Review: “Outpost”

Previously posted on blog and written by B. Demeter

Outpost (2007) is a British horror/action movie that in a vacuum would have been a decent film. While I enjoyed watching it, much of the movie reminded me of other/better movies that must have been the inspiration for this film.

Outpost is a story of a group of hardnosed mercenaries that are hired to enter a hostile environment to achieve an objective… If that sounds familiar it is because that is establishing plot of “Predator” (which is my #1 favorite movie of all time).

The story also involves this elite team entering a long sealed bunker to retrieve a piece of hardware until the team is confronted with a seemingly unstoppable, undead force… you know, like the plot of the “Resident Evil” films.

And they’re fighting zombie Nazis- and the ‘been there, done that’ meter is off the freaking charts!

Let’s break this down. Ray Stevenson plays the Arnold Schwarzenegger/Dutch role in this film. I like Ray Stevenson and he is good in this movie. He is in charge of a team of mercenaries that are hired by a scientist for protection as he enters an eastern European war-zone. The scientist is in search of bunker that contains blah, blah, blah, a machine that fucks with reality yada, yada, yada, unstoppable zombie Nazis… in a movie about killing zombie Nazis, a rock solid, believable plot is not a necessity.

My first gripe with this film is the mercenaries. With the exception of Ray Stevenson, none of the tough guys struck me as being very tough. For Christ sake- one of the mercenaries is played by Michael Smiley who I’m sure has a very long and varied acting career in Europe but will forever and always be know to me as Tyres O’Flaherty from the Simon Pegg/Jessica Hynes TV show “Spaced”. The rest of the team appears equally awkward and soft. I’m going to blame this on a cultural divide- perhaps these guys are considered tough on a European scale of measuring tough guys.

My second gripe is with the bonkers gun loading noises; which I realize is a petty gripe but it is pretty glaring. When done perfectly, foley artistry shouldn’t be noticed at all. But when an actor pulls back the slide of a handgun and it sounds like he just chambered a shell in a shotgun, the sound effect wizard has taken me completely out of the movie. I’m going to blame this on the cultural divide as well and say Europeans aren’t as picky about firearms noises as a gun-loving American.

But that’s about it for not liking this movie. The plot is thin, but as I’ve stated previously, you don’t watch this type of movie for believability. I was able to suspend disbelief enough to make it through this movie and be pleasantly entertained. Just a bunch of guys with guns, in an old World War II German bunker, fucking with things that ought not be fucked with, and then fighting off a swarm of zombie Nazis.

I’ve seen better movies, and Lord knows I’ve seen worse. I can’t outright recommend anyone watch this movie because there are just too many other/better movies out there. But if you were in the mood for a stupid horror action movie, this would be right up your ally. Also, if you’ve seen “Predator” and want to watch other movies of that type, then add Outpost to your list.

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