This American/Mexican movie from the border between USA and Mexico is loosely based on a true story, which is hard to accept. But evil exists, and it's awful to get to know about it. And this is a story difficult to see and comprehend.

Three young guys go down to Mexico one summer, where they experience that one of them disappears. One of them is kidnapped by humans believing in human sacrificing to the spirit Nganga. The cult leader is based upon The story of Adolfo de Jesus Constanzo! The so-called Godfather of Matamoros. They found more than fifty corpses where brains and spinal cords had been removed. Well, that's the true story, of a case which still isn't closed, as several members of the cult still is on the run.

The film is technically good, and well done in all aspects. The colors are gritty, made with color filters, like many Latin American film has been lately. In this film it's very suitable. Sometimes maybe a bit too much, as it is sometimes difficult to see clearly, outdoors in the sun. Indoors it's better.

The film is made terrifying, as it should be. many actors are doings terrific job. Maybe not so much Brian Presley and Jake MuxWorthy as Rudef Strong. But the Mexicans are doing great, and I always admire Damian Alcazar (amazing in 2004-film Chronicas/Chronicles). The crook Marco Bacuzzi is amazingly terrifying as a violent evil man. One of the scariest I've seen on film ever. The bad guys here are really disgusting all of them. Well played.

I find this a very good film, Though I don't like this kind of violence. I hate watching it, and definitely more do when it is a true story. This is of course it's not everyone's porridge. If you trouble with graphic films, this is no film for you. It's no constellation "this is just film", 'cause it isn't just. It is based on a true happening, found in the insanity of some human's religion. Embrace yourself.

'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).

In 1989, Mexican officials discovered the bodies of 12 people, including a 21 year-old University of Texas student, buried on a desolate ranch just outside of Matamoros, Mexico. The ranch, dubbed Rancho Santa Elena, served as the killing grounds for a cult led by Adolfo de Jesús Constanzo (nicknamed El Padrino de Matamoros, or The Godfather of Matamoros). Constanzo was a practitioner of the African magic, palo mayombe. The people buried on the ranch had been victims of human sacrifice, which Constanzo and his followers believed would secure occult protection for drug deals, shielding them from the police. Various body parts and even the brains of their victims would be mixed with dead animals in an iron cauldron called a nganga.

Borderland is based on these gruesome events, and while there are the typical liberties taken, the film sticks remarkably close to what really happened. Three college students from Texas head into a Mexican border town to celebrate spring break. Amidst drinking and picking up women, it isn't long before one of them is abducted for the cult's sinister practices, leaving the others to search for him. It's an understatement to say that they won't like what they find.

This is an outstanding film. I was looking forward to it well before After Dark added it to their lineup, so I was quite pleased when I saw that they had acquired the rights. The film has some beautiful visuals (loved the dreamy editing in the carnival scene) and cinematography, but in spite of this, it manages to pull off a very gritty, hopeless feel throughout. The characters aren't the usual annoying teens either. For instance, I liked how the tough guy wound up being anything but in the face of what he was up against. It felt real. I wound up feeling really sorry for these people. The sadistic torture of Phil (Rider Strong) made for an especially tough scene to watch, as I had grown to care about what happened to him and his friends. It affected me far more than any scene from a Saw movie could ever hope to. This cult meant business, and each demise had a brutality to it that really struck a chord.

As such, this is the rare film where I truly despised the villains and wanted to see them get severe comeuppance. I felt that the lone remaining cult member at the end, the one who lured Phil in, got off far too easily. Ed had him at his mercy, and I was hoping for some major pain to be dished out. Speaking of the cult, it was great seeing Sean Astin as a sadistic follower of Santillan. He nailed it, making me forget all about his countless goody-two-shoes characters from films past. I also have to mention Marco Bacuzzi, the man who does most of the group's dirty work. He is a vicious bastard with an intimidating look that has been compared to that of Michael Berryman. The comparison is apt, though I'd say he is even creepier since Berryman usually played bumbling types.

Bravo, After Dark. Continue saving these independents from obscurity for as long as you can. Some will be losers, but this one's a winner through and through.

I am a big fan of After dark films production/distribution company. I always look forward for their annual horror films festival know as After dark horror fest aka 8 films to die for. Agree that some of their films r utter crap. Saw this film in late 2007. It's a terrific film. It has one of the most nerve shattering, horrific opening. Borderland is a great horror film that gets under your skin. I highly recommend it to those with strong stomachs. The script was solidly scary. It is loosely based on the true story of a drug lord and the leader of a religious cult that practiced human sacrifices. The tension in this film is very high and the atmosphere is genuinely scary. The direction by Zev Berman was really good. I don't know y he ain't doin any more movies.

Decent acting by Rider Strong (Tooth n nail, Cabin fever). Was surprised to see Sean Astin (Lord of the rings trilogy, The goonies, Rudy). Nice cinematography by Scott Kevan (Death race, Cabin fever,Underworld awakening). Lastly some really hot chicks n a very sadistic, creepy bald villain.

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.

Released in 2007, "Borderland" is a horror film about three college guys (Brian Presley, Jake Muxworthy & Rider Strong) on Spring Break in Galveston, Texas, who decide to skip over the border to party with the prostitutes. Their vacation goes awry when they run afoul of a brutal drug cult, led by a charismatic-but-diabolic occultist (Beto Cuevas). Damián Alcázar plays a Mexican detective while Martha Higareda appears as the potential girlfriend of one of the Americans. Marco Bacuzzi plays the top cult henchmen with Sean Astin an American enlistee.

The opening epilogue involves a gory torture sequence, which is unpleasant to say the least, but the story soon switches to the three Americans and their trip to Mexican strip joints where a couple curvy señoritas are highlighted. I could tell this was shot on the West Coast of Mexico rather than the East Coast. The city scenes, for instance, were shot in Tijuana, substituting for Matamoros.

The story is loosely based on the 1989 abduction of American pre-med student, Mark Kilroy, from outside a Mexican bar where he was taken to Adolfo de Jesús Constanzo's ranch in the desert, about an hour drive from Matamoros & the border. Fifteen mutilated corpses were discovered buried at the ranch, one of them Kilroy's, who was hacked to death by a machete. Constanzo's cult practiced sorcery in the form of Palo Mayombe, engaging in torture and human sacrifice for supernatural power, e.g. for their drug-runners to appear invisible to border guards.

Constanzo was a known homosexual, but the movie surrounds the Constanzo-based character, Santillan, with Mexican babes. I doubt this was done to be politically correct; I'm sure the filmmakers simply wanted to give him cinematic appeal for the target audience, most of whom would run away screaming if Santillan was depicted with hunky dudes attending to his amorous needs.

While the movie's sometimes unpleasant for obvious reasons, it's gritty, engaging and well-acted, particularly the first half. I'm sure the director, Zev Berman, is a fan of films like "Apocalypse Now" because you definitely see glimmerings of that kind of greatness. Unfortunately, this was the last movie by Berman as of this writing. He could've gone on to be a contenda, like Coppola.

The picture runs 100 minutes and was shot entirely in Baja California, Mexico. It was written by Eric Poppen & director Zev Berman.

GRADE: B+

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 am from Texas and am more than familiar with the actual incident in which a UT student on Spring Break was abducted by a an insane narco-cult that ended up sacrificing him. I remember the news stories. So, this film instantly perked my interest. However, I was also more than aware that this was not exactly a big budget film and gave the appearance of being yet another torture horror movie. However, I was blown away by the final product. This film has a slick an exceptional look, the scenes are so well shot, cinematography and choreography, great. Secondly, the acting is exceptional. Not super famous actors here, but they are putting there all into these performances. You really start to feel like you are in this dark Mexican underworld where crazies are looking to perform human sacrifices. In the end, what you have is a very intense, well acted movie that hearkens back to the classic midnight movies of the 1970s. The violence level is intense in many scenes, but hey, the actual story this was based on was grotesquely violent, so.. Give this film a shot, if you can get past the intensity, you will be impressed.

The sepia toned cinematography in this movie captures expertly the surrealistic, bizarre, and disturbing landscape familiar to anyone who has found themselves running for their lives across it as a hapless tourista. Unflinching truth and unrelenting power is a cinema triumph. Zev Berman directed this essential and enlightening drama from a brilliant script co-penned with Eric Poppen. What they have accomplished with this important film is to expose the unholy dangers Americans face south of the border. Pulling no punches and depicting the horrors in Mexico in graphic detail, this is nothing less than essential viewing for tourists, especially the young who believe they are immortal. This is not a horror film but more a docudrama based in reality and truth. For anyone who has lost a friend or loved one to the violent, carnal, and vicious devil worshipers, drug cartels, and corrupt police of our neighbor down south, the experience of this film will be quite moving indeed.

An outstanding cast give superb performances and demonstrate the overwhelming evil of those who prey on vulnerable, innocent victims with impunity. A vital film that serves to awaken a complacent nation to the terrible risks inherent in any senseless southern journey.

I went into Borderland not knowing what I would find there. Just the subject matter suggested blood and gore. . .but how would it all pan out? A slasher film? Supernatural horror? Crime drama? Well, not to detract from the (very-well-done) slashing elements of the movie, and the supernatural pretensions of some of its protagonists, it turned out to be a very neat, beautifully realized crime thriller with a very sharp edge.

The film begins with a tension-filled scene that sets the stage for what is to come, as two Mexican cops investigate a sinister dark mansion in search of the mysterious Santillan. We don't know who he is at this point, only that his house bears testament to strange rites and animal sacrifices. When one of the cops discovers human remains among the animal ones, the action begins in earnest, and we learn very quickly that Santillan is not your average drug dealing psycho killer. No, his self-styled "religion", based on African Palo-Mayombe rites, involves ritual sacrifices of a particularly gruesome order, requiring not only blood, but abject terror, to appease the gods who then grant him favors to protect himself, his minions, and his drug trade.

Then the main story commences, as three recent college graduates from Texas decide to head across the border for a wild night or two of partying before going their separate ways. Through a seemingly random series of events, their lives collide with that of the cult/cartel, in unimaginably terrifying ways, and to no good end.

Dialogue was crisp and realistic throughout, as were all the settings. Acting was quite good, exceptional in some cases, and in some moments in particular. Brian Presley's final screen shots were excruciating depictions of a man turned against his own beliefs by brutal overriding experiences.

But all the acting was notable: Sean Astin acting against type as a brute and brutal follower of Santillan's camp; Martha Higareda as Brian Presley's love interest, and Rider Strong, whose descent into terror convinces every nerve of the horror of his experience. And as Santillan, Beto Cuevas exudes a silkily seductive but deeply sinister presence. In his portrayal, Santillan's overblown ego is always apparent (he believes himself to be invisible and invincible, a near-god himself, as long as he provides the sacrifices his bloodthirsty gods required). But most remarkable is his ability to convey what can only be described as compassionate cruelty. In one scene he tenderly caresses a chained victim who has been roughed up by one of the kidnappers, stating, blood-chillingly, "I don't believe in violence (pause) without a purpose." .

Zev Berman as co-writer and director exercises his trademark sensitivity to setting and tone, with clear and focused guidance and exquisite attention to detail. One episode that stood out for me took place in an amusement park, where four of the main characters ingest hallucinogenic mushrooms, a scene leading up to several pivotal moments in the story's development. It's always a challenge to depict experiences that are largely internal, even more so to do it convincingly. In this case, it was spot on. But that is just one example. Throughout, the slow buildup to the movie's climactic and hugely terrifying denouement is perfectly paced. And the camera work, dark and gritty, adds much to the overall feeling of impending horror.

I can't imagine why this movie did not receive a wider release. I hope, as a Variety reviewer said, that word of mouth will bring enough attention to it for blockbuster DVD sales. It deserves a great deal more than it is getting.

I saw this on the last night of our local Horrorfest 2007 and was both duly horrified and impressed. To me this is an outstanding horror film that could stand alongside Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Halloween, and Friday the 13th.

The tale provides a really delightfully horrifying mix of quasi-religious/satanist cultishness, sadistic gore, fun-loving college students plunged into terror, and nightmarish cross-cultural confusion.

The script was solidly scary; it delivers and delivers well. I really like the basic strategy: starting with a really nasty, brutal, scary torture scene, introducing the horrifyingly sadistic and creepy Gustavo; then for a fairly lengthy time we have this wonderful story full of indirection and feints and suggestiveness, including all kinds of cultural misdirection and confusion, during which I kept looking for a new horror along the lines of the initial scene of horror; and finally after this long fear-inducing build-up, we get an even more horrifying torture scene and a bloodbath to go along with it. To me this all works very, very well, and the script gets top props for this arrangement and for really solid scenes throughout. The script is even sprinkled with some really great lines: "The border has no memory." "I'll be back when I know what I'm doing."

The script was executed very convincingly. The acting was consistently solid. Brian Presley's Ed was excellent and convincing, and Jake Muxworthy gave us an excellent rendition of party-loving Henry. Valeria is attractively portrayed by Martha Higareda.

As for the cult and cult members, the script as executed gives the cult as such a strong "flavor" while giving us convincing portrayals of several very distinctively wicked members of the cult. The leader of the cult, Beto Cuevas' Santillan, was not for me nearly as salient as Marco Bacuzzi's Gustavo. Bacuzzi gives us a Gustavo who is to me so sadistic, so creepy, and so scene-dominating that I would really put him in the same pantheon of nasty horror characters as Jason and Michael Myers and Hannibal Lector.

The cinematography is consistently outstanding, and there are some really great visuals. I especially liked the scenes in the amusement park, and some of the indoor scenes: such as the early scene of a policeman looking down a blue corridor with a statue of the Virgin Mary in a niche in the wall behind him; and then another in which one of the female characters is climbing an indoor circular staircase. But really almost all of the scenes were really composed very effectively; and the gory scenes were as gory and creepy and scary as one could wish.

The only really big objection I had was to the sound, which was just horribly washed out, obscure, and sometimes almost non-existent, as in the case of several gunshots that sounded like pencils tapping on a table. I couldn't really believe that the movie's sound could be this bad, except that another audience member in my theater said he talked with theater staff, which did try to make adjustments of some kind, utterly unsuccessful.

And I'll admit that I'd much rather see Gustavo as the top cult-creep.

But all in all, this is a wonderful horror movie that deserves a lot wider recognition as such, IMHO.

In hindsight, I probably shouldn't have watched Borderland first out of the other 2007 horror fest titles I rented, because this film has set the bar pretty high. The plot concerns a trio of college friends who decide, before they each move on to different schools, to take a last minute trip over the border for some uninhibited debauchery. Things soon turn into a hellish nightmare when they become targets of a violent drug ring/cult. What keeps this from being another Hostel knock off is Borderlands realistic approach to the material (what makes the proceedings even more terrifying is that they are based on actual events). Also, I was impressed by the quality of the film making and especially the acting, which helps add to the realism (look for an actor you might remember from the Lord of the Rings in very convincing, un-hobbit like role). From the nerve shattering, horrific opening to the finale, Borderland is great horror film that gets under your skin. I highly recommend it to those with strong stomachs.

I have seen every Afterdark Horrorfest film from the first and second years running. While some of them are real stinkers, and some are not bad, but forgettable, others, like Borderland, are really, truly excellently done and overlooked, which brings me to how great this movie manages to be and how surprisingly pleasing it is. I was not expecting much to begin with, as I have that feeling going into every Afterdark Horrorfest film, because I never know what I will get, and the opening is really not that exciting, so I got a little disheartened.

After awhile, after the movie spends enough time creating it's setting and theme that is, it picks up pace and by now you have gotten the concept and are beginning to become interested in how exciting and well done it is becoming. It is a little slow paced, considering that the first half is basically made up of showing how the three friends are wanting to have a good time by getting wasted until one of them is kidnapped to, later discovered, be used for a human sacrifice, so that might throw some people off.

The film has some points of really high interest however, and even though it is slow paced after a disheartening opening, it is nonetheless extremely entertaining throughout the remainder. The acting is really likable, if not wonderful acting it is tolerable, and the characters are manageable, and the story, while caught up in itself at times, is fun and thrilling. The movie just manages to entertain so well, that I could watch it again many times to come for how entertaining it is. It is a pretty basic film, with nothing new to add, but that does not matter when compared to how interesting and amusing it comes off as. At least, I thought it was amusing; highly amusing.

"Based on true events" is rather ambiguous at best and I think if you go into this film believing it's ALL true it will be quite an experience, however I find that the story too well follows a classic plot to be an entirely true story.

Three guys take a trip to Mexico that goes all wrong when they run into a cult of violent murderers. That's pretty much the gist of things.

The acting is actually rather decent and the story is well told and even believable to some degree and it kept my attention all the way through and proved to be one of the better films I've seen in this genre. I actually had to remind myself half way through that this was supposed to be a gore-filled horror film. There was nothing new in terms of blood, guts, and gore, and there really wasn't a whole lot of it given the length of the movie, but what's there gets the point across well.

Some people have referred to it as "goreporn" also which it really isn't. I'm glad at least some writers feel that gratuitous sex/nudity take away from a story when unnecessary.

Bottom line: If you go in expecting the same garbage this genre pumps out yearly, you'll be quite pleasantly surprised. If you go in expecting a masterpiece in horror theater, you'll likely be disappointed.

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.

I was fairly entertained by this film, but it wasn't anything I would run out and tell my friends about. Very well written story, very believable acting including one VERY intense role by Jake Muxworthy.

Borderland had its ups and downs when it came to the overall play out, but it was very well made none the less. The death scenes were gruesome, the reactions were emotional and well done and the little comedy that was there was actually quite witty.

Over all I think it is very much worth the watch, but if you're looking to get blown away by a movie, I wouldn't recommend this one. I believe Muxworthy is an actor that is going to have a very bright future in this business, he absolutely has the skill to star in a mainline film.

Horror movie or docudrama? Both and neither.

The opening scene of this movie deceives, situating it firmly in Hostel territory, with grotesque violence and intense claustrophobic action. In the main action of the film, however, it seems as if the horror movie element of this is compromised by the fact that two of those involved are still alive. If safely dead foreigners can be depicted as the victims of graphic bloodletting, living and dead Americans cannot be. To be blunt, this film cops out. It is selective in what the audience are permitted to see entire and what is merely implied or suggested, presumably with relatives' and survivors' sensibilities in mind. There is nothing wrong with this, if this were packaged as a real life story, but as a horror movie it is a cheat. Instead of becoming more involving or thrilling as the action unwinds, it becomes increasingly distant, chilly and mechanical.

I can't help thinking it would have been far more successful to have taken the basic premise of the story and to have gone down the road of complete fiction, to sustain the energy and darkness of the opening scene, instead of the patchy and undigested amalgam it becomes. That way, it would have been a terrific horror. Instead, it's neither fish nor fowl, and unsatisfactory stuff.

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.

Borderland was absolutely stunning to me and I really loved it. I was contemplating watching it due to the Average rating on IMDb but I decided to watch it on Netflix and it was a great choice. This movie is factual and is based on a true story about Adolfo de Jesus Constanzo which did make this more interesting than most horror movies I have seen. This movie isn't a typical horror movie that just kills people to kill but is a big part of the movie and makes perfect sense. Some might be disturbed by the opening scene but the rest of the movie is totally worth it. The intense scenes in this movie made me get antsy and I love the feeling of thrill and excitement in a movie and this had a lot of it. I will be watching this many more times in the future for sure. I give "Borderland" a 9 out of 10.

~Joe

I've noticed that many of the torture movies are either American or European based, Europeans and Americans aren't the only people who enjoy that pleasure, what about south of the border? Mexico is the home and setting for this film. Essentially telling the accounts of three college students who go to Mexico for beer and girls and end up getting tangled with a sadistic cult. This was based off a very similar incident in the town of Matamoros in 1989, where the cult members removed the brains and spinal cords of the human sacrifices. This movie depicts the gross and gruesome bits of the story to full and blood red detail. The acting and emotions seemed very real and the most horrible part was the killings, in the sense that they were real at one point or the other. Whether or not these American teens really lived and died didn't matter, but the fates of those 12+ people are.

Lets get down to brass tax; the acting seemed pretty real and very emotionally driven. The chemistry that Brian Presley and Martha Higareda have together on screen was amazing and their characters were played off with dedication to the part. Jake Muxworthy and Rider Strong play Ed's (Presley) friends who accompany him. Muxworthy's performance was outstanding and seemed to have really gotten into his character. Rider Strong's performance during the first half of the movie can be debatable, but when he gets kidnapped by one of the cult members and tortured, his somewhat mediocre acting skyrockets to amazing. Damián Alcázar plays Ulises, a detective who seeking redemption and to avenge his partners death. His performance was outstanding and almost believable, especially in the prologue. Marco Bacuzzi, who plays the sadistic butcher of the cult, does a phenomenal job brining this calm evil character to life on the big screen. Through out the movie he guts people, takes their heads, arms, and eyes and backstabs them. His speaking parts were somewhat limited, as well as his character's on screen time but the parts that he did show up, were amazing. On an average, all of these actors and actresses did an amazing job giving life to such cliché-ridden teenagers. Their acting enhanced the illusion that these teenagers are real and that what is happening to them is realer.

The plot, as well as the way that the whole thing was shot, reminded me of Eli Roth's Hostel. In this case, this was a Mexican version of Hostel with a deeper subtext than Hostel. I don't know, something about this movie gave it depth, feel, emotion and style, but I can't put my hand on it. Even though the storyline, kids captured by cult members, has been milked so many times through out history, there was some key ingredient that made this movie work. There where parts where you can feel what the actors and going through, especially the torture, and points where you feel for the actors and actresses after loosing someone close. This film utilized close-up shots to the extreme, which in the process reminded me of Robert Rodriguez's El Mariachi trilogy (El Mariachi, Desperado and Once Upon A Time in Mexico). Coincidently they all take place in Mexico and one has a cult-like group. I can also see a heavy influence of Texas Chainsaw in this film, including both recent and original. Teens being hunted down and brought to a house where they have to face torture and where the family of this house eat and make "things" out of human appendages. The only difference between these two films was that Texas Chainsaw was based off of Ed Gein, who killed for an unknown reason, while Borderland's satanic group was killing for a false god. The camera angles and they way that this movie was shot made it seem like there was somebody following around these teens with a camcorder and the establishing shots, as well as the social angles, were magnificently played out. This movie had a great warm tone to it, the way that any "South of the Border" movie should me shot. The characters gave this movie depth and feel, while the plot slowly drives you into mayhem and inevitably into a final confrontation of good and pure evil, a battle that is reminiscent of old spaghetti westerns and John Wayne movies. Overall, this movie was not jump out scary but more "Oh my god, that can't be happening. What are they doing?" scary. It of coarse had to have hot Mexican girls and beautiful looking Americans, which for me is a bit cliché and at points the movie seems a bit over the top but I like it. I would recommend this movie to those who enjoy torture horror, Texas Chainsaw, Hostel and early Robert Rodriguez flicks. I certainly like it.

~Spoiler~

Borderland is not at all what I expected from one of the After Dark Horrorfest titles. First off, it's doesn't strike me as a straight-up horror film. Yes, the situation is terrifying, but that doesn't necessarily make it horror. From the hype I had heard, I was expecting Hostel in Mexico. Thankfully the filmmakers went another direction. Borderland is simply a really engaging thriller with some visceral and bloody moments. But horror fans should not be put off by those comments. It's actually a good movie (which is more than I can say for the majority of the Horrorfest movies). It involves three friends who go to Mexico to live it up for a few days before returning home and possibly going their separate ways through life. One friend is kidnapped and tortured by an evil cult who operate near the border. The other two buds are left to their own devices when they get no help from the police or any of the scared townsfolk. The biggest surprise here is the acting. After coming off the disappointed Tooth and Nail (another Horrorfest flick), Rider Strong returns to my good graces with a wonderfully vulnerable performance. He plays the kidnapped friend and does a great job. Equally good are Brian Presley as the voice of reason among the friends and Jake Muxworthy in the role of the group's a$$hole. One actor going very much against type here is Sean Astin. He plays one of the cult's deranged followers. Now, this is a guy I love to love. This is Rudy...freakin' Samwise! I'm impressed that he was willing to try something different, but I just don't want to see that out of my Goonies. One other complaint comes at the finale. I wasn't as satisfied as I should have been at the end. Comparatively speaking, the villains did not get as good as they gave. Though nothing I would buy, I enjoyed the viewing experience and would recommend this to others.

This movie has kind of flown under the radar for most people and I don't see why. It is a very scary and chilling true story. The acting is good and the atmosphere is creepy as hell. There is some moments that make you want to look away but you just cant.

This movie is a bout a group of friends who travel down to Mexico to get their friend a hooker and party. Once they go their however they find out they are the target of a santanic group who wants to use them as human sacrifices.

Not many people have seen this movie and if you are into horror movies it really is a must see. It will leave you on the edge of your seat and straining to look at the screen.

Another movie from the After Dark series, and it's definitely one of the most memorable. The reviews have been pretty much favorable on this extremely brutal movie, which is somewhat based on a true story, making it even more vicious . Three buddies take off for a border town in Mexico, and one of them gets kidnapped by a cult of satanic Mexican drug smugglers who kill tourists and whom are looking for a group of new ones to prepare for a sacrifice. This is the unrated version, and it even made me cringe in a few spots, the whole idea of being chopped to death by machetes has always seemed to me to be one of the most brutal ways of dying I can think of. Rider Strong (Cabin Fever) is the buddy that gets kidnapped and held and prepared for a sacrifice, and the actual sacrifice towards the end of the movie is hair raising difficult to watch. Nothing is much held back in this movie, it's almost like a recent French horror movie that takes place in Mexico. The relentless and genuinely shocking brutality is far more than I was expecting. I liked the movie a lot, but it's not for anybody faint of heart. In a way, parts of the movie reminded me a lot of MARTYRS.

I was wondering when someone would try turning that whole Matamoros mess into a goreporn pic. Anyroad, here's a few things I learned about Mexico from watching this film.

~All Mexican Women Are Super Hot - Remember that little desert town in Unearthed? Yeah, well, this must be it's Mexican sister city. Don't even bother with the hookers, just put a few smooth moves on the hot bartender. She'll be just as hot as the prostitutes and probably doesn't have any kids as well!

~Half of Mexico is controlled by insane Satan-worshiping Palo Mayombe cultists. ¡Ay, caramba! The other half, as everyone here in the U.S. knows, is run by drug dealers. Fortunately, this doesn't much interfere with the sex-tourisim trade and our ultra-low wage factories down there.

~Mexican cops are useless. Don't go to them. Go to the nearest occult bookstore and ask the hot chick behind the counter what happened to your vanished friend. She'll be way more help than the cops.

~When you're being gruesomely tortured by the aforementioned bloodthirsty cultists, don't go reciting the Psalms or any part of the Bible, really. You'll just mess up the mojo.

"Borderland" follows three male friends, Ed (Brian Presley), Henry (Jake Muxworthy), and Phil (Rider Strong) who travel down to a Mexican border town to party and enjoy themselves. All is fun and games until Phil goes missing one night, kidnapped by a human-sacrificial religious cult that is lead by a crazed madman. Held by an American redneck follower of the cult, Randall (Sean Astin), Phil endures violent abuse and struggles to save his life, while Ed and Henry, with the help of a local bartender, Valeria (Martha Higareda), search for him as the cult begins to ensue with their rituals in a race against time.

This is the first film of Horrorfest's "8 Films to Die For" (2007) that I've seen, and I had heard it was pretty underrated, and I personally have to agree. While I haven't seen any of the other Horrorfest films this year, "Borderland" was a surprisingly well-made, disturbing horror movie. I'm surprised it didn't get a wider release, actually, because it was very good. The story itself is flat-out disturbing because it is based on real ritual murders that took place in Mexico in the late 1980s. Now, I'm sure the writers did elongate some of the truth for entertainment purposes, but the reality that the storyline is rooted with fact, and that something like this happened takes the disturbing factor to a greater level.

One thing I really admired about this movie though was how unbelievably realistic the violence was portrayed in it. I can handle watching violence in most horror movies, because a lot of the time it's glorified, over-the-top, or doesn't look convincing enough. But I can say I was cringing and looking away at times during this film (that rooftop scene was beyond brutal). Not only that, but the character's actions and reactions were all very real, as were the action scenes - this movie really managed to attain a solid sense of realism, which most horror movies don't do. The DV-style cinematography (similar to the style of "Wolf Creek", and often reminiscent of the original "Texas Chainsaw Massacre") adds to the gritty realism of it as well, and enhances all of this, giving the feeling of almost being 'there' to see it all happen. Toss some voodoo and witchcraft aspects into the mix (being the crazed sacrificial cult), plus the fact that the villains are for once not masked, superhuman beasts, but are very real people, and it makes things even eerier.

However, there are a few pitfalls here. There is the out-of-nowhere character who has a past and information on the villain(s) (in the case the cult), and rallies with our protagonists, which is pretty cliché. At times the acting is also a bit uneven, which does throw off the threads of realism. For the most part though, the performers do a good job. Rider Strong (TV's "Boy Meets World" and "Cabin Fever") and Sean Astin ("Lord of the Rings" trilogy, "The Goonies") are the most notable of the cast, with Astin in a role you'd probably not expect him to be in. He does a great job though, as does Strong and the rest of the cast. They're all pretty solid overall, but there's a few bad line deliveries. The final sequence was excellent and very well-choreographed, too, and the ending was abrupt and unrelenting, just like the ninety minutes that lead up to it.

Overall, "Borderland" is a surprisingly good horror movie. Ignore the negative comments here and give it a try for yourself. It's miles above films like "Hostel" (which it seems to be often compared to), and is one of those rare horror flicks that manages to attain a sense of reality. The actual crimes that it's based off of are disturbing as well, and it makes the movie even more chilling when kept in mind. It does have a few minor flaws here and there, but of all the "Horrorfest" movies I've seen, "Borderland" ranks up there with the best of them. It's gritty, realistic, and consistently frightening. Worth seeing for any horror fans, it's a lot better than you'd probably expect. 8/10.