I'm not saying that it's easy to make a horror movie, but anecdotal evidence suggests that it's easy to make a horror movie. (This shouldn't be confused with making an effective horror movie. We'll discuss that later.) I'm actually in the process of watching a documentary on horror movies (which I hope to review soon), and based on some of the people interviewed, slapping together something which could go on video store shelves as "horror" appears to be an endeavor which doesn't take a ton of work. Therefore, any time that a horror filmmaker tries to do something special or add something extra to a horror movie, it deserves attention. Can the subtext of Doghouse set it apart from the pack?

Doghouse introduces us to a group of friends who live in London. Neil (Danny Dyer), Mikey (Noel Clarke), Graham (Emil Marwa), Matt (Lee Ingleby), and Patrick (Keith-Lee Castle) have decided to take their friend Vince (Stephen Graham) on a holiday in the country to help him deal with his messy divorce. Their driver, Candy (Christina Cole), takes them to the secluded town of Woodley, where they plan to party at Mikey's Nan's house. When they reach the village, they find it to be deserted. A quick search uncovers no one. Then, they are suddenly attacked by a group of seemingly insane women. The guys quickly realize that there are no longer any men in Woodley and that all of the women have become homicidal maniacs. With their only weapons being their wits and whatever they can scrounge from the local shoppes, can the men find a way to survive?

However, beneath all of this, West and Writer Dan Schaffer have attempted to give Doghouse more of a superior purpose, as it explores the battle of the sexes, both literally and philosophically. All of the main characters are having difficulty with the women in their lives, save for Graham, who is gay. (Although, we do see him arguing with his partner. Is the movie saying that guy was the "woman" in the relationship? If so, I think that may be offensive.) As they travel to Woodley, they complain about women. Then, we they reach the town, they must battle for their lives against women. In order to do so, there are time when the men must look at their own gender issues.

So, in some ways, Doghouse is an ambitious movie. However, it never truly succeeds at any of its goals. As noted above, save for the fact that all of the ghouls are female, the gore movie aspects are very reminiscent of other movies. (And the scene in which they try to sneak past their assailants is lifted straight from Shaun of the Dead). I laughed twice, but otherwise the jokes are pretty lame -- they are either simple pratfalls, or corny jokes that fall flat. The gender issue is interesting, but it never goes anywhere. Once the men start fighting the women, any attempt to take things deeper disappear. Apparently, the movie simply wants us to know that men and women fight. The plot doesn't go much deeper either. The final act raises more questions than answers, and the movie simply ends with no resolution. If you are looking for a "zombie" film to enjoy on a simply visceral level, you can do much worse than Doghouse, but if want something with a bit more substance, stick with the movies which inspired it.

Doghouse attempts to hit every job a woman in a small town can have on DVD courtesy of IFC Films. The film has been letterboxed at 2.35:1 and the transfer is enhanced for 16 x 9 TVs. The image is fairly sharp and clear, as it shows no distracting grain and no defects from the source material. I'm not sure why, but there has always been a tendency for films from Europe to look somewhat dark and flat, and Doghouse is no exception. As nighttime settles on Woodley, the movie becomes noticeably darker. The action always remains visible, but the dark look can't be ignored. The colors are good, but a bit washed out at times. The DVD contains a Dolby Digital 5.1 audio track which offers clear dialogue and sound effects. The track isn't incredibly lively, but it's acceptable. I didn't note any outstanding stereo effects, but the surround effects work well during the action sequences. These same scenes provide fairly good subwoofer effects as well.

The Doghouse DVD contains a small assortment of extras. We get both the TRAILER and the ALTERNATE TRAILER (which is from the UK). "The Making of Doghouse" (43 minutes) opens by allowing all of the main cast to discuss their characters and their involvement in the film. This is peppered by comments from Director Jake West, who also talks about the origin of the project. From there, we get a look at the creature design and the creation of the makeups. We next get an overview of the production, complete with on-set footage. There is an 8-minute reel of BLOOPERS. The DVD contains 3 DELETED SCENES which run about 3 minutes. The second one should have been left in the film. It should be noted that this doesn't include footage which is in the "alternate trailer" which isn't seen in the finished film. Finally, we get two TV SPOTS.