Review of Frontier(s) (2007) by Anthony M — 13 Mar 2010

"Frontiers" is a film where intent is met with shrugged shoulders. There were moments where the glimpse of something off-kilter lurking in the shadows was supposed to cause the viewer to become gripped with fear.

There were images that were supposed to make one cringe in disgust. There were antagonists that were created to make sympathetic protagonists of the despicable people that were introduced from the outset.

There is a political undercurrent that is designed to somehow play against the main story. However, none of it works. It seems as though the age of digital has done a number on horror films, stripping them of the veneer necessary to making for an effective cautionary tale.

Or perhaps it has come to the point where it feels like "this has been done before". Wolf Creek...Hostel....Saw....you get the picture. Nothing feels authentic and every villainous persona is a caricature of what they are drawn to represent.

Then again, none of this matters when their victims are so wholly unlikeable.