavage? * from ****