Outpost (film)
Encyclopedia
Plot
In a seedy bar in a town ravaged by war, scientist and businessman Hunt (Julian WadhamJulian Wadham
-Career:He has appeared on television as both Charles II and George V...
) hires mercenary and former Royal Marine D.C. (Ray Stevenson
Ray Stevenson (actor)
George Raymond "Ray" Stevenson is a Northern Irish-born English film and television actor. He is known for playing Titus Pullo in the BBC/HBO television series Rome , and in film as Dagonet in King Arthur and as Frank Castle/The Punisher in Punisher: War Zone and The Super Hero Squad Show...
) to assemble a crack team of ex-soldiers (Richard Brake
Richard Brake
Richard Brake is a Welsh/American actor.-Early life:Brake was born in Ystrad Mynach, Hengoed, Wales and brought up in the United States...
, Paul Blair, Enoch Frost, Julian Rivett, and Michael Smiley
Michael Smiley
Michael Smiley is a British comic and actor currently living in England.-Biography:Smiley was born in 1963 in Belfast, and moved to London in his 20s with his wife...
) to protect him on a dangerous journey into no-man's land. Their mission is to scope out an old military bunker in Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe is the eastern part of Europe. The term has widely disparate geopolitical, geographical, cultural and socioeconomic readings, which makes it highly context-dependent and even volatile, and there are "almost as many definitions of Eastern Europe as there are scholars of the region"...
. It should be easy – 48 hours at the most. Lots of cash for little risk. Or so he says...
Once at the outpost, the men make a horrific discovery that turns their mission on its head – the scene of a bloody and gruesome series of experiments, carried out by the SS
Schutzstaffel
The Schutzstaffel |Sig runes]]) was a major paramilitary organization under Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party. Built upon the Nazi ideology, the SS under Heinrich Himmler's command was responsible for many of the crimes against humanity during World War II...
, in reality shifting
Plane (esotericism)
In esoteric cosmology, a plane, other than the physical plane is conceived as a subtle state of consciousness that transcends the known physical universe....
and reanimation
Undead
Undead is a collective name for fictional, mythological, or legendary beings that are deceased and yet behave as if alive. Undead may be incorporeal, such as ghosts, or corporeal, such as vampires and zombies...
during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
to create invincible soldiers. (See Die Glocke
Die Glocke
Die Glocke was a purported top secret Nazi scientific technological device, secret weapon, or Wunderwaffe. First described by Polish journalist Igor Witkowski, it was later popularized by military journalist and author Nick Cook as well as by writers such as Joseph P. Farrell...
) Amidst the carnage, they find a survivor (Johnny Meres
Johnny Meres
Jonathan "Johnny" Meres is an English actor and writer of children and teen novels.-Filmography:- Books by Meres :* Somewhere Out There * Yo! Diary! * Yo! Diary! 2 - and another thing * The Big Bad Rumour...
).
At night, the clearing around the bunker is suddenly lit up, and silhouettes of people are seen amongst the light. Soon after, a member of their team called Tak goes missing and is gruesomely killed by an unseen foe. Later the same night Voyteche is killed by two Nazis. The next morning his and Tak's dead bodies are found linked together by the head, and Tak's containing a spent round in his skull. D.C. receives answers regarding the assignment from Hunt, which was that an un-named corporation wanted Hunt to find and recover a large generator-like device which was responsible for the SS's reality-shifting experiments. D.C. orders Cotter to retrieve Hunt from the generator room. However, while trying to convince Hunt to come with him, an SS soldier with a pickaxe kills Cotter. It is revealed that the survivor the mercenaries recovered was actually a surviving SS brigadier general
Brigadeführer
SS-Brigadeführer was an SS rank that was used in Nazi Germany between the years of 1932 and 1945. Brigadeführer was also an SA rank....
, with Prior killing the officer, the "breather" comes back to life and MacKay speaks his last words of "You're hummin' my balls!", and is killed. The mercenaries and Hunt attempt to evacuate the outpost only to be killed by the undead German army.
A second corporate team arrives 72 hours later to carry out the same assignment, only to "find a breather" among the piles of naked corpses and face the illuminated soldiers surrounding the bunker, presumably leaving them to be met with a similar fate to that of the first team shortly before the credits roll.
Cast
- Ray StevensonRay Stevenson (actor)George Raymond "Ray" Stevenson is a Northern Irish-born English film and television actor. He is known for playing Titus Pullo in the BBC/HBO television series Rome , and in film as Dagonet in King Arthur and as Frank Castle/The Punisher in Punisher: War Zone and The Super Hero Squad Show...
as DC (nicknamed John by Taktarov)- British Royal Marine Warrant Officer - Julian WadhamJulian Wadham-Career:He has appeared on television as both Charles II and George V...
as Hunt - Richard BrakeRichard BrakeRichard Brake is a Welsh/American actor.-Early life:Brake was born in Ystrad Mynach, Hengoed, Wales and brought up in the United States...
as Prior - United States Marine CorpsUnited States Marine CorpsThe United States Marine Corps is a branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for providing power projection from the sea, using the mobility of the United States Navy to deliver combined-arms task forces rapidly. It is one of seven uniformed services of the United States... - Paul Blair as Jordan - Scottish French Foreign Legionnaire
- Brett FancyBrett FancyBrett Fancy is a British TV and Film actor.-Theatre career:He has worked extensively in producing theatres including Chichester, Watford. Bristol and Clwyd.-TV career:...
as Taktarov - Russian Alpha GroupAlpha GroupThe Alpha Group , is an elite component of Russia's Spetsnaz as well as the dedicated counter-terrorism unit of the Federal Security Service... - Enoch Frost as Cotter - Belgian Peacekeeper
- Julian Rivett as Voyteche - Yugoslav military
- Michael SmileyMichael SmileyMichael Smiley is a British comic and actor currently living in England.-Biography:Smiley was born in 1963 in Belfast, and moved to London in his 20s with his wife...
as McKay/Mac - IRA Guerilla/British ParatrooperParatrooperParatroopers are soldiers trained in parachuting and generally operate as part of an airborne force.Paratroopers are used for tactical advantage as they can be inserted into the battlefield from the air, thereby allowing them to be positioned in areas not accessible by land... - Johnny MeresJohnny MeresJonathan "Johnny" Meres is an English actor and writer of children and teen novels.-Filmography:- Books by Meres :* Somewhere Out There * Yo! Diary! * Yo! Diary! 2 - and another thing * The Big Bad Rumour...
as The Breather (BrigadeführerBrigadeführerSS-Brigadeführer was an SS rank that was used in Nazi Germany between the years of 1932 and 1945. Brigadeführer was also an SA rank....
)
Production
The film was produced by Scottish couple Arabella Croft and Kieran Parker and their production company Black Camel PicturesBlack Camel Pictures
Black Camel Pictures is a production company based in Glasgow. Founded by Arabella Croft and Kieran Parker with Steve Barker and Michael Callaghan working with them. They mortgaged their £200,000 home in Glasgow to finance production for their first movie Outpost...
. They mortgaged
Mortgage loan
A mortgage loan is a loan secured by real property through the use of a mortgage note which evidences the existence of the loan and the encumbrance of that realty through the granting of a mortgage which secures the loan...
their Glasgow
Glasgow
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
home in order to raise £200,000 to finance production. The script is by Rae Brunton, based on Parker's original concept, which he described as "Platoon meets The Sixth Sense".
Although set in Eastern Europe, filming was done in a munitions factory in Dalbeattie
Dalbeattie
Dalbeattie is a town in Dumfries and Galloway , Scotland.Dalbeattie is situated in a wooded valley on the Urr Water east of Castle Douglas and south west of Dumfries...
, in a forest near Castle Douglas
Castle Douglas
Castle Douglas , a town in the south of Scotland in Dumfries and Galloway, lies in the eastern part of Galloway known as the Stewartry, between the towns of Dalbeattie and Gatehouse of Fleet.-History:...
, and in the Glasgow Film City studio complex in the Govan
Govan
Govan is a district and former burgh now part of southwest City of Glasgow, Scotland. It is situated west of Glasgow city centre, on the south bank of the River Clyde, opposite the mouth of the River Kelvin and the district of Partick....
area of Glasgow. Filming began in January 2007.
Sony Pictures bought distribution rights to the film for £1.2 million. Sony released it directly to DVD in the USA on March 11, 2008. Following favourable reviews, the film was exhibited theatrically across Europe. The film's European premiere was at a gala showing as part of the Dumfries Film Festival
on the 3rd of May 2008, followed by limited distribution to 130 UK cinemas.
The producers are planning a sequel: Outpost II: Black Sun. The sequel has been granted £25,000 of funding from Dumfries and Galloway Council.
Sequel
A sequel, entitled Outpost: Black Sun, is currently in production. The film has been written by Steve BarkerSteve Barker
Steve Barker is an English film director and screenwriter. He wrote and directed the short-film Magic Hour starring John Simm. In 2007 he made his directorial feature film debut Outpost, starring Ray Stevenson and Richard Brake....
and Rae Brunton while Barker has returned as director.
External links
- Vertigo Films
- 'Behind The Scenes' Featurette
- Press Release
- Black Camel Pictures
- Govan zombies taste film success - BBC NewsBBC NewsBBC News is the department of the British Broadcasting Corporation responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs. The department is the world's largest broadcast news organisation and generates about 120 hours of radio and television output each day, as well as online...
, 16 April 2008 - Horror film premiere on horizon - BBC NewsBBC NewsBBC News is the department of the British Broadcasting Corporation responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs. The department is the world's largest broadcast news organisation and generates about 120 hours of radio and television output each day, as well as online...
, 16 April 2008 - Gavin Struthers Director Of Photography
- James Seymour Brett Official Website