Invasion Thriller Outpost 37 And Zombie Actioner Disaster L.A. Get Distribution
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Hey, lookit! Two of sci-fi’s most prolific threats, aliens and zombies, are the subject of respective indie thrillers that got picked up for distribution this week. IFC Midnight picked up Jabbar Raisani’s E.T.-filled directorial debut Outpost 37, while Warner Bros. Home Entertainment has acquired Turner Clay’s awkwardly titled Disaster L.A.: The Last Zombie Apocalypse Begins Here. How blessed we all are by this remains to be seen, as there’s a bit of “been there, done that” with each of these concepts, but we’re optimistic until proven disgusted.
Let’s take them one at a time, shall we? Outpost 37 is the story of a documentary crew that are following a squad of superstar soldiers on their way to the world’s most dangerous outpost, in the aftermath of a massive alien invasion. It should surprise no one that everyone discovers the invasion was only the first part of something much bigger. It stars Joe Reegan (Hollywood Heights), Matthew Holmes (Sea Patrol), Adrian Paul (Highlander), and more.
Raisani has worked for over a decade in visual effects on films such as Fantastic Four, Predators, and Machete, and was also an effects supervisor for the third season of HBO’s Game of Thrones. It’s quite possible he’ll be able to pull off a slick-looking feature, but it will all come down to the quality of the screenplay, which Raisani co-wrote with Black Clifton, who has served as a cameraman assistant for films like The Tree of Life, as well as Machete and Predators. Take a look at one of two posters for the film below.
No word yet on when IFC Midnight will be putting Outpost 37 in front of audiences, but we won’t alien-ate you by holding back information. Here’s the other poster.
Meanwhile, WB Home Entertainment will be putting Disaster L.A. out on DVD and VOD on September 23. The apocalyptic event in this story is a meteor shower that hits Los Angeles, releasing a bunch of toxic smoke into the city, which apparently turns everybody into zombies. A group of friends — including Justin Ray (Living With Models), Jerod Meagher (La La), and Stefanie Estes (The Bunnyman Massacre) — try to survive in the undead metropolis, but you can’t trust anyone when ugly-ass zombies are trying to ruin things.
Director Turner Clay, who also wrote the screenplay, was last responsible for 2011’s fairly enjoyable and similarly zombie-related State of Emergency. I wish he’d get into another kind of horror or sci-fi, but I’ll check this out when I can. Because gore!
