The Dead Outside (2008)

Director:

Kerry Anne Mullaney

Writers:

Kris R. Bird (screenplay)
Kerry Anne Mullaney (screenplay)

Genre:

Horror | Mystery | Thriller

Tagline:

Dying is easy

Plot:

A neurological pandemic has consumed the population. Drug-resistance has mutated the virus into a ravaging psychological plague...

Plot Keywords:

Virus | Plague | Farmhouse | Madness | Violence

Awards:

1 win & 1 nomination

Cast

Sandra Louise Douglas	...	April
Alton Milne	...	Daniel
Sharon Osdin	...	Kate
Vivienne Harvey	...	Eleanor
John Erskine	...	April's Grandfather
Phylis Douglas	...	April's Grandmother
Robin Morris	...	Daniel's Son
Max Adair	...	April's Brother
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Ralph Berger	...	Man on Fence
John Bruce	...	Dead / Background
Linda Dickie	...	Path Dying
Cheryl Easton	...	Woman On Fence
Alan Fawcus	...	Man with Crowbar
Leo Horsfield	...	Intruder
Paul Jamieson	...	Path Dying
Peter Lochburn	...	Man on Road
Sharon MacLaughlan	...	Injured Girl
Ryan McHenry	...	Dead / Background
Paul McLellan	...	Woods Attacker
Moyra McWhirter	...	Old Lady on Road
James Miller	...	Dead / Background
Scott Peden	...	Woods Attacker
Lynne Rhodie	...	Woman with Rifle
David Sibley	...	Woods Attacker
Colin Sneddon	...	Father and Son by Van
Nick Sneddon	...	Father and Son by Van
Craig Stitt	...	Dead / Background
John Surphlis	...	Injured Man
Mona Thomson	...	Neighbour
Craig Woods	...	Path Dying
Christine Young	...	Dead / Background

Runtime:

86 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Filming Locations:

Dumfries & Galloway, Scotland, UK

Company:

Mothcatcher Films

Trivia:

Shot in a mere two weeks.

Bleak House—The Dead Outside provides a better than average post-apocalyptic siege scenario

The first feature from music video director Kerry Anne Mullaney exists in world even bleaker and farther north than 28 Days Later, and a little deeper inside the art house. The director makes a benefit of the lack of finance, with gritty visuals and an excellent performance from Sandra Louise Douglas (in her first role), as April, a girl soaked in horror, whose anger may have more meaning than mere teenage angst. The two lead characters exist on opposite sides of a moral divide—Daniel, a good man who still sees the infected as human beings, is haunted (it seems literally in a couple of scenes), by what he couldn't bring himself to do, whereas April shoots on sight, and is almost catatonic from the things she has seen, the people she has lost, and those she has killed. Shot in two weeks, and self-financed on a micro budget, which is hardly an issue, the production team of Mullaney and producer/co-scripter/cameraman Kris R Bird (who together created promos for Drive-By Argument and Cosmic Rough Riders), demand a lot from their audience, which is refreshing in an age where the horror film seems designed to evoke nothing beyond revulsion, and their debut shows immense promise. Add another strong, intelligent team to the new league of British horror auteurs. Stick through the final titles to hear the excellent "Evacuate" by indie upstarts The Boxer Rebellion.