SIMON REAMES: Film Review - Outpost

Seeing the cover shot and reading the tag line “You can’t kill what’s already dead”, I wasn’t expecting much from the low budget, straight to DVD film Outpost. However, I was very much mistaken.

The plot is simple enough. A group of mercenaries head into war torn Eastern Europe after being hired to protect a shadowy businessman while he looks for something hidden in an old military bunker. Everything goes to plan until they simultaneously come under attack by an unseen enemy and make a disturbing discovery as to who the bunker belonged to and what went on within.

From the beginning, you can tell this is a low budget affair. However, this does not detract from the film in any way, in fact, it adds to the atmosphere that’s created. Filmed almost entirely in the gritty, muted tones of grey, black and off-white and having minimal special effects, the film relies on things that many other films seem to lack at the moment: a good script, good direction and good acting. The story unfolds at a decent pace and the characters are believable; they react as you might expect them to and (for once) there is no comedy character or cheap attempt to lighten the mood when things start going wrong. The strange and weird occurrences start and build up to a pretty good finale and the creepy moments are done extremely well; you sit there waiting to see what happens next. Although you get the impression this is trying to be a fully-fledged horror, the atmosphere and sense of foreboding create a more suspenseful and eerie film which is ultimately much better to watch. There are some glaring plot holes but you are able to overlook them and become engrossed in the film waiting to see the final outcome.

Outpost is one of those rare low budget films that is actually enjoyable to watch. It is not perfect but the good direction, script and acting make up for any issues you might have. The pace and story lock you into the film and manage to keep you there until the end. Although this is not a new film (it was release in 2008) it is definitely worth watching and adding to your collection.

Watch the trailer here!

8/10

Currently, a sequel to Outpost, called Outpost: Black Sun, has just completed filming. It is written and directed by the original director, Steve Barker, and is expected to be released sometime this year (2011). Let’s hope that it has the same atmosphere and style that the first film has.