Outside: Local Zombie Movie Brings New Life to the Genre

Image courtesy of Netflix

Not for the faint of heart, or for those with short attention spans, ‘Outside’ is a zombie psychological horror film, if you want the usual ‘World War Z’ zombie action types, then you had better stick with those. I personally like my horror with more than just jump scares, which is probably why ‘A Haunting Of Hill House’ is an absolute favorite of mine. There’s nothing wrong about zombie movies being something else – zombie, action (Train To Busan), zombie, comedy (Scout’s Guide To The Zombie Apocalypse), zombie, romance (Warm Bodies) etc. etc. 

So it’s okay to say that you didn’t like ‘Outside’ or that it wasn’t for you. After all, movies are subjective, but don’t go around bashing those who did like it. I’ve seen comments call out those who liked the movie, calling them (us) “pretentious” and “feeling deep”, and say “ah, basta pangit siya” Again, its okay if you didn’t like it, that’s fine but don’t invalidate other people who had a different opinion as you did. 

Image Courtesy of Netflix

Well, I actually do review movies, and have been since 2012, I continuously read reviews and articles on the subject and even attend talks whenever I can, so I’ll just take those as a compliment either way.   

Going back to ‘Outside’ it was a new take on the zombie genre, especially for a local zombie film, as it is more of a psychological drama and the zombies force our characters to make decisions. The film opens with a family retreating to an old family house to escape the zombie apocalypse that has ravaged the city and their home. I liked this decision to not focus on the usual zombie film troupes of having a ‘Patient 0’ and showing how the virus spreads; we’ve seen a lot of those in other zombie films. Instead, ‘Outside’ focuses on themes like childhood trauma, especially for Sid Lucero’s character Francis, whose trauma in his childhood home, resurfaces to deadly consequences, I thought of ‘The Shining’ and how Francis was like Jack Torrance, and of course Lucero brings it home with incredible acting, much like Jack Nicholson in the movie. (As a Stephen King fan, I’ve read the book, and have seen the movie.) I was really impressed how the trauma was manifested through Francis’ stuttering and hyperventilating.

Image Courtesy of Netflix

That scene with the “early Christmas celebration” and Francis wearing a Christmas sweater while his family looked on to him, like he hit his head on the wall was really impressive, I loved the play of the forced perspectives in the film, showing Francis being far away from his family, as if he was in his own world.  

I would also have to commend the use of foreshadowing in the film, an example that can actually be taught in writing and film classes. Beauty Gonzales’ Iris whacking at the barbed wire fence with a cane knife comes back later in a tense and heightened part of the film which almost had me walk out of the room, and I was not just crying but also hyperventilating myself during that part of the movie, for those of you who’ve seen it, you would know what I mean. Francis, traumatically teaching their son Josh (Marco Masa) how to shoot, also comes back later in the film. Absolute perfect example of foreshadowing (chef’s kiss).  

While (some) viewers may hate on the story or the length and pacing of the film, you cannot deny the acting prowess which the whole cast showed in the film, it’s like they gave it their all without holding back. The cinematography is also top notch with a couple of impressive framing and shots used, and despite it being a zombie film and being set in a dilapidated provincial house, the lighting was also well done, so that it’s not too dark you can’t see anything. 

The zombie make up and prosthetics were also impressive, and are actually more of what I would expect from a local zombie film. The zombies repeatedly saying their last words as they chase you, was also a nice touch to add to the fear level in the movie. 

‘Outside’ is Netflix’s first (local) feature horror film, one which I greatly enjoyed and which I think is an impressive take on the genre, story-wise and production-wise, hopefully local viewers can support the film so that companies like Netflix will invest and fund in them. 

Or you know, we can all just go back to the usual rushed and haphazardly done films. 

Not that it was perfect, I thought that some fat could have been trimmed down in the editing room, and a trigger warning at the start of the movie would have also helped viewers be warned of the many triggering scenes in the movie.   

Love it, or hate it ‘Outside’ is an impressive local film which takes the zombie genre to new heights.