Outpost (2009)

Tagline - You can't kill what's already dead

I was waiting for some enterprising young filmmakers to use the bombed out parts of the former Yugoslavia as the backdrop for an adventure/horror film. You've got it all. Peasants with their sunken eyes, left over weaponry and many with the skills to teach actors how to use them, military vehicles and rain - gloomy and cold rain that creates the kind of sad little environment I always figured that area of the world to be. Add to that a bunch of unknown actors that I don't need to get attached too and we got us something to begin with.

A group of mercenaries and thugs are hired to investigate an 'outpost' (hence the title) or bunker left over from WWII. Of course what they find is not going to be good for any of them. They are a motley group of battle hardened veterans from all branches of the world's military including U.N. Peacekeepers. Of course they bring their old prejudices and unresolved conflicts to the group and this affects the way they interact with each other. All this testosterone is kept under wraps until it's needed by their equally scruffy and exhausted commander played by Ray Stevenson who we know from the last 'Punisher' movie.

The mercenaries are hired to bring a 'geologist' into an disputed area to investigate some real estate a company has 'acquired'. We all know that this company and their man know more than they are telling the hired guns but that is what makes it fun - to discover whatever gruesome stuff is going on at the 'outpost' (hey, that's the title)

I liked the way everything is tinged with a dour grey color that perfectly matches the mood. The land even seems as dead and cold as the bunker complex they arrive at. Of course when they enter the underground bunker its all darkened tunnels perfect for things to jump out of. It also has connections to the Nazis so you know nothing good was happening there.

What the 'secret' turns out to be is really just an excuse for us to watch alot of gruesome deaths by some pretty scary creations. That's perfectly okay for such a movie. I didn't expect everyone to break into song so I was satisfied and interested the whole time. Creepy and atmospheric.