BORDERLAND
Released as part of After Dark Films’ 8 Films to Die For series, Zev Berman’s Borderland rises above its gringos-in-a-strange-land peers (Hostel, Turistas, etc.) as a surprisingly suspenseful and entertaining yarn. Movies this brutal and graphic generally tend to trade in quality and characterization for gore, but this movie maintained an impressive level of intensity by doing the opposite, presenting a group of friends that for once didn’t seem annoyingly stock, and establishing a sense of foreboding and dread that evolves into quite an effective, nightmarish thriller.
The premise is familiar - friends Ed, Phil, and Henry have come to Mexico to get drunk, eat shrooms and get laid. Their forecast looks dim - the film opens gruesomely as a policeman has his eyes torn from his screaming head as his partner looks on in frozen terror, the act seemingly part of some ritualistic sacrifice. It’s not long before the bloodthirsty cult sets their eyes on the unsuspecting trio, and after one of them is kidnapped, the bodies start piling up in increasingly grisly fashion.
It really is rare to see a film that so effectively blends taut suspense with extreme torture gore - each only heightens the effect of the other. This is definitely an indie horror film worth checking out. If for no other reason, watch it for Sean Astin’s creepy performance as an expatriate henchman - who knew he had it in him?
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