Review of Borderland (2007) by Shawn E — 20 Feb 2008

"Borderland" is supposedly based on a true story about a cult in Mexico that were discovered to have performed several human sacrifices. How much of this film is based on true events, I don't know, but the story presented here is a fairly compelling one. The acting here by the three leading men, Brian Presley, who plays Ed, Jake Muxworthy, who plays Henry, and Rider Strong, who plays Phil, is really solid and well done. Sean Astin, who plays Randall, a member of the cult who is also a serial killer who has fled from the United States to Mexico, puts on a good show as well. His character does seem a little out of place in the film, but Astin makes him interesting to watch even if the character doesn't really feel necessary.

The film starts off with a bang with a fairly graphic sequence involving the torture and murder of a police officer. Afterwards, the focus of the story shifts to Ed, Henry, and Phil as they enjoy their trip south of the border. The film takes a little while to get back to the type of nastiness present in the first ten minutes, but, once it does, it doesn't disappoint. The gore isn't terribly excessive, but it gets the job done, and there were a couple of satisfying moments that made me cringe. The film also managed to take me by surprise with a couple of twists in the plot, for which I was thankful.

The only problems I have with the film, other than the Randall character feeling unnecessary, are with the pacing and the ending. Like I said, the film takes some time to really get moving, so it drags just a bit in the middle. Also, the ending is kind of weak, feeling too abrupt and unnatural. There is a little blurb at the end resolving the story of the remaining characters, but I would have preferred to see this resolution played out on film rather than just reading about it. On a final note, while this wasn't really a problem for me, I want to say that those expecting to be scared by this film will be a bit disappointed. There are few real scares to be had, some nice gory bits, but few scares. For me, though, the story was interesting enough and the gore excessive enough to keep me entertained.