In Doghouse, Vince (Stephen Graham) is a recent divorcee having difficulty adjusting to his lonely situation. So, six of his friends decide to take him to the countryside to a village called Moodley, where the female population outnumbers the male population 3:1; much like colleges in North America.
The men are taken to the village by bus, driven by an attractive woman named Candy. Warning signs emerge a dead sheep is found, blocking the road to Moodley, which Candy and Neil (Danny Dryer) - the unapologetic misogynist of the group, move out of the way. Suddenly, everyone’s cell phones begin ringing, aggravating Neil since this is supposed to be a “boys’ weekend,” so he gathers everyone’s phones and stashes them away.
The group finds their way to Moodley only to discover that the village is void of all life until they begin encountering mutated women with a hankering for male flesh. In the midst of their ordeal, they run into Sergeant Gavin Wright (Terry Stone) who admits to being part of the British military division responsible for the mutations. And, once the group discovers the secret military base, linking them back to military headquarters, they realize that the mutations they have previously fought were just the first part of a larger mutation.
Any zombie-comedy, especially a British one, is going to be held up the standard set by Shaun of the Dead, and while Doghouse doesn’t reach the highest peaks set by it the film still holds its own when it comes to the funny and to the gore. Every insult man has ever hoped to drop on a woman is touched upon in the script, including blaming the virus on “bird-flu,” having a drink at a pub called “The Cock & Balls,” and battling the mutated mavens with not only remote control toy cars, and cross dressing, but a military device using sonar with pitch-ranges so high that only women can hear it. And, any way a man or a woman have ever wanted to butcher their girlfriend, boyfriend, spouse, friend-with-benefits; most of them are covered in Doghouse.
Aside from that, Doghouse also shows that not all men are degenerate pigs and, while still upholding to some chauvinistic tendencies, there are nice guys that have been lumped into the general sum of the degenerate pigs that are the majority of the male population on Earth, which seems all too familiar to this writer.
Doghouse seems to accomplish the job set for it: Tell a humorous and charming tale about the conflicts between men and women, and how one can never fully appreciate the other, particularly when one becomes a murderous, cannibalistic creature. The trade of dialogue among the six friends really helps break the constant violent tension, showing the power of friendship, and makes the audience care a bit more when one the friends begin getting picked off by the mutants.
Doghouse is a worthy viewing, and whether it stands the test of time is something else, but in this modern era is definitely recommended. Plus, for people that have not already discovered Stephen Graham (Inkheart, Gangs of New York, Snatch), this is their chance to see him in a smaller film before hitting it really big when he plays Johnny Depp’s right-hand-man in the upcoming Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides.
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