‘Borderland’ (2007) Movie Review (Unrated Directors Cut)

Directed by Zev Berman

Written by Eric Poppen & Zev Berman

Starring: Brian Presley, Rider Strong, Jake Muxworthy, and Sean Astin

On a trip to a Mexican border town, three college friends stumble upon a human-sacrifice cult.

This film serves as a dire warning to morons. If you venture into Mexico, hook up, eat a handful of mushrooms, and make a steady stream of poor decisions; gathering spirits forged of pure evil will ruin your day. Now, this is one of the 8 Films to Die For that actually delivers. It takes a lot to make me genuinely cringe at new horror, but this film not only made me cringe, it made me legitimately uncomfortable the entire running time. If there was ever an right time to yell out warnings to the deaf-eared protagonists, this is it. A trio of twenty-somethings, kids with real potential, travel down to Mexico for shits and giggles. They aim to do the usual things tourists do: get lit up, find some girls, maybe even a hooker, and generally party down. Sadly, this is Mexico, a place where waking up with a remaining kidney is looked upon as doing okay.

Director, Berman, does a fine job of capturing the mood and dire atmosphere as our trio drift deeper into darkness at the hands of a ritualistic cult. Like most horror movie cults, this one is composed of foreigners with plans to unleash something terrible with its sacrifices. Add a sleazy cult leader, (you know the kind, they only button like the first two buttons of their silk shirts) likeable protagonists, a hot love interest, a cop with revenge on his mind, (there’s always a cop looking for vengeance) and you have a solid horror film if placed in the right hands.

I found the film harrowing at times, very well-balanced, and willing to showcase the darker sides of reality often times not only reserved for fictional horror. Something about cults and being away from home in another country always freaks me out. This is a little like The Shrine, another cult movie involving foreigners that bothered me. The evil is always ancient, and the odds are never in your favor. It’s bound to be the one, special night in a thousand years or some shit that will get you killed in wretched ways. Borderland takes a common horror thread and weaves it together deftly. This is worth the rent, kids.