ALIEN OUTBREAK

Directed by: Neil Rowe

Starring: Katherine Drake, Ritchie Crane, Philip Alexander Baker |

Sgt Zoe Norris is a Canadian police officer who has transferred to a small rural community in England, which is rocked by a number of sudden suicides. However this mystery is soon overshadowed by the arrival of robotic aliens intent on killing everyone with a lethal injection - could the two events be linked, and will Zoe and her partner Patrick survive long enough to figure out what is going on?

Alien Outbreak is one of those British sci-fi movies whose ambition outstrips its budgetary constraints and while it has some issues, manages to deliver some very striking and unique visuals.

Set in a desolate part of England (I initially thought the landscape was Scotland because of its bleak isolated country roads flanked by farmland and moors), we follow the newly arrived Sgt Zoe Norris as she patrols the countryside. After being called to a disturbance at a pub, she discovers a dead body lying on the road near a farmhouse and goes to investigate, leading her to be confronted by another person committing suicide.

As if this wasn't enough, the cause seems to be linked to sightings of alien robots which are attacking people and killing them with a hypodermic needle. Zoe and Patrick are able to rescue some people from the pub and hole up in the police station but it soon becomes apparent that nowhere is safe.

Alien Outbreak could have probably coasted along with the alien robots, spider-like creatures whose design wouldn't have looked out of place in the Mass Effect video games. However the film goes one further by delivering giant floating pale aliens in hooded robes. Their presence is just so inexplicable and truly alien, being on a completely different scale to what we on earth could deal with. They raise the film from being competent to memorable.

This is capped off with an excellent, “Twilight Zone” style twist which puts the whole film into a completely different light, forcing the protagonists to question their actions and their presumptions. It's not unique - Invasion Planet Earth had a similar sting in its tail - but it is very well done and warrants a second viewing of the film.

THE VERDICT

Alien Outbreak has some issues but they are mainly down to a lack of polish due to being a low budget independent production. If you can overlook that, then this is a film which manages to provide a unique and striking visual to its story and deliver a great ending which turns the whole film on its head.

7 out of 10 MikeOutWest