Directed by Steve Barker
Review based upon the UK Sony Pictures DVD release
It seems like the resurgence of horror has brought with it the inevitable need to reinvent many tried and tested subgenres. The lore of slashers and vampire flicks have been adjusted for new 21st Century audiences, and “Outpost” employs this same principle for the shuffling zombie movie.
In his directorial debut, Steve Barker sets the action in war-ravaged Eastern Europe, where a team of mercenaries led by the mysterious DC (Ray Stevenson) are hired by scientist Hunt (Julian Wadham) to find a bunker hidden for many years. As the group reach their destination they realise that it was previously occupied in the 1940s, where a group of Nazi soldiers were subjected to twisted SS experiments. The Third Reich were attempting to create an unstoppable army to conquer Europe; one that bullets couldn’t kill. But what is it that keeps attacking the mercenaries? Does Hunt really want the technology for himself, and at what price?
“Outpost” is effectively the first modern horror film to combine Nazis and zombies (there are several similar-themed flicks already in the can, including the much lauded Swedish chiller “Dead Snow”), and Barker does a very impressive job of making the low budget work in his favour. This is a claustrophobic genre effort, similar at points to Michael Mann’s overrated “The Keep” and John Carpenter’s “The Fog” but containing enough originality to stand on it’s own. The whole film is very dark and bleached, vivid red being the only colour to stand out (a nice cinematographic touch), and there are several key shocks which use the shadow
s to great effect. In addition, the performances of the ensemble cast are solid, despite the dialogue being mostly filled with military-style barking and inner torment.However, “Outpost” suffers a little due to the inconsistent nature of the mythology created by writer Rae Brunton. Because these zombies are really soldiers subjected to occult experiments, they cannot be killed by a bullet to the head like their more decayed relatives in the Romero canon. These soldiers can also appear and disappear like ghosts, which in theory should make them terrifyingly unstoppable. However this seems to all fall apart in the final confrontation, where a toppled cabinet and a closed door can apparently delay the rampage of these spectral figures.
Despite such obvious plot holes, “Outpost” is a riot that unfolds in a similar manner to Neil Marshall’s “Dog Soldiers”. The latter is arguably a superior work, but this is largely due to the characterisation present in Marshall’s movie, which is curiously absent here. In fact, it’s actually difficult to remember any of the character’s names at points. A bit more work to flesh out the back-story of these mercenaries would have made the whole setup more convincing, and given the audience someone to root for other than the rather too obvious leader DC (an alcoholic apparently, just in case you missed the cliché-alert).
Appealing to the gore-hounds, this picture also contains some extremely gruesome imagery, with crushed skulls and gut
-ripping shown to full effect. There is also another entry into the nastiest contact lens competition, where one of the undead platoon puts used bullet shells to interesting ophthalmic use.On the whole this is a solid distraction that at least tries something new, even it perhaps lacks the conviction to follow it through to the bitter end. Any horror flick that decides to combine zombies and Nazis has to be worth a viewing, and although flawed in some key areas, “Outpost” is a thoroughly enjoyable if unchallenging way to spend 80 minutes. If Barker can continue his excellent visual work on another project, there is nothing here to suggest that he won’t deliver an even better product next time.
Overall, I suspect this will be one of those genre flicks that people like to watch after coming back from the pub with a curry on a Saturday night. It’s a guilty pleasure that’s best viewed when your brain won’t be screaming at you with narrative inconsistencies.
7 out of 10
A solid distraction… but one which needed some more development in order to make the most of the concept
