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OUTCAST Demonic horror from The Walking Dead creator
Demons are infesting the television schedules. First we had Constantine, Lucifer and South of Hell but Outcast is the scariest yet. Based on the comic series by Robert Kirkman (creator of megahit The Walking Dead), it’s a seriously creepy study of possession. Kyle Barnes (Patrick Fugit) has been plagued by malevolent spirits his entire life, teaming up with avenging Reverend Anderson (Philip Glenister) to i ght back against the evil lurking in small town America. The opening episode crawls with disturbing imagery
as Barnes and Anderson try to help young Joshua (Gabriel Bateman) a growling, contorting devil child and its i nal exorcism sequence is a dynamic, unnerving assault on the senses. Episode two drops in pace as layers of backstory are revealed when we delve into Barnes’ horrii c childhood. There’s a foreboding overarching tale, as they face down a rising tide of darkness, before it settles into its ‘demon of
the week’ format as cribbed from The X-Files. There are also some intriguing subplots with something dei nitely weird going on with the local sheriff (House of Cards’ Reg E Cathey) while a face from the past troubles Kyle’s sister Megan (Wrenn Schmidt). Fugit’s character is purposefully dour and downbeat but Glenister shines in full-on i re-and-brimstone mode. Outcast doesn’t pull any punches with its shadowy
mix of grotesque horror and damaged characters. The line between the supernatural, madness, addiction and abuse are kept deliberately fuzzy and it’s less immediate than Kirkman’s earlier monster hit. Humans verses zombies was an easy sell whereas Outcast is more complex and subtle. And hopefully this solid groundwork will build into something even more terrifying. (Henry Northmore) Outcast starts on FOX, Tue 7 Jun, 10pm ●●●●●
102 THE LIST 2 Jun–1 Sep 2016