Outpost | 2008
Outpost
Outpost is a British war horror film directed by Steve Barker and written by Ray Brenton, released in 2008. The film follows a rough group of experienced mercenaries who are hired by a mysterious businessman to take them into the woods to find a World War II-era military bunker, fighting for survival along the way.
The film was produced by Scottish couple Arabella Croft and Kieran Parker, along with their production company, Black Camel Pictures. They raised £200,000 by mortgaging their Glasgow home to fund the production. The screenplay was written by Ray Brenton, based on Parker's original concept, which he described as "a meeting of Platoon and The Sixth Sense."
Although set in Eastern Europe, filming took place at the ruined WWII Edingham munitions factory near Dalbeattie, the Balmaghie Estate woods near Castle Douglas, and the Glasgow Film City studio complex in the Glasgow Govan area. Filming began in January 2007.
Sony Pictures acquired the distribution rights for £1.2 million. Sony released the film directly on DVD in the U.S. on March 11, 2008. After receiving positive reviews, the film was screened in theaters across Europe. Its European premiere took place on May 3 at the Gala Screening of the Dumfries Film Festival, followed by a limited release in 130 UK cinemas.
In a war-torn Eastern European region, businessman Hunt hires ex-Royal Marine mercenary D.C. to assemble an experienced team of mercenaries. Their mission is to protect Hunt while investigating a World War II-era military bunker through a dangerous journey. However, one team member, Wojciech, claims there is nothing there.
After traveling most of the way by truck, they pass through the woods, hearing distant sounds of battle, explosions, aircraft noise, and a strong static that disrupts the radio. Upon reaching their destination, the team discovers an abandoned bunker complex. Jordan and Tak remain above ground while the rest of the team explores outside. Jordan sees a flash of light in the trees, and Tak thinks it is a reflection from a scope and fires. Another silence follows, and Mackay is hit in the arm by the only return fire. Tak searches the trees but finds nothing, not even shell casings. D.C. and Hunt begin working to restore the bunker’s generator, while Cota and Mackay discover a room filled with corpses, where they find a comatose survivor, Goetz. When the lights come on, Pryor discovers a room with a Nazi flag.
The mercenaries interrogate Goetz but gain no information, speculating that a local paramilitary group used the bunker to hide evidence of ethnic cleansing. Jordan suggests there might be hidden Nazi gold, and D.C. assumes that enemies are looking for that treasure, setting up a perimeter with mines. Hunt examines documents and discovers a large generator-like device, which he secretly informs the company about. Mackay briefly sees two soldiers standing next to Goetz, but they vanish. Hunt sees a Nazi SS soldier disappearing behind him and gets trapped in a room, thinking it is just a prank. He roughly explains to D.C. the purpose of the device, which is used to manipulate unified physical fields and has "infinite" potential applications.
Mackay initially hears a scream-like static from the bunker’s radio, followed by loud classical music that doesn’t stop even when unplugged, eventually exploding. That night, fog appears, and mysterious lights shine from the trees, revealing silhouettes of figures unaffected by gunfire. A sudden strong wind forces the mercenaries to take cover, and afterward, they find that Tak has disappeared, with an Iron Cross left in his place. Inside the bunker, Jordan shows D.C. a bullet removed from Mackay, which is a German rifle bullet not used since World War II. The bullet is deformed, making it unlikely it was fired from a rifle. An enraged D.C. threatens Goetz with a pistol, and his eyes move.
Hunt explains that the company demands he find and recover the device, which was used by the SS to alter reality, make things invisible, and conduct regeneration experiments to create an army of the undead. He reveals that the company is threatening them all, stating that if the team attempts to escape, hitmen will track down his family and theirs. Outside, Tak is brutally tortured and killed, while Wojciech is quietly stabbed to death when alone, later found with Tak’s corpse. Despite the threats from Hunt's sponsors, D.C. orders an evacuation. Cota goes to retrieve Hunt but is attacked by an SS soldier, stabbed with a pickaxe, and has his skull crushed. Hunt shows the surviving mercenaries footage of the experiments, realizing that Goetz was the SS colonel in charge of the experiments. An enraged Pryor immediately blows his head off, but it has no effect, and Goetz regenerates, killing Mackay and leaving him outside. With no other options, D.C., Pryor, Jordan, and Hunt plan to reactivate the machine to incapacitate the SS and trap them in the bunker.
That night, an undead SS unit led by Goetz launches a large-scale attack. The mercenaries delay to buy Hunt time to activate the machine. Before Hunt can generate a shockwave to incapacitate the undead, Pryor collapses. However, the unstable machine malfunctions, and the attack resumes. Jordan is dragged into a side corridor and brutally killed. Injured D.C. struggles to buy Hunt time to escape through the corridor but is ultimately overwhelmed. Hunt enters the lab, surrounded by Goetz and his subordinates.
72 hours later, a second corporate team arrives to carry out the same mission, only to discover a "breathing" entity among the corpses. Outside, the clearing is illuminated again, and Goetz nods to the SS soldiers, ordering them to begin the attack on the team.
