OUTPOST

Rugged mercenary Top (Ray Stevenson) meets mysterious businessman Hunt (Julian Wadham) in a bar and agrees to gather his group of brick shithouses to escort him into the war-torn European countryside to recover something of utmost secrecy.

Driving in an army truck through the scenic woodlands, Top and his crew of hardened ex-soldiers park up and embark towards their mystery destination on foot.

In the middle of a field, they come to an old disused bunker - the object of Hunt's desire. As Hunt begins to explore the dingy old building with torch in hand, Top's men come under fire from an unseen enemy lurking in the surrounding trees.

Having staved off the attackers during a shoot-out, Top's men decide to stay in the bunker for a while, preferring it's relative safety. Meanwhile, Hunt continues to search the premises for … well, he won't say what it is that he's looking for.

What they do find down there though, is a pile of naked corpses. Upon closer inspection, one of the bodies is found to be still alive. The elderly German soldier is wrapped in a blanket and taken to a separate room for questioning. Unfortunately Top's men aren't the most delicate when it comes to interrogations and the survivor keeps his lips tightly pursed.

Top believes Hunt is searching for Nazi gold and, suspecting that the armed assailants in the trees want it too, orders a couple of his men to stay on guard above. But as Hunt delves deeper into the bunker he finally finds what he's really looking for - a curious machine apparently built by the Nazis to defy the laws of physics and promise immortality …

With his men suitably spooked, Top's day takes a turn for the shittier as night falls, their radio communications break down and the figures in the trees creep ever closer. While inside the bunker strange shapes shift in the background and the silent survivor remains impassive, seemingly waiting for something he knows will shortly happen …

Studiously stylish and carefully swathed in a washed-out reddish hue, OUTPOST is a polished and aesthetically accomplished feature debut from director Steve Barker. The shoot-out scenes are well-edited and competently shot (the British cast and locales bring DOG SOLDIERS to mind), while the minor suspense of the earlier bunk exploration sequences suggests Barker has the talent to progress into something special.

But OUTPOST falls short of being special, largely because it forgets to be a horror film. It builds and builds - paradoxically, although there's little back story, the film has a slow feel to it - and then leaves the punchline too late for it to have the required impact: the zombies serve as little more than an afterthought. And when they do come, they are distinctly lacking in menace.

OUTPOST is also unfortunate to be lumbered with a cast that play out every cliché and quirk associated with their stereotypical characters. They are played so broad that they come across as cartoonish - and by doing so they wind up being at loggerheads with the otherwise solemn atmosphere that Barker manages to elsewhere elicit.

Speaking of the characters - testosterone-filled thugs who spout corny he-man dialogue and would feel most at home in a PREDATOR remake - the script seems a little confused by them. Top's men are hardened ex-soldiers turned mercenaries: they talk the talk and carry huge heavy rifles wherever they go. But they positively wet themselves when they stumble across a couple of dead bodies. It's all a little unconvincing, a tad clumsy. And Stevenson is far too well spoken to pull off the brutish role of Top - when narrating; he sounds like an extra from an RSC production.

Such qualms could have been overlooked had OUTPOST offered something more visceral, more in-your-face to help it stand out. But as zombie films go, this is possibly the most anaemic since THE SUPERNATURALS (bypassing THEY CAME BACK which is an altogether different beast). As Nazi zombie films go, it's a wasted potential wrapped in a very good-looking sheen.

An excellently rendered anamorphic 2.40:1 transfer handles the film's stylish, very individual colour schemes and slightly tainted look well. Details are strong and definition is sharp, while depth and contrast are superbly balanced.

The English 5.1 audio track provided serves an even mix of heavy score, audible dialogue and acute background detail. There are also optional English subtitles available for the hard of hearing.

A nice animated main menu is striking, and leads into an animated scene-selection menu offering 12 chapters.

The beguiling extras kick off with an affable audio commentary track shared between Barker and producer Kieran Parker. A wealth of surprising information is given (the film's exteriors were shot in Scotland, for example) in this relaxed but consistent listen.

Next up are six behind-the-scenes segments that between them cover various aspects of the film's making: actual production, the genesis of its script, casting, art design, the initial concept. They offer a slick and evenly balanced mix of cast and crew interviews spliced with on-set footage. Each can be watched individually or as a 37-minute whole by selecting the "Play All" option. These well-produced featurettes come equipped with optional English subtitles.

12 minutes of deleted scenes follow. There are eight scenes in total, including interesting alternate opening and ending scenes. All scenes are presented in non-anamorphic 2.40:1 with optional English subtitles.

A 2-minute trailer is next, with the disc rounded off by trailers for STARSHIP TROOPERS 3, HANCOCK, ZOMBIE STRIPPERS and the PROM NIGHT remake.

OUTPOST doesn't fulfil the potential a post-millennial Nazi zombie film could or should have. It's stylised and proficient, but lacks the bite this criminally underdeveloped sub-genre promises. Better than ZOMBIE LAKE then, but not as entertaining as SHOCK WAVES.

Review by Stuart Willis