Doghouse (2009)

UK DVD Release

A group of guys looking to cheer their friend during his stressful divorce decide to head out to a remote little village called Moodley for some drinking, carousing and trouble-making but the celebration is cut short when they find themselves in the middle of a military experiment. The entire town’s female population has been mutated into raving, homicidal cannibal creatures and the blokes wind up next on the menu!

Jake West is arguably a hit-or-miss filmmaker for those in his own country (the UK) but here in the states his last horror/comedy Evil Aliens is praised for its non-stop unhinged, offensive and utterly entertaining antics. It’d be an understatement to say Doghouse was highly anticipated; you’re either chomping at the bit for more of West’s gory slapstick and insanity or you were interested in finding out whether he’d actually crafted some palatable this time around. Speaking as a fan of West’s work and somebody looking forward to this I can honestly say I was a bit underwhelmed though highly entertained.

Doghouse is gory, sexy and, sure, perhaps even a bit offensive which means you should expect more of the same style that endeared so many to the outlandish circus that was Evil Aliens. We get more of the same, but that’s a good thing in my opinion. The acting was passable, the characters were all distinct enough despite there being a few too many to keep track of and the FX was incredibly satisfying; there’s nothing here we haven’t seen before but Jake West does it with so much outrageous respect and appreciation for the genre that one cannot help but enjoy oneself.

What we have here is a horror/comedy cinema version of War of the Roses, men against the women, misogyny versus misandry. When you boil the whole film down, it’s a “buddy flick,” something for the guys to get drunk and cheer to. Don’t get me wrong, the women are going to love this as well but a flick focusing on a gang of blokes looking to party but end up beating down psycho-bitch females is definitely going to appeal to those looking for a lowest common denominator thrill and, really, there’s nothing wrong with that. Don’t over-think it.

As always, we stateside horror geeks have received the shaft, as this has only been released on R2 DVD right now in the UK. I’m sure eventually it’ll see release here but god knows how long, let’s not forget how long it took to see Evil Aliens hit disc and the controversy surrounding the cuts that were made to it. Hopefully Jake finds a good home for it and we get to see this released on DVD and Blu-Ray before 2010. Don’t forget, it’s nothing amazing but it was too damn entertaining to miss out on so I’ve gotta recommend you all check this out when you get the chance.