Believe it or not, the Nazi zombie is actually a staple of the horror film. Yep, enough of these films have been made to make the 'Nazi zombie' movie a sub-genre of cinema in its own right. It all started with the Peter Cushing film SHOCK WAVES made back in 1977, and then two Euro directors, Jean Rollin and Jess Franco, made their own low-budget variants on the subject with ZOMBIE LAKE and OASIS OF THE ZOMBIES. Now comes OUTPOST, a low budget British entry in the genre which also has much in common with recent war/horror efforts like THE BUNKER, THE TRENCH, and DEATHWATCH.
The film kicks off with a bunch of hard-ass guys, ex-soldiers all, going on a mercenary mission to Eastern Europe. As per usual for this genre, the colour stock is subdued, at times virtually black and white, and there's a depressingly lifeless look to the surrounds. The director goes out of his way to make all of these guys unlikeable, and he even says so on a behind-the-scenes documentary, arguing that most modern directors have to have at least one likable character and he wanted to change that. Fair enough, but it does mean that we're lacking in compassion for these guys when the nastiness starts.
My favourite character is the slightly sympathetic scientist, played by Julian Wadham, who investigates some misguided experiments with physics and eventually learns the truth behind the deserted outpost. The leading role is given to the gruff Ray Stevenson, who is also very good. Stevenson has plenty of experience playing these hard-man roles which is why he's so convincing. Other characters are fairly predictable – the twitchy Russian, the sarcastic Scots, the redneck American and the token black guy doomed to die a horrible death. The film takes a while to get going, but that's fine with me as there's plenty of atmosphere building up to the turning point. Then the director throws in a handful of very grisly death sequences and things start getting really nasty. It all ends with a massed attack of Nazi zombies which is extremely unsettling and effective, although the twist epilogue is a little staid.
So, yeah. I didn't find this as spooky as DEATHWATCH, but it does pick up towards the end and those Nazi storm troopers are an effective menace. The gore sequences are extreme and veer towards unwatchable, dragging out the violence to tortured lengths, but some of the (human) soldiers are so unpleasant that you're actively wishing that they'd hurry up and die already. That does rob the film of emotional involvement and attachment, but visually it works a treat and the climax is still superbly-done. Not a bad little movie at all, even if it does resemble the likes of DOG SOLDIERS and others a little too much.
The film kicks off with a bunch of hard-ass guys, ex-soldiers all, going on a mercenary mission to Eastern Europe. As per usual for this genre, the colour stock is subdued, at times virtually black and white, and there's a depressingly lifeless look to the surrounds. The director goes out of his way to make all of these guys unlikeable, and he even says so on a behind-the-scenes documentary, arguing that most modern directors have to have at least one likable character and he wanted to change that. Fair enough, but it does mean that we're lacking in compassion for these guys when the nastiness starts.
My favourite character is the slightly sympathetic scientist, played by Julian Wadham, who investigates some misguided experiments with physics and eventually learns the truth behind the deserted outpost. The leading role is given to the gruff Ray Stevenson, who is also very good. Stevenson has plenty of experience playing these hard-man roles which is why he's so convincing. Other characters are fairly predictable – the twitchy Russian, the sarcastic Scots, the redneck American and the token black guy doomed to die a horrible death. The film takes a while to get going, but that's fine with me as there's plenty of atmosphere building up to the turning point. Then the director throws in a handful of very grisly death sequences and things start getting really nasty. It all ends with a massed attack of Nazi zombies which is extremely unsettling and effective, although the twist epilogue is a little staid.
So, yeah. I didn't find this as spooky as DEATHWATCH, but it does pick up towards the end and those Nazi storm troopers are an effective menace. The gore sequences are extreme and veer towards unwatchable, dragging out the violence to tortured lengths, but some of the (human) soldiers are so unpleasant that you're actively wishing that they'd hurry up and die already. That does rob the film of emotional involvement and attachment, but visually it works a treat and the climax is still superbly-done. Not a bad little movie at all, even if it does resemble the likes of DOG SOLDIERS and others a little too much.