I was a fan of the surprising Outpost of 2008. It was one of the few offerings of the last decade that rose above its cheapness. Steve Barker showed great potential, something that was made clear with the help of veteran character actors such as Ray Stevenson and Richard Brake; not to forget a tightly wound atmospheric soundtrack! Surprisingly, Steve Barker returned to write and direct this sequel and yet it plays like a franchise that has been continued by an amateur replacement.
Whereas the film has strength in a few authentic battle-scenes and the use of functioning weapons and blanks instead of CGI muzzle fire (very important to me), this review isn't about trying to save what remains of a bad film. Its lack of good actors coupled with everything else that fails makes it fall flat beyond its promising opening scenes.
Barker makes the mistake of reinventing what worked to such great effect the first time around. I understand that he was trying to broaden the scope for a greater sense of danger regarding the plot but he fails to deliver on a larger scale. And yet by the time we return to the bunker, it's almost as if the movie ran out of funding.
Outpost was claustrophobic and played on informational - and sometimes sensory - deprivation. In Black Sun, the cinematography is loose, the characters are paper thin and rather than a sense of urgency, the film is paced with the impatience of a rushed production.
Furthermore I was let down by the sudden differences in the undead Nazi threat. In Outpost they couldn't die, not even after the EMP blast in the final scenes. Now all of a sudden they're being defeated with knives and they're dumber. They don't attack with the same savagery and they do a lot of screaming, which kills the mystery that actually made them frightening.
Finally, and I'm breaking my own rule of not spoiling movies in my reviews, what the hell made Steve Barker think it'd be good or scary in any way to throw a witch hag into the mix? The ending doesn't even deserve the result of your insulted intelligence!
Whereas the film has strength in a few authentic battle-scenes and the use of functioning weapons and blanks instead of CGI muzzle fire (very important to me), this review isn't about trying to save what remains of a bad film. Its lack of good actors coupled with everything else that fails makes it fall flat beyond its promising opening scenes.
Barker makes the mistake of reinventing what worked to such great effect the first time around. I understand that he was trying to broaden the scope for a greater sense of danger regarding the plot but he fails to deliver on a larger scale. And yet by the time we return to the bunker, it's almost as if the movie ran out of funding.
Outpost was claustrophobic and played on informational - and sometimes sensory - deprivation. In Black Sun, the cinematography is loose, the characters are paper thin and rather than a sense of urgency, the film is paced with the impatience of a rushed production.
Furthermore I was let down by the sudden differences in the undead Nazi threat. In Outpost they couldn't die, not even after the EMP blast in the final scenes. Now all of a sudden they're being defeated with knives and they're dumber. They don't attack with the same savagery and they do a lot of screaming, which kills the mystery that actually made them frightening.
Finally, and I'm breaking my own rule of not spoiling movies in my reviews, what the hell made Steve Barker think it'd be good or scary in any way to throw a witch hag into the mix? The ending doesn't even deserve the result of your insulted intelligence!