Solo Review: Outpost (2008)

Cast Members of Note- Ray Stevenson, star of HBO's Rome and the upcoming Punisher: War Journal.

A bunch of mercenaries are hired to escort a sniveling scientist to an old abandoned Nazi bunker in war-torn Eastern Europe, which they figure might be a bit of fun. Alas, any hopes the boys had for killing some random village peasants are quickly dashed when they discover the bunker to be haunted by some pissed-off Nazi Ghosts.

Why must The Nazi's always ruin the fun?

When they find some crazy machine that has to do with some kind of insane "other dimension" jazz, the hi-jinks and hilarity truly begin. (By hi-jinks and hilarity, I mean people start dying pretty quickly.) Have the Nazi's ever thought of maybe talking things over? They might just be surprised at what a little honest discourse could accomplish.

To make matters worse, the creepy, undead SS Officer charms his way into their hearts, only to betray them with bizarre leiderhosen and schnitzel experiments; never trust a Nazi, even if he has the face of an angel!

I won't ruin the ending for you here, but suffice it to say that Arbeit nicht macht frei!

Not an angel.

This is not your average direct-to-video fare. Outpost is an effective ghost movie that has style to spare. The setting is great; a creepy old abandoned Nazi bunker in a still war-torn Eastern Europe... you can almost feel the ruin and danger that the Mercs are about to face.

For a small budget, the look of the movie is great too. I especially liked the use of light and shadow in reference to the ghosts, which made them feel more imposing and even impressive. I mean, when the characters spot random dead Nazi's just lurking about and staring at them, it was a bit unsettling.
 
There are some great genuine scares to be had here, although they come in the fashion of a more subtle and underlying danger. Atmosphere is what gives this movie its legs.

Also, Ray Stevenson is cool as always.

Screw that.

Not exactly the most original of Horror flicks... It got the job done though.

When the machine kicked in, why didn't they run like hell?!?

Why are you not running?

This one gets pretty violent, especially toward the end. Seeing multiple Nazi Ghosts stabbing a guy to death was pretty cool. Eye violence usually works to great effect too. There is no shortage of the nastiness here.

I think he fell asleep... now's your chance to take his king!

None whatsoever, and that's a good thing.

"That light at the end of the tunnel ain't Heaven... It's a muzzle flash"

The Nazi's sure seemed to like H.P. Lovecraft an awful lot, and it's good for us that the creepy shit they experimented with never worked.

"No. No, I'm not coming there..."

Far from perfect, Outpost none the less manages to deliver a solid and pretty entertaining ghost story. A rental for sure, and there are far worse things you could end up buying, if you are so inclined. Either way, give it a shot. It's a good one.

B-

Outpost is available now on DVD and VOD.

We're keeping our fingers crossed that the eventual sequel will go to some even crazier places than this movie did...