Borderland

2007 "The Devil's Playground is Just Around The Corner"
Borderland
5.6| 1h45m| R| en| More Info
Released: 09 November 2007 Released
Producted By: Tonic Films
Country: United States of America
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
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Synopsis

Three college students, Phil, Ed, and Henry take a road trip into Mexico for a week of drinking and carefree fun only to have Phil find himself a captive of a group of satanic Mexican drug smugglers who kill tourists and whom are looking for a group of new ones to prepare for a sacrifice.

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thesar-2 I've had my share of bad experiences in Mexico. Four to be exact. This movie, "Based on a True Story," is a bit extreme, but I can definitely see it happening.It's all-but Hostel, South of the Borderland. Three American dudes run into a cult of really, really bad hombres and not the kind our foolish leader speaks of. While I am usually skeptical of "True" stories brought to cinemas, this one, from my own experiences there, seems very, and sadly, plausible. Still, the movie takes some leaps in dramatic effect since some of the characters don't survive and I highly doubt CSI records were kept of their demise – so how do we really know what happened to them?Though I'm ten years late in seeing this, it felt a tad cliché and predictable at times, even for back then. That said, for horror fans, it's worth checking out. It's extremely gruesome with outrageous bad guys and good guys turned psychotic with justifiable motives. It will please most fans, though if it is real, it's hard to take this as just "entertainment."***Final thoughts: As mentioned, I've had my bad experiences in/with Mexico. Incredibly long stories short, here are my four, progressively bad tales southbound:A> My roommate "borrowed" my expensive camera without permission and took it to Mexico. Their hotel room was broken into and you'll never guess which singular item was stolen…B> My first trip to Mexico with a group of friends, one of which took her stripper girlfriend with her that no one else liked. She ended up smuggling cocaine with her to the shock and disapproval of ALL of us. Luckily, nothing happened and mercifully, we never saw her again after that.C> Went again with a new duo of friends. Both of them thought it would be a good idea to hang out with "locals" whom I strongly disapproved of and, yada yada, they almost got us arrested, I had to bail us out and one of them fist-fought my friend who, in turn, wanted to fist-fight me for not defending him against the very people I warned him against.D> Final trip to Mexico of my life: February 18-21, 2000. After a successful night of partying with my supervisor and her husband, we ventured out to a desert bar on rented quads the next morning. My first time on one and it was defective and I crashed, sliding me 25mph across the sidewalk with the quad in tow. First, I was taken to an ER where the "doctor" who pretended to not speak English wildly misdiagnosed me (said my perfectly fine ribs were broken, but my hand that was clearly broken was OK) and he proceeded to drop me off the examination table, onto the floor and then overcharged me for stuff he could've done without doing. Next, I was hauled off to the police station and almost arrested for drinking and riding, but I hadn't been drinking – it was an accident. So the police decided it best for me to drain my bank account for a bogus "causing an accident" charge – they escorted me to the nearest ATM and required me to withdraw all my cash available. My face was half-charred from the sidewalk scrapping, my hand ballooned out and I was out $500+ for fraudulent hospital charges and unlawful police bribes. No offense against anyone that lives there peacefully, but F your country. For as long as I live, I will never enter your country again. It's been 17+ years since I last was there and even that's too soon.
jlthornb51 Despite the headlines and many stories like the one this film is based on, some people insist on going to Mexico. Yet Narco terrorists and satanic cults are well know there and a part of everyday life. The police and military are helpless in the face of their unholy power. This motion picture could serve as a documentary regarding satanism south of the border and is horrific to watch. It is disturbing to watch, not only because of the graphic imagery but shockingly there is much truth in what is shown. Frightening, repulsive, violent, but most of all realistic in its depiction of evil Mexican cults preying on young Americans, this is a film that should required viewing by anyone with poor enough judgment that they would actually take the extreme risk of traveling across our southern border without a rifle platoon of U.S. Marines as companions on the trip.
bowmanblue '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).
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.