A mom, her teenage son, and the dog arrive at some housing complex. Because "it's the end of the road" she decides to burn the van. Next door lives a multicultural girl with her disabled brother and the drunk mom. The girl, Nella, falls for the boy, Fergal. One night, Fergal's mom cuts herself and uses the blood to paint markings on the walls.
Meanwhile some sinister-looking guy, Cathal, gets his back tattooed with symbols similar to those on the walls. He and some other guy, Liam, decide to hunt "the boy". But first they have to ask some old guy for permission to hunt on his domain, which he grants them but he doesn't grant them permission to use the dead for divination. But Cathal who's also a drunk is so eager to hunt that he breaks all sorts of magical rules and thus warns the mom. They are getting close to their prey.
Some monster is also butchering mostly girls at night at the projects. We learn a lot more about the strange mom. She's overprotective of her son and isolates him from society, especially from girls.
The movie doesn't try to explain itself too well at first but we find out things indirectly. The mom is some different kind of being. She was raped as a teen and a result of that only a monster could arise. Cathal is Fergal's uncle and he's hunting Fergal, who is also the monster. Fergal and Nella decide to escape it all just when Nerghal is about to catch up with him and he engages in a magical battle with the mom. Problem is that Nella doesn't know who she's gotten involved with.
Outcast story is based on Celtic tales we are told, which is pretty cool. I'm all for filming that sort of thing. It's a neat story actually. But it just isn't told well here. This is the kind of movie that you want to dislike at first, it's as if it wants to you to dislike it, you expect very little from it. But eventually it wins you over. There are some bothering plot holes. Why burn the van when you are being followed, followed by guys on foot? Why cover up the protective symbols on walls? The monster attacks innocent girls at night, but suddenly it develops a conscience and attacks a bad kid during the day. The mother is overprotective of the boy during the day but is fine with the monster roaming and killing at will at night? The social setting isn't exactly pleasant or enjoyable either. I guess you could argue that a story of magic and a different "kind" requires that, but wouldn't that be "offensive"? A lot of British film and TV is getting enchanted with this social class. It's that or the royals. No middle ground, no middle class. As a result the cast isn't particularly attractive. There's a lot male nudity and no appealing female nudity (Mary Dickie doesn't count).
But there's a lot to like about Outcast, too. The story again, is excellent. The young kids are likable enough. Then there's the monster all latex and prosthetics, and it's so well done. The monster is genuinely creepy and bizarre. He's humanoidish, large, hunches over, but very disproportionate, with a huge chest and tiny abdomen. He's face is quite distorted but remains human. In an age when CGI dominates special effects despite looking like crap, it's always refreshing to see horror movies use excellent physical effects.
Overall, a movie worth seeing for a fresh story set in Scottland/Ireland. I wouldn't mind seeing sequels/prequels. Not to mention that there must be plenty more of tales like these that lend themselves to be filmed as horror movies.
