Five college student friends venture to a remote island for a weekend excursion. The quintet discover that said island is populated by ferocious and predatory genetically enhanced super-intelligent dogs who don't cotton to any pesky humans intruding on their territory. Director Nick Mastandrea, working from a compact script by Robert Conte and Peter Wortmann, relates the compelling story at a swift pace, generates a good deal of tension, and stages the savage canine attack scenes with real skill and flair. This movie further benefits from sound acting by the attractive and appealing cast: Michelle Rodriguez as the feisty Nicki, Oliver Hudson as macho screw-up John, the cute Taryn Manning as the spunky Sara, Eric Lively as the amiable Matt, and Hill Harper as the happy-go-lucky Noah. Moreover, the characters are drawn with some depth, the filmmakers deserve credit for using real dogs instead of cheesy CGI creations, the cut-off island setting conveys a powerfully unsettling feeling of isolation and vulnerability, and both Michelle and Taryn look mighty sexy in two-piece bikinis. Giulio Biccari's sharp cinematography gives the picture an impressive slick look. Marcus Trump's robust rattling score does the heart-pounding trick. An enjoyable movie.

I was going to make some smart comment about this being one dog of a film, but I'm not going to. Because it's actually rather good, you see. Oh, it's not a 'good' film per se. Certainly not on a par with any classic horror film you'd like to mention. But for a modern-day, straight-to-video attempt at a killer dog film, it's actually not bad at all. I enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed CUJO, in any case.

A better script than usual helps. Yes, there are the annoying stock characters, like the skanky-looking blonde bimbo and the token black guy (who you just KNOW is going to bite it by the time the movie ends). Yep, there are the clichés, including a typically ludicrous final scare that makes no sense given the rest of the film's plot. Sure, the atmosphere is thin on the ground. But the 'teenage' leads are a little less obnoxious and stupid than usual, and they actually make an effort to stay alive, which makes the viewer care about them more than usual.

Killer dog films have been a cinematic staple since the '70s and I have to say that the animals in this film are exceptionally well trained. You're never less than convinced that they're ferocious, ravenous creatures out to devour human flesh. They're refreshingly free of gimmickry, too, so no red eyes or super-long teeth here, just wild dogs with big appetites. I could have done without the human infection sub-plot (especially as I watched this a day after THE CAVE, which had virtually the same sub-plot) but for the most part this movie rings true. The cast is the usual bunch of unfamiliar, generic types you see in straight-to-video productions with the exception of 'big name' Michelle Rodriguez. I usually can't stand Rodriguez when she plays overdone 'gutsy' type characters in films like RESIDENT EVIL but she plays a normal person here and is far better.

The film is action packed and the action sequences well handled, with VERY convincing special effects used to simulate dog death (the arrow and car scenes are particularly effective shocks). There are the usual types of scenarios (survivors trapped in a house boarding the windows, going into the dark basement, climbing a zip wire etc.) but the director wrings maximum tension from these moments while building suspense and keeping the plot zipping along. If I had to criticise I'd say it takes a little while to get going after the (admittedly solid) opening, but on the whole this is a fine modern-day B-movie.

When the bad boy John (Oliver Hudson) inherits an isolated house in an island, he invites his brother and student of veterinary Matt (Eric Lively) and his girlfriend Nikki (Michelle Rodriguez) together with their common friends Sara (Taryn Manning) and Noah (Hill Harper) to fly with him in his hydroplane and spend a couple of days having good time in the place. Later Sara is attacked by a dog and they recall that in the other side of the island there was a facility for training dogs that had been shutdown to avoid a rabies outbreak. While walking through the woods, they find a man called Luke (Nick Boraine),who sailed with his girlfriend Jenny (Lisa-Marie Schneider) to the island, covered of blood and Luke is killed by a pack of hounds. The group runs to the house and the animals put the place under siege, and they try to find a means of escape. When the survivors reach the compound, they disclose that the dogs have been genetically redesigned to become a breed of killers.

"The Breed" is a good horror movie, with a simple but very tense story. The dogs are impressively well trained, and there are many realistic scenes, like for example when the dog breaks in the house to attack Sara and John jumps on it to defend the friend; or when Noah hits the dog with a baseball bat on the dock; or when Matt shots the dog with an arrow while attacking Nikki, just to list some examples. The camera work and the edition are also excellent. The actors and actresses have great performances, Michelle Rodriguez shows a good athletic shape and this movie is underrated in IMDb. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Cães Assassinos" ("Assassin Dogs")