DVD Review: OUTPOST (2008)

review by Eric Andis

Horror movies don't get any respect, and it's no wonder. Most of them suck. And yet, when it's done well, a good horror flick sticks to your ribs better than your typical drama or romantic comedy or what have you. There's something about the emotion of being scared or feeling dread that leaves a scar on you, and to be done well, you don't have to have an enormous budget or big stars or flashy special effects. It's all in the editing, and in the soundtrack, and in the expressions of the faces of the people living in fear. This is the reason why so many horror movies are made, and also the reason why so many of them are so terrible.

Well, OUTPOST is not one of those movies. It's a low budget horror movie that has somehow fallen through the cracks and was not even released theatrically in the US, while formulaic shite like SAW 4 gets thrown onto several thousand screens. So now you'll have to catch the DVD to watch one of the better horror movies of the last few years.

Set in an unnamed Eastern European country torn by insurgency, a group of mercenaries are hired to guide this dude into no-mans-land for an unspecified purpose. Following in the footsteps of John Carpenter's THE THING, there's not a single woman in the cast and the movie drips with machismo, but all the manly manliness and their phallic guns don't stop the carnage when the whole thing gets rolling in the 2nd act.

The production values are quite high for a film with an obviously low budget. The set design and cinematography are top notch, with the ever-moving camera evoking a sense of paranoia that the bleached out visuals compliment nicely. The sound design and score are also excellent and give your home theatre setup a good workout.

Ray Stevenson as the lead mercenary is the standout of the cast, giving his man of action some sympathy in between the gunfire. The rest of the performances aren't particularly noteworthy, relying on "The School Of Accents" for us to keep the characters straight, all involved service the script in workmanlike fashion and get the job done.

The DVD is nothing to shout at, giving us a good transfer of the movie, a few deleted scenes that were wisely cut, and a slew of trailers for movies that aren't nearly as good as this one (well, I liked SOUTHLAND TALES anyway).

Fans of horror are encouraged to get this hidden gem a spin. Recommended.

Click here to rent OUTPOST at Netflix.

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