The defining feature of Outcast is its combination of supernatural horror with gritty social realism. It's fairly routine genre story operates within the backdrop of a deprived Edinburgh scheme. It's this combination that gives the film its one sense of originality. The seamier side of Edinburgh has been depicted before in films such as Trainspotting or The Acid House of course, but these rundown parts of the town have never to my knowledge been incorporated into a horror movie.
The story is basically about an Irish mother and son who move into this deprived estate. While a couple of mysterious 'hunters' appear to be on their trail. In addition, a local girl begins a relationship with the boy, much to his mother's disapproval.
Overall, this is a decent effort but no more. The setting is different - albeit very depressing – and provides the film with its strongest element. One of the main problems though is with the characters. None are particularly engaging; while the central love story is hugely unconvincing. This latter aspect really damaged the film, as the two leads really had no chemistry between them at all. On the other hand, the local neds were quite convincingly played but weren't integrated into the plot in a very interesting way unfortunately. So things ultimately boil down to the supernatural narrative which isn't overly interesting but serviceable enough. The film does have some gory set-pieces, and these are achieved via CGI which isn't especially great, although the monster is OK. Admittedly there are a few original little moments, such as the scene in the morgue but generally speaking there isn't anything especially new here besides the kitchen-sink setting.
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