Outpost (2008 film)

{{Infobox film

| name = Outpost

| image = Outpostposter2008.jpg

| caption = Theatrical poster

| producer = Arabella Croft
Kieran Parker

| writer = Rae Brunton

| starring = Ray Stevenson
Julian Wadham
Richard Brake
Michael Smiley
Enoch Frost
Paul Blair
Julian Rivett
Brett Fancy
Johnny Meres

| music = James Seymour Brett

| cinematography = Gavin Struthers

| editing = Alastair Reid

| distributor = ContentFilm

| released = {{Film date|2008|03|11|United States|2008|05|16|United Kingdom|df=y}}

| runtime = 90 minutes

| country = United Kingdom

| language = English

| budget =

| gross = $ 463 377{{Cite web|url=https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt0892899/?ref_=bo_se_r_1|title=Outpost (2008)|website=Box Office Mojo}}

}}

Outpost is a 2008 British war horror film, directed by Steve Barker and written by Rae Brunton, about a rough group of experienced mercenaries who find themselves fighting for their lives after being hired to take a mysterious businessman into the woods to locate a World War II-era military bunker.

Plot

Somewhere in an active Eastern European war zone between government and insurgent forces, businessman Hunt hires former Royal Marine-turned-mercenary D.C. to assemble a crack team of ex-soldiers – Prior, Jordan, Cotter, Voyteche, McKay, and "Tak" Taktarov. Their mission is to protect him on a dangerous journey into no-man's land to investigate some "real estate" for a company, although Voyteche claims that there is nothing out there.

Going most of the way by truck, they traverse the forest and hear distant fighting, artillery, jets fly overhead, and an intense burst of static knocks out their radios. Reaching their destination, the team discovers a seemingly abandoned bunker complex. Leaving Jordan and Tak above ground, the rest of the team explore the outpost. Jordan notices a flash of light coming from the trees: assuming it is sunlight flashing off a scope, Tak fires. Another burst of static is heard, and McKay is hit in the arm by the only returning shot. Tak scouts the trees, finding no one and nothing: not even bullet casings. Locating the bunker’s generator, D.C. and Hunt get to work restoring the power. Cotter and McKay discover a room filled with corpses and are horrified to find a catatonic survivor, Götz. As the lights come on, Prior discovers a room with a projector screen and, behind it, the flag of the Nazi Party.

The mercenaries interrogate Götz to no avail, and assume that local paramilitaries used the bunker to hide evidence of ethnic cleansing. Jordan suggests that there might be a stockpile of hidden Nazi gold. D.C. orders a perimeter of landmines, assuming that hostiles may likewise be looking for the cache. Hunt goes through some documents and finds a back room containing a large generator-like device, secretly informing the company. McKay momentarily sees two jackbooted men standing next to Götz before they vanish. Hunt, meanwhile, similarly spots a disappearing Nazi SS trooper behind him and is locked in the room, but assumes it is only a prank. He then vaguely explains the machine's purpose to D.C.: it is designed to manipulate unified physics fields with "limitless" potential applications.

McKay's work on the bunker's radio initially produces scream-like static and then loud classical music, refusing to stop when unplugged until it spontaneously explodes. Outside that night, a mist appears, mysterious lights shine from the trees, and silhouettes of figures are seen who are unaffected by gunfire. A sudden, intense windstorm forces the mercenaries to take cover; afterwards, they find that Tak is missing and an Iron Cross placed where he was. Back in the bunker, Jordan shows D.C. the round he removed from McKay— a German rifle round not in use since the Second World War. The bullet is warped and deformed; the odds that it could have been fired from a rifle are slim. When a furious D.C. threatens Götz with a pistol, his eyes move.

Hunt explains that the company wants him to find and recover the device, which was used by the SS for reality-shifting, invisibility, and reanimation experiments to make an army of unstoppable undead soldiers. He reveals that the company has leverage on them all: if the team tries to evacuate, hitmen will be dispatched to go after his and their families. Outside, Tak is brutally tortured and killed beyond the perimeter. Voyteche, caught alone, is also silently stabbed to death and found propped up with Tak's body the next morning. Despite the threat of Hunt’s backers, D.C. orders an evacuation. Cotter goes to collect Hunt but is attacked by an SS trooper who impales him with a pickaxe and crushes his skull. When Hunt shows the surviving mercenaries the tape of the experiments, they realize Götz is an SS Brigadeführer responsible for the experiments. An enraged Prior promptly blows his brains out but with little effect; Götz reanimates and kills McKay, leaving him outside. Left with no other option, DC, Prior, Jordan, and Hunt plan to restart the machine to neutralize the SS and trap them in the bunker.

That night the undead SS garrison, now led by Götz, attacks in force. The mercenaries fight a delaying action to buy Hunt time to power up the machine. Prior is brought down before Hunt manages to set off a shockwave which disables the undead. However, the unstable machine is disabled and the attack resumes. Jordan is pulled down a side corridor and savagely killed. A wounded D.C. tries to buy time for Hunt to escape through the vents, only to be overrun as well. Hunt finds himself in the test chamber only to be cornered by Götz and his men before being pulled down from behind.

A second corporate team arrives 72 hours later to carry out the same assignment, only to find a "breather" among the piles of naked corpses. Outside, the clearing is illuminated again and Götz gives the SS soldiers a nod to begin their assault on the team.

Cast

Julian Wadham as Hunt, "Company" Agent
Ray Stevenson as D.C., British Royal Marine Warrant Officer
Richard Brake as Prior, United States Marine Corps
Paul Blair as Jordan, French Foreign Legionnaire
Brett Fancy as "Tak" Taktarov, Russian Alpha Group
Enoch Frost as Cotter, Belgian Peacekeeper
Julian Rivett as Voyteche, Yugoslav Military
Michael Smiley as "Mac" McKay, British Army Parachute Regiment
Johnny Meres as SS Brigadeführer Götz, German Officer ("The Breather")

Production

The film was produced by Scottish couple Arabella Croft and Kieran Parker and their production company Black Camel Pictures. They mortgaged their Glasgow home in order to raise £200,000 to finance production. The script is by Rae Brunton, based on Parker's original concept, which he described as "Platoon meets The Sixth Sense".[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/glasgow_and_west/7351019.stm "Govan zombies taste film success"], BBC News website, 16 April 2008

Although set in Eastern Europe, filming was done in the ruined WWII Edingham Munitions factory near Dalbeattie, in a forest on the Balmaghie estate near Castle Douglas, and in the Glasgow Film City studio complex in the Govan area of Glasgow.[http://www.dumgal.gov.uk/dumgal/documents.aspx?id=27943 Document : Film Premiere Comes to Dumfries] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080423075106/http://www.dumgal.gov.uk/dumgal/documents.aspx?id=27943 |date=23 April 2008}}, Dumfries and Galloway council website, 16 April 2008 Filming began in January 2007. [https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/local-news/outpost-2-being-filmed-across-2574048]

Sony Pictures bought distribution rights to the film for £1.2 million. Sony released it directly to DVD in the USA on 11 March 2008. Following favourable reviews, the film was exhibited theatrically across Europe. The film's European premiere was at a gala showing as part of the Dumfries Film Festival[http://www.web-link.co.uk/rbc/may.html#out "May programme"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080412001943/http://www.web-link.co.uk/rbc/may.html#out |date=12 April 2008}}, Robert Burns Centre Film Theatre website on 3 May, followed by limited distribution to 130 UK cinemas.{{citation needed|date=April 2018}}

Reception

Will Brownridge from The Film Reel.com gave the film a positive review, commending the film's acting, and "creepy" zombie design.{{cite web|last1=Brownridge|first1=Will|title=Outpost - The Film Reel|url=http://www.the-filmreel.com/2009/02/13/outpost/|website=The Film Reel.com|publisher=Will Brownridge|access-date=16 April 2018|archive-date=17 June 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180617142242/http://www.the-filmreel.com/2009/02/13/outpost/|url-status=dead}}

On his website Ozus' World Movie Reviews, Dennis Schwartz awarded the film a grade C. In his review, Schwartz criticized the film's underdeveloped story, and muddled script, but commended the film's atmosphere, cinematography, music score, and action sequences, calling it "a commercial attempt to pull in some coin during the popular zombie craze sweeping the world of cinema".{{cite web|last1=Schwartz|first1=Dennis|title=outpost2008|url=http://homepages.sover.net/~ozus/outpost2008.html|website=Sover.net|publisher=Dennis Schwartz|access-date=16 April 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180115145934/http://homepages.sover.net/~ozus/outpost2008.html|archive-date=15 January 2018|url-status=dead}}

Sequels

Outpost has spawned two additional films in the series, a 2012 direct-to-DVD sequel Outpost: Black Sun and a 2013 prequel Outpost: Rise of the Spetsnaz.{{cite web|last1=Hanley|first1=Ken W.|title=Q&A: Director Kieran Parker on "OUTPOST: RISE OF THE SPETSNAZ"|url=http://www.fangoria.com/new/qa-director-kieran-parker-on-outpost-rise-of-the-spetsnaz/|publisher=Fangoria|access-date=2 January 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304060519/http://www.fangoria.com/new/qa-director-kieran-parker-on-outpost-rise-of-the-spetsnaz/|archive-date=4 March 2016|url-status=dead}}{{cite news |title=Outpost II: Black Sun Begins Casting |url=http://www.bloody-disgusting.com/news/17120 |publisher= Bloody Disgusting |date= 18 August 2009 |access-date=25 August 2009}}{{cite web|last1=Ward|first1=Audrey|title=ContentFilm picks up horror sequel Outpost II|url=http://www.screendaily.com/festivals/cannes/cannes-film-market/contentfilm-picks-up-horror-sequel-outpost-ii/5001317.article|publisher=Screen Daily|access-date=2 January 2015}}

Barker returned to helm the 2012 Black Sun but did not return to direct Rise of the Spetsnaz, which was directed by Kieran Parker, one of the producers for Outpost and Black Sun. Both films were largely panned by mainstream critic outlets.{{cite web|title=Outpost: Black Sun|url=http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/outpost_black_sun/|publisher=Rotten Tomatoes|access-date=2 January 2015}}{{cite web|title=OUTPOST 3: RISE OF THE SPETSNAZ (2013)|url=http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/outpost_3_rise_of_the_spetsnaz/|publisher=Rotten Tomatoes|access-date=2 January 2015}}

References

External links

{{IMDb title|id=0892899|title=Outpost}}
{{IMDb title|id=1418712|title=Outpost: Black Sun}}
{{IMDb title|id=2241403|title=Outpost: Rise of the Spetsnaz}}
{{Rotten-tomatoes|outpost_2007|title=Outpost}}
[https://web.archive.org/web/20070811052236/http://www.digitalguerillas.co.uk/outpost.html 'Behind The Scenes' Featurette]
[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/glasgow_and_west/7351019.stm Govan zombies taste film success] – BBC News, 16 April 2008
[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/south_of_scotland/7351083.stm Horror film premiere on horizon] – BBC News, 16 April 2008
{{Facebook|outpostthemovies|Outpost (movie official page)}}
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https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/local-news/outpost-2-being-filmed-across-2574048