By Brad Henderson

It’s hard to believe that there are three films in the Outpost series. It does generate a small but loyal audience so that these Nazi zombie films can continue to be made, though. The Nazi zombie subgenre started back in the 1970s and is still around to this day. I’m not sure how or why it caught on but a handful of films were made. Now, there is a sort of renaissance going on with these Third Reich meat-eaters. Outpost: Rise Of The Spetsnaz is the latest and the second strongest in the series.

The franchise started back in 2007 with the original film, starring the badass Ray Stevens and the eccentric Richard Brake, in which a group of mercenaries uncover an abandoned bunker where the Nazi zombies reside. After five years a sequel was announced titled Outpost: Black Sun and the year after that Outpost: Rise Of The Spetsnaz was released at festivals. It was surprising seeing a series with so many entries where none of them received a theatrical run aside from festivals. Hell, I was shocked the first Outpost movie even got a sequel. It’s a great flick but I couldn’t see it being sequel-worthy or really continuing the story without doing the same thing again. That shows how much I know . . .

I’m happy to say that all of these films have high points even though they are basically the same thing over and over. They do tie into one another and each has a different plot of course, but in the end we still have humans fighting these undead experiments in order to survive. Between films like Dead Snow and Outpost, I’m sure we are going to see another wave of these things and more sequels in the future.

One thing I’m stoked about in these films is the use of practical effects and make-up. The film itself looks good and it’s shot well (thought it could use some work on the action sequences), but the selling point is the effects. Another neat thing about these films is that you can break into the middle of the series and not be lost. I don’t recommend that, of course, but it is nice to see that you can check this film out and not be looking for the light switch in order to know what’s going on. Yes, the films do tie into one another, but it isn’t so intricate that you’ll be scratching your head. The film is also a prequel so if you start here you should be good.

All in all, I’m glad to see the direction the series is going and that it has a following. We can only hope they continue the series but in order to do so, I think they need to kick it up a notch if they plan a fourth film.

Outpost 3: Rise Of The Spetsnaz will be released on DVD on March 31 through Entertainment One.