Outpost (2008)

Outpost (2008)
Directed by: Steve Barker
Written by: Kieran Parker, Rae Brunton, Steve Barker
Starring: Brett Fancy, Johnny Meres, Julian Wadham, Michael Smiley, Ray Stevenson, Richard Brake

Outpost is set in Eastern Europe where ex-Marine D.C ( Ray Stevenson) is hired by Hunt (Julian Wadham) to gather a team of ex-soldiers to protect Hunt on a 48 hour mission into no-man’s land in search for minerals. A simple job for lots of money, they embark upon a journey to an abandoned bunker in the middle of the war-torn country. Once inside the bunker, the soldiers stumble across a room of bodies and find a ‘breather’ (Johnny Mere), a survivor from the pile. They try to coax the breather into talking, but he does not respond.  Soldier Prior (Richard Brake) stumbles across a room with Nazi insignia on the wall, and it soon becomes apparent that the mission has nothing to do with minerals. As the Nazi room is uncovered, one of the soldiers on land above receives a bullet to the arm, and the job soon descends into chaos as the soldiers are threatened by an unseen enemy with apparent superhuman powers.

Outpost is a brilliant gem of British filmmaking. Directed by Steve Barker and written by Rae Brunton, Steve Barker and Keiran Parker, the film has a fast paced story that is both coherant and interesting. The plot, which i daren’t fully give away, is quite an interesting subject and with the sequel looming (Outpost: Black Sun), I can only guess that some of the ideas we’ve seen in Outpost will be used as the foundation for Black Sun. It’s original, fun and a smart little horror which will have you in the shoes of DC and his men, as you both are going into the unknown.

The cast are terrific, with Rome‘s Ray Stevenson leading the film, and with each of the actors creating individual characters for their soldiers. Johnny Mere plays his part with conviction and would give anyone nightmares.
With a running time of 90mins, this film is well paced and will leave you itching for more. Roll on Outpost: Black Sun

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