Alexander Yellen’s shot in Buffalo, made for the SyFy
channel Battledogs is perhaps one of the better SyFy original movies – again
underscoring one problem I have: why can’t Buffalo play itself? Taking place in
New York City (and shot at the new, yet virtually unused Niagara Falls Airport
– which fills in for JFK) the film inserts a few stock images in a landscape
that is otherwise Buffalo. These include the harbor, downtown, and the Central
Terminal (filling in for Wards Island).
The cast is first rate, while the plot is quite simple.
Ariana Richards stars as a nature photographer who comes in contact with a
killer wolf whom implants a tooth – she becomes patient zero. After freaking
out at JFK (which in this world the Port Authority has transferred management
to NFTA – one of the Buffalo touches that remain) she’s taken to quarantine at
Wards Island (the central terminal). Craig Sheffer plays Major Brian Hoffman, a
researcher looking for patient zero, while Dennis Haysbert plays Lt. General
Christopher Monning who is interested in the wolves as instruments of war (hence
the title Battledogs!)
Truth be told the movie is what it is, as a “Buffalo
classic” it proves just how a production dollar goes here in Buffalo (even if
it kind of, sort of, passes for New York City – if you squint). On a half million-dollar
budget with a supporting cast that includes Bill Duke (as the president), Erie
Hudson (as head of security at the NFTA run JFK), and Kate Vernon as another
honest doctor – Battledogs is silly entertainment. This is why people watch the
SyFy channel – it has a few decent bloody scenes and a lot of less than
realistic looking CGI – but its fun to see your hometown – along with a few
actors from town - on the big screen – even if the movie is pretty much exactly
what it is.
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