. Intense Mother Mary (Dickie) moves her teenage son Fergal (Bruton) into a depressed apartment complex in Edinburgh. Obviously they seem to be hiding from someone or thing as Mary begins painting strange protection symbols on the apartment walls and has a nude ritual she carries out. Fergal makes friends with a neighbor girl Petronella (Hanna Stanbridge) with romance in mind. Simultaneously we are introduced to Liam (McMenamin) and Cathal (Nesbitt), hunters who believe Fergal is something other than human. With their mission to destroy him the hunt begins. Meanwhile a vicious beast is attacking and slaughtering people in and around the depressed area. Director Colm McCarthy co-wrote with Tom K. McCarthy on this interesting take on the monster on the loose film. McCarthy keeps you guessing to what and who is the beast and even which side you should be rooting for. This mystery helps move the movie along until you get the reveal later of who is the scary looking beast that is ripping people apart. The problem is once we find out who it is the screenwriters never give much of a back story as to why all this is happening. This lessens the overall effect of the movie, but it still has a lot going for it. The monster is a nasty thing that does a gory good number on those it kills, so the gore level is high. There are a number of nice jump scares and McCarthy uses the depressed look of the neighborhood to create and ominous atmosphere. Overall, this movie is scary and entertaining and worth a watch. Its biggest sin is the lack of motivation for everything that is happening.
Review of Outcast
