Kieran Parker invents the Nazi-Zombie series Outpost

Outpost (2008)

Director: Steve Barker

Writer: Rae Brunton

Story: Kieran Parker

Outpost: Black Sun (2012)

Director: Steve Barker

Writer: Steve Barker & Rae Brunton

Outpost: Rise of the Spetsnaz (2013)

Director: Kieran Parker

Writer: Rae Brunton

When Outpost premiered in 2008, it received mixed reviews. However, word of mouth has kept this zombified Nazi horror flick staggering around and spawned two sequels, Outpost: Black Sun (2012) and the brand-new Outpost: Rise of the Spetsnaz.

Director of the third entry in this lively series is Kieran Parker, the man directly responsible for this wild series.

“The idea developed from a short film I worked on that never went anywhere,” says the 43-year-old Scots filmmaker. “The seed of the idea stuck in my mind, a sort of mix of Sixth Sense meets Platoon.”

Parker says the original concept was set against a slaughter of innocents — similar to the evil perpetrated against a peaceful village by U.S. soldiers in Vietnam, today known as the My Lai massacre. The story ultimately hinges on a pair of soldiers, one good, one bad, and their struggle to understand this purgatory in which they have been thrust, perhaps as watchdogs at the gates of Hell.

Parker and his wife Arabella Page Croft have produced all three Outpost flicks through their company, Black Camel Pictures.

While the first two Outposts were directed by Steve Barker — an old school friend of Parker’s — when Barker didn’t want to direct the most recent sequel, the choice was made for Parker to helm the third outing.

“The third film always gets less attention than the first,” says Parker. “The idea came from my grey matter and I knew I could do it.

“Making the third movie was as easy as it could be. We used the set from the second film. My wife was producer, my best friend was the writer and we had the same crew.”

While Parker has no plans to abandon the horror genre, he and Black Camel Pictures currently have another couple of projects in the can or on the go.

Sunshine on Leith is about two men returning home to Edinburgh after serving in Afghanistan.

Castles in the Sky is a TV drama starring the always interesting Eddie Izzard as a scientist working to invent radar, the secret weapon that virtually beat the superior German air forces — among its many other applications.

Says Parker: “Did you know that there was some thought early on that radar might be used as a kind of death-ray?” A fascinating bit of history.

Triple-threat Parker — writer-director-producer — will not give away too much regarding a fourth movie in the Outpost series. But he says fans can expect some worthwhile innovations for No. 4.

“We’re expecting to make a surprising choice for director, but that is super-secret right now,” says Parker.

And what about other areas of the horror field, beyond the very popular, if specific, Nazi-horror subgenre?

“I love the genre,” says Parker. “I plan to do more.”/JE