Borderland: Al otro lado de la frontera

In Mexico City, while chasing the leader of a cult, Detective Ulises (Damián Alcázar) is forced to watch his partner being tortured and murdered by the criminals. One year later, the teenage Americans Ed (Brian Presley), Phil (Rider Strong) and Henry (Jake Muxworthy) are in a summer camp in Galveston and they decide to travel to the borderland in Mexico to get laid with Mexican hookers. Ed has a crush on the bartender Valeria (Martha Higareda) and the virgin Phil feels attracted by a young prostitute with a baby and decides to give a teddy bear to the child. However, he is abducted by the followers of Palo Myombe that are preparing a human sacrifice to get the Power of Nganga to become invisible while smuggling drugs.

"Borderland" is another flawed and brutal movie of torture. The story is very violent and graphic, and fans of this genre might like it. However, there are many holes and unreasonable situations in the screenplay like, for example, why Detective Ulises is in disgrace that is never well explained. Why Valeria joins Ulises and Ed when they break into the farm crowded of dangerous and fanatic drug-dealers is totally useless and unreasonable. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "O Limite do Medo" ("The Limit of the Fear")

I attended the World Premiere of Borderland at the 2007 SXSW Film Festival. The fact that this was in the midnight screenings section should say a lot right off the bat. But what made this horror film so horrifying is that it all really happened.

Borderland is based on the true story of ritual sacrifice killings conducted by a group of drug dealers in Mexico a few years back. The story centers around Phil, chillingly played by Rider Strong (Boy Meets World, Cabin Fever). Phil and two of his college buddies are spending some quality time just across the Mexican border before shipping off to grad school. Strong is one of those actors who, having started very young, has such a naturalistic acting style that his performance here was frightening on many levels.

The Q&A with director Zev Berman and cast members Rider Strong and Brian Presley ended close to 3 AM, about as long as any I can remember, and could have gone on all night. It was amazing how much of a stickler Berman was for being faithful to the story. It's hard to believe that some of the torture scenes really took place. But that's what makes it so gripping. It's one of the most gruesome films I've seen, and would be right up there with some of the most shocking horror/slasher/thrillers to come out lately, if not for the fact that it all really happened. There have been many films at recent festivals which have been very hard to watch, and this was no exception. It was an intense experience. But it absolutely has to be known going in that it is a true story, because otherwise some of the scenes would strain credulity.

I hope it can find an audience, because it might be too tough for the highbrow crowd yet not as darkly comedic as most slasher flicks are to satisfy the horror crowd. I did see one film similarly horrific this year, An American Crime at Sundance. It also plays out a shocking true story without pulling any punches. But Borderland is more "entertaining," if that makes sense, because there is at least a genre that it falls into neatly. Anyone who loves a good gory thriller will enjoy it. But once they are aware it all really happened, they will be chilled to the bone.

I have a problem with the new genre of "torture porn" that has muscled its way into the horror movie limelight with such movies as Hostel and Touristas. It's sick, repugnant, and of virtually no redeeming value, and yet, like a moth to a flame, I can't bring myself to not watch it, even though I end up cursing myself for subjugating my mind to its imagery afterward.

Such was the case when the 2007 edition of Montreal's Fantasia Film Festival scheduled a screening of Borderland. I found myself driving downtown muttering to myself how I was going to regret this. And truth be told, I almost did, except that the movie came packaged in a fully fleshed out story (pun intended) that had the added impact of having been based on a true story.

In 1989, Mexican police unearthed 12 bodies in the town of Matamoros. Their brains and spinal cords had been removed. It was later determined that a gang of drug smugglers had been practicing their own form of Santeria, a religious hybrid of Catholicism and African religions, similar to Voodoo. The leader of the gang, Adolfo de Jesus Constanzo, was worshiped as a living god by his followers and practiced the ritual sacrifice of wayward individuals in the belief that the gods would make them invisible to the police as they went about their drug smuggling operation.

This is the backdrop that Borderland sets itself against as it tells the tale of a trio of Americans from Texas who head for a short stay in Mexico to indulge in some fast women and cheap booze. Along the way they hook up with a stunning and resourcefully independent Mexican barmaid played by Martha Higareda (soon to be seen alongside Keanu Reeves and Hugh Laurie in The Night Watchmen) and, as fate would have it, cross paths with members of the gang. The movie also delivers some truly twisted casting as Sean Austin of Lord of the Rings renown takes a villainous turn as the lone American member of the Santeria drug gang.

Director Zev Berman, for whom this movie marks only his third stint holding the directorial reigns, does a remarkably good job keeping the pacing tight and focused, blending a nice mix of story, action and (I hate to say it) gore, even though it's this latter part that I dearly wish could be toned down. The version I saw had not yet been rated by the MPAA so if there's any hope, the more unnecessarily gory parts of it will be excised before it gets given its cinematic release. While I'm no advocate of censorship, some of the gorier shots were just plain gratuitous. Berman would do well to re-cut the movie taking a cue from the original Saw (as opposed to the sequels), which illustrated just how gory you could make a movie while showing so little.

Still, Borderland plays out to a satisfying pay off, and never let my interest flag along the way, even if it did have me watching large chunks (pun intended, again) through my fingers, which, I suppose, is a good thing for some folks.

'Compact' is the word I'd use to describe Borderland. It doesn't offer anything revolutionary which will blow your mind, but, if you're a fan of the genre, you should find it satisfying.

It follows the (familiar) story of X good-looking young Americans, travelling to X and running into trouble in the form of X. Sometimes these packs of good-looking young Americans are girls, sometimes boys, other time a mixed group. Sometimes they travel to a remote town in America, sometimes a remote town in Europe. Once they get to where they're going, they run into trouble in the form of zombie/vampires/ghosts/rednecks/cannibals - choose your 'nasty.' In this instance, three lads travel to Mexico and get mixed up with... well, you'll have to watch it to find out.

Like I say, the story is pretty generic. I've seen plenty of these sorts of movies (you can probably tell by my cynical tone), but this one is pretty reasonable. The protagonists aren't (completely) unlikeable, don't do (too many) stupid things and you can basically root for their plight.

If you like this sort of film, give it a go. Trust me, there are many worse than this (and I've sat through almost every last one of them).

Imagine being in a foreign land n persuaded by satanic cultists n the cops are of no use. A very scary thot. I travel a lot to the interiors n stay in those cheap hotels. The hotel scene is this movie is downright scary.

I always look forward for the horror films festival known as 8 Films to Die For.

I first saw this in 2008 on a dvd which I own. Revisited it recently. This film has one of the most nerve shattering, horrific opening. This film gets under your skin. This is not torture porn or Hostel wannabe. The script is solidly scary n really frightening when u come to kno that it is based on a true story of a drug lord/leader of a religious cult that practiced human sacrifices. The tension in this film is very high and the atmosphere is genuinely scary. Direction by Zev Berman is really good. I don't know y he ain't doin any more movies. He shud get more movies.

Was surprised to see Sean Astin. Lastly, the film has some really hot chicks n a very sadistic n creepy bald villain. I felt like thrashing him.