Sunday, March 18, 2018

Outpost 11, The Thing Does Steampunk

"Ahhhh! Spiders! Get 'em off of me! GET THEM OFF OF ME! Please!" The rantings of a lunatic. One can seem so normal one moment, then poof! Apparent insanity reduces some to driveling madmen clawing at imaginary insects. This can happen to the best of us. It is futile to try to convince the future mental patient that there are no spiders on him, but heavy duty drugs can be administered. Isolation and paranoia can bring this madness on...or perhaps an acute connection to a reality that no one else sees. For all we know, the spiders are really there. Hence 2013's "Outpost 11," directed by Anthony Woodley.
In an Antarctic listening post three soldiers listen for radio signals during England's war with Russia...in the 1950s? Yep, this is an alternate reality...or alternate history I should say. They seem cut off from merry old England and any other semblance of civilization. Their post is powered by a mysterious steam machine which occasionally develops a squid-like parasite. Mason (Luke Healy) is in command and his temperament seems sane and measured. Albert (Joshua Mayes-Cooper) is the young soldier who is not cut out for war. Then there's Graham (Billy Clarke). A lifelong soldier who only knows war, and realizes that much has passed him by. The strangeness begins immediately. A rabbit blows up, the alert light is set off, and spiders seem to make their way into this lonely outpost.
After a cryptic message is received, the isolation and paranoia are joined by mystery and dread.
A suggestion that an attack is imminent, or that the war has been lost, sets off Graham. His hallucinations (...or are they hallucinations?) convince him that Albert is a spy for the spiders. Mason goes to investigate a neighboring outpost only to find insane carnage. Meanwhile, the ominous steam powered energy machine looks as though it has ominous plans for its three human subjects.  As Graham's insanity increases and Albert's cowardice does the same, Mason's discoveries will be quite horrific.
Exactly what does a spider invasion have to do with the Engilsh-Russian War of 1950? What is cooking inside the ominous steam reactor in the outpost basement? Will any of these three chaps escape with their sanity in place? At very least, the props in this film could inspire some neat jewelry designs for Goths, but fans of David Lynch films (like "Eraserhead") will find more to grab onto than that. Deep, dark, and open to much interpretation, enjoy the very creepy and unsettling "Outpost 11."

2 comments:

  1. this looks very interesting, I have to check it out some time.

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  2. This sounds very intriguing Christopher & very nice review, I've been on a bit of a mystery kick lately & will check this one out sooner rather than later, the stills look quite interesting too, thanks for the heads up on it.

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