Leofwine_draca More torture porn, this time with a south-of-the-border setting. BORDERLAND is an open rip-off of HOSTEL with a different setting and different character motivations, but the writers of this garbage are fooling nobody. Three guys go on an exciting trip away to experience some of the delights Mexico has to offer, only to fall foul of a crazy religious cult practising human sacrifice.The film has a 'true story' hook but it really isn't very interesting, just unpleasant. The early bit where a nondescript character has his eyeballs removed sets the scene for what will be a gory but shallow viewing experience. The characters all act in various dumb and unremarkable ways, and the most fan I had was laughing at Sean Astin's attempts to be frightening.The running time seems to drag on forever without much in the way actually happening. When things do finally kick off towards the end they do so in the most predictable way imaginable and it's hardly been worth the wait. BORDERLAND is yet another forgettable entry in an over-loaded sub-genre.

kols The first nine minutes, the first scene, followed by the opening credits, contain more true, gritty and believable horror than you can find in all of the Teenage Idiot slasher/gore/horror genre movies, save The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Like Massacre, its violence is uncompromising but, unlike Massacre, it lies on a bed of realism rather than silly, pre-adolescent wet-dreams of empowerment or the producers' simple-minded intent of soiling theater seats.From that first scene to the final confrontation, Borderland maintains its tone: edgy to the point of its Damocles sword threatening to fall at any moment. Which it does, literally, at the end.The three main, male, characters, all way older than yet-to-be college freshmen, are introduced as the usual narcissistic-stupid jerks with one exception - they're human; flesh and bone individuals. Petty, self-involved, unpleasant but real. And it's that sense of realism that raises Borderland to the status of 'serious' cine - a real movie, not just a splash of images designed to pick teenage pockets.The secondary characters are just as real, from the working girls on the street to the strippers in the bar to the primary villains and their henchmen. The extras are given little pieces of business that humanize and individualize them while the main characters, like those over-aged college males, come across as being unique, flesh and blood characters. So much so that even the over-agedness of those males dissipates and loses its potential as a flaw. In reality, Borderline's debt to slasher movies is slight, just those males going off to Mexico to raise hell. Once that allusion is made, Borderline turns the genre on its head in one short take - the virgin male talking and holding hands in the far focus with an under-age and very cute hooker. Already a Real Movie, that scene seals the deal and emphasizes that Borderline should be a film-school staple - as demonstrated by its use of a lot of Euro-cine techniques: extreme close-ups, dizzying angle shoots, strobe effects, rapid cuts, etc. - to effect; to helping drive the storyline. A storyline that is about as horrific as imaginable. Real fleshed-out characters being treated like the disposable teens of slasher movies.Cinematically, from character development (those three male are very much shocked out of their narcissism, made very much aware of their vulnerability) to pacing to framing to editing, all dedicated to telling the story, Borderland is virtually perfect. The only change I'd make is dropping the 'flyers' declaring that Borderline is based on a true story.The true story Borderline is based on is truly depraved but its villains were pathetic, damaged, spineless little critters deluding themselves into believing that they could fill the holes in their psyches by mimicking evil.Borderline is an exposition of true evil. It's to slasher films what Blood Simple is to revenge movies - both transcend, far transcend, the genres they spring from.Bottom line: if you're expecting a shock-fest adjust your expectations. Borderline is not about excuses for grabbing your date's boobs or sliding eager fingers under her skirt; it's a real movie that demands serious attention.Some reviewers have mentioned flaws, especially in the plot line. They may be there but you're going to have to dig deep to find them and even then it's a fuzzy call - like the status and motivation of the cop who survived the opening scene, and which fall more into the area of 'suspension of disbelief' than story-jarring, audience-yanking mistakes. One of Borderline's strengths is the seamless flow of its storyline, beginning to end.

FlashCallahan Detective Ulises is forced to watch his partner being tortured and murdered by cultist criminals. One year later, Americans Ed, Phil and Henry, travel to the borderland in Mexico to get laid. Ed has a crush on bartender Valeria, and Phil is attracted to a young girl with a baby. When he tries to give the child a gift, he is abducted by the followers of Palo Myombe, to be prepared as a human sacrifice to get the Power of Nganga, to become invisible while smuggling drugs....Made around the same time as Hostel and Turistas, this is another attempt at torture porn, or when Americans go to another country and they are harvested for either, Sport, Organs, or cults.This sub genre became tiresome very quickly, and this horrible mess is devoid of plot, sympathetic characters, or any urgency.The three leads are as horrible as you expect, only wanting one thing, and the villains are something that would be better suited in a cannibal movie.Sean Astin pops up for a few minutes in the second act, and then again during the final siege, proving again that Middle Earth was a long time ago, in fact, proving 50 First Dates was a long time ago.People get hacked, shot, stabbed, and various limbs fly around, but instead of shocking the audience, it just irritates now.Borderland? Boredom land would be a better title....

Tysoncarter Borderland is very loosely based on a case which occurred in Mexico in 1989 where a group called "narcosatanicos" killed at least 20 people and their bodies were used in satanic cults. They were accused of the murder of a student who disappeared in March 1989 and killed by this group during a spring break.The film revolves around friends Ed (Brian Presley), Henry (Jake Muxworthy) and Phil (Rider Strong), three recent Texas college graduates who decide to head down to Mexico for a week to hit up the strip clubs and take advantage of a lack of law enforcement. Naturally things don't go as smoothly as they had hoped. One of the friends is kidnapped and taken hostage, and he is then held under the watch of a man named Randall (Sean Astin – in a very different role to his role as a hobbit in Lord of the Rings!). With the aid of a disgraced local policeman the two remaining friends plan to try and save the life of their buddy.Borderland started with a nice scene which showed the cult the film revolves around, as they torture one policeman whilst making the other watch in a bid to scare the rest of the police away from interfering in their business. Straight away the violence is strong and sets the scene for the rest of the movie. The main villain is established as psychotic and clearly enjoys his work. As the film progresses, the violence is mixed in constantly and we get various scenes of torture and brutality. Be-headings, limbs hacked off and eyes removed, Borderland doesn't hold back in the violence stakes!The story itself moves along at a fast pace, and whilst we get a few little side stories involving bar maids and babies, it's all about rescuing the missing friend and trying to work out who is doing this and why. Visually the film looked good, and whilst some of the 'Films To Die For' have a slightly amateurish feel to them, this really felt like a much bigger and better production. The students all played their parts well, the disgraced cop angle worked well and whilst it would have been nice to get more of his back story it was nice to see how his story intertwined with the boys journey. Sean Astin fans may be shocked at the character he plays here, a refreshing change to see him do something drastically different and he was heads above the others in the acting stakes. They are aided by a good supporting cast including 2 very different but no less psychotic villains running the cult, topped off with some ladies to give the film some eye candy, overall Borderland had a lot going for it.It definitely has some flaws, the story could have done with being a little tighter, a few too many loose ends and unanswered questions mixed in with some strange choices from the characters, but overall I really enjoyed this film and was surprised by it. I try watching all the After Dark/Films To Die For series and this is up there with the very best they have produced. Not an easy film to watch with a few scenes of graphic violence, but all in all good watch and worth checking out if you can find a copy.More of my reviews - http://headinavice.wordpress.com/