Don't you just hate it when, in a movie, something seemingly trivial occurs or is introduced and you just know that it'll come into play later on?
I know I do, so when the characters in The Breed casually mention an old 'zip-ride' (or death slide, as we English call it), tinker with a car that hasn't been used in years, or break an old roundabout leaving a sharp wooden stake pointing upwards, I prayed that my cliché radar was on the fritz. But sure enough, each device played a major part later on in the film and I laughed at the film's predictability.
It's a shame really, since there are several scenes which are more than competent, actually managing to scare and excitewhich is all you really want from a film about rabid, genetically enhanced dogs attacking a group of people stranded on a remote island! The five friends who come up against the vicious killer mutts are your standard assortment of attractive twenty-somethings of the type that seem to populate most popcorn horror flicks these days: a couple of bickering brothersone reckless (Oliver Hudson) and one responsible (Eric Lively); a 'pretty' blonde (Taryn Manningnot my cup of tea but appealing to some, I guess); a wise-cracking smart-ass (Hill Harper); and a feisty babe (Michelle Rodriguez, playing her usual tough-but-tasty type). Of course, there are no prizes for guessing who is going to become dog food.
The most effective parts of The Breed are definitely the dog attacks, with the snarling, fanged beasts being suitably frightening and convincingly nasty. Surprisingly, however, given the current trend for graphic splatter, the film is rather 'dry', with only one or two moments to make you wince (highlight of the film: a poorly aimed arrow!) or turn away, and the gore-hounds amongst us will most likely be disappointed.
Still, kudos to director Nicholas Mastandrea for opting to use real dogs rather than CGI. And whilst I'm at it, I'll also thank him for getting Michelle Rodriguez into a bikini (although naked would've been better!).
