Film4 Frightfest the 13th - Day 3

#9 - Outpost: Black Sun

rating: 2

It's baffling to wonder how this sequel to the little-seen 2008 horror Outpost ever got made, but know that a third film, Outpost: Rise of the Spetsnaz, is already in production. If Frightfest's sequel is the one that should have stayed serious, then Outpost: Black Sun is the one that should have been a full-out comedy, for alas, this is a Nazi zombie flick that can't operate as a serious piece of work, but makes no effort to amuse either. Rather, it's played completely straight, a poor choice, given that the film is about Nazi zombies and a special electromagnetic machine that can reanimate them, while their weakness appears to be, you guessed it, EMP blasts. Though it begins promisingly with a young woman (Catherine Steadman) searching for a Nazi general who persecuted her family, it soon enough devolves into tedious trotting around dilapidated German villages, as she meets up with a gang of soldiers who are tasked with storming a German base and detonating an EMP that would weaken the zombie contingent. Even if the direction and performances are generally decent for a film of the type, it plays out like a dull mission from a particularly naff first-person-shooter video game, until an absurd final boss - a super-Nazi hooked up to electricity - appears, and makes it even more difficult to take seriously. A late day twist doesn't really help to enliven it. Frankly, it's just too serious, too dull, and not funny enough - that is to say, it isn't funny at all.