DVD Review: Outpost II – Black Sun / Cert: 15 / Director: Steve Barker / Screenplay: Steve Barker, Rae Brunton / Starring: Clive Russell, Richard Coyle, Catherine Steadman / Release Date: August 27th
The term Black Sun was a symbol of occult significance to the Nazis, and it is with no surprise that we find that this is the subtitle of this sequel to the 2008 Nazi zombie movie, Outpost. Set in modern times, we follow Lena (Steadman), an investigator on the trail of Klausener, who was responsible for setting the wheels into motion for an unstoppable army of the dead in World War 2. She is assisted in her search by Wallace (Coyle) who has been tracking down Nazi secrets for years.
When the militia group they arranged to meet to guide them is attacked and murdered by a wave of the zombies, they realise that it is up to them to stop the forces of evil by getting to the machine that allows the undead to become almost immortal. They stumble across a team of NATO troops, who all appear to be British grunts, and move on together.
The crux of the matter is that the machine creates a magnetic field that increases its circumference and allows the zombies to spread out and kill everyone in their path, leaving an apocalyptic scene behind in the wake of their incessant march. Only EMPs will stop the machine and bring down the zombie army before the Reich of 1,000 years achieves what Hitler’s troops failed to do before – world domination.
We know what you’re thinking, ‘Ooh goody, another Nazi zombie film’, but it’s not actually that bad. The production values are pretty good, with the characters likable and the locations used to drive the narrative forward, rather than just have soldiers versus Nazis running around the woods for 90 minutes. The Nazi zombies themselves, when they are on screen, are brutal, clubbing their prey to death or stabbing them repeatedly – meaning that there’s a fair quota of gory moments to be seen. They are quite imposing and it’s a shame that they’re not featured more prominently instead of milling around in the shadows. The film cracks along at a fair old pace and isn’t bogged down by too much backstory.
The biggest problem is that this is more of an action film, with horror elements woven into it. Imagine Aliens in comparison to its originator. However, that doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t have fun and enjoy what is laid out before you. Perhaps if they’d pushed for a higher certificate, we could have had a minor classic on our hands. Instead, we’ve got a Nazi zombie film that’s worth a viewing, but you can’t help wonder what could have been.
