Directed by Marcus Graves. Starring Katheryn Winnick, Kevin Pollak, Bruce Dern, Richard Short, Nicholas Tucci. Horror, 100 mins. Cert18.

RRP £15.99. Release Date January 17th 2011.

The front cover of OUTCAST will lead you to believe that you’re in for a monster movie, and while you most certainly are, it’s not going to be of the kind to which you’ll be accustomed. Although the monster’s nothing new (a cross between a werewolf, one of the crawlers from THE DESCENT, and Pete Burns), it’s the surroundings in which it makes its meals are what’s different.

In this case, we’re on a Scottish council estate, everything drenched in a pallid, depressing grey, a colour palette which lends the film a tone altogether dissimilar to your usual monster mash. This isn’t a slasher movie either - there’s far more going on than teenagers getting picked off one by one (although that does happen - don‘t worry).

For starters, to run alongside our monster plot, we’ve got James Nesbitt brooding all over the place as an Irish demon hunter cum pigeon-killer. His origins aren’t really revealed, but it’s clear that he’s got a load of dodgy tattoos and that he’s pretty set on finding a monster and killing it, occasionally using the aforementioned pigeons to help him along. He does this by eschewing his iPhone, instead opting to gut a pigeon, letting the innards drop onto the floor, and following the direction that the blood flows. As interesting as this is, it’s also very unrealistic - I’ve tried it and it doesn’t work.

Still, aside from that, there’s a lot to like in Nesbitt’s character. Not only is it a strong performance - all menacing, threatening skulking, it also proves as the representation of the other side (in more ways than one). He’s the central point of reference when considering the bad guys (or are they good guys?) - a mysterious group of Celtic-magic practitioners/bounty hunters/nutcases/amateur tattoo artists.

On the opposite side of the spectrum (read: council estate) we have a young boy and his mad Mum living in a squalid flat and worrying about things constantly. It doesn’t help that the mother likes to strip naked and paint strange symbols all over the walls, whilst also forbidding her son from seeing the nice girl next door who seems to be showing an interest. Supposedly, this is because ‘he’s not like normal boys’ - so either he’s all mixed up in voodoo and monsters, or he likes playing with Barbies. Fair enough then, Mum knows best.

So that’s the set-up, from there on in it’s pretty much the Mum shouting at her son, the son sneaking off with the girl next door, James Nesbitt gutting pigeons and a big monster intermittently dragging people off-screen and eating them. It all works together perfectly though, with each side and character realised beautifully - particularly the main quartet. Kate Dickie is unwaveringly intense from start to finish, even when stripping for telekinetic candle battles (don’t ask) which could easily have descended into farce had a lesser actress tackled them; as her son Fergal, Niall Bruton plays it subdued and introverted in a role that basically requires him to be awkward around girls - most particularly Petronella, played by Hanna Stanbridge, whose subtle performance in parts, histrionic in others, suits her character entirely. In the other corner, James Nesbitt is typically passionate and stands out in any scene he’s in, particularly during the fanatical, screaming, neck-tensing climax.

This extreme conclusion is possibly the only part of the film where the film’s lower-budget becomes apparent, for it’s the first time we see the monster in all its glory. It’s a terrifying creation, which is wisely obscured by quick cutting and shaky cam, but in numerous frames, the amateurish CGI distortion effects are evident. This is not to say that the creature isn’t effective though, as the wavering lines and gloopy smudges added to the practical costume add an otherworldly feel to the ‘outcast’ that just about manages to betray its budgetary roots.

Still, as an independent, lower-budget British horror, OUTCAST succeeds on every level - direction, scripting, acting, special effects (to some extent) and overall mood and feeling. It’s refreshing that a film from the U.K isn’t aping Hollywood conventions and has produced an original, unusual and most importantly, worth watching film, and as far as home-grown horror goes, you’d be as mad as Fergal’s Mum to miss it.

Gary Odgen.

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