Thanks to "Borderland," one thing I now know for sure, however, is the ultimate fate of Cody from "Boy Meets World." He ran afoul of a satanic, human sacrificing cult in Mexico. Somehow, this oddly fits. You learn something new every day.
Yes, today's film stars Rider Strong, best known for his days on TGIF. And no, before anyone asks, he's not actually playing his character Cody. It's just more fun to watch it that way. He and two of his friends, played by Brian Presley and Jake Muxworthy, go down to Mexico in order to party. Apparently there is no party like a Mexico party. Sources tell me that the duration of these said Mexico parties is indefinite.
Anyone who has ever seen a horror movie that begins by young people traveling to another place could spot from 300 yards what's going to happen. After all, in horror movies, if you travel out of the country to party, you're getting abducted and murdered. Unfortunately for them, these chuckle-heads don't know that they are in horror movie. You would think the grainy filters and creepy soundtrack would clue them in.
Also this guy.
And it's really too bad that they didn't see the introductory scene which was a flashback to a year earlier, were a policeman is forced to watch his partner get tortured to death by having their hand sawed off and their eyes cut out. That would have been handy to know, since they could have just decided right then and there to never go to Mexico, because that's what happens when you go there. You get sacrificed to the devil.
Frigging Mexico...
Obviously, "Borderland" is not a movie for those who aren't OK with a bit of gratuitous violence. Of course, this is a pretty "duh" thing to say when the phrase "satanic human sacrificing cult" is involved, but it never hurts to reiterate. And while I wouldn't peg this down as a torture-porn movie like "Hostel" or the "Saw" sequels, there's some pretty rough stuff in here that is not for those with low constitutions. Just fair warning.
It's really not all about the violence, though. Yes that is a big part of it, but giving some context to the bloodshed are some pretty solid performances by the three main characters, particularly Rider Strong, and also Sean Astin, who has a very dark, disturbing turn as one of the cultist cronies. And while at first it was difficult to separate him from Samwise Gamgee or Rudy, eventually he really does just become this creepy sleazeball who has more than a little bit of a psychotic streak.
Pictured above - Rare gang violence in the Hobbit community.
"Borderland" to me seems to be a movie that's very much about style, from the way it is filmed to the color palette that they use to the script itself, this movie is going for something a bit different. And in that respect I'd say that they succeeded, although I'm not 100% on board with everything they did. There is a film grain used throughout, giving it a very cheap look, in addition to a lot of color correcting being done, which has the effect of making the reds, oranges and yellows become very predominant tones. These two things combines really makes "Borderland" look sleazy, which is a point in its favor considering the subject matter.
"Borderland" definitely has a grind-house vibe to it, and when it all comes down to it, yeah it's basically an exploitation flick of the "evil cult" genre. And that's not to say that is a bad thing. Sometimes you're just in the mood to watch something get sacrificed to dark powers. And yeah, this one fits the bill.
And I still choose to believe that it's a really dark sequel to "Boy Meets World."
THE BOTTOM LINE - "Borderland" is a quasi-artsy, quasi-torture film with a sleazy, grimy tone that manages to be pretty brutal without going TOO over-the-top with it, although it has a really nice view from the top couple of floors. It ain't pretty, but as far as thrillers like that go, it's pretty decent. If you're a fan of the genre, Recommended.
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