Borderland (After Dark Horrorfest 2007 Review)

Plot
Three college students take a road trip to Mexico for a spring break full of drinking and carefree fun.  The fun comes to a stop, though, when they come into a group of satanic Mexican drug smugglers who are looking tourists to prepare for a sacrifice.

Jason's Thoughts
I am a bit leery whenever I see the words "Based on actual events" come up on the screen, especially during a horror movie.  I mean it could just be a scare tactic to raise the tension, such as in the Texas Chainsaw Massacre, or it could very well be based on true events, such as Wolf Creek.  I wasn't familiar with the story, so I figured they were going the Texas Chainsaw Massacre route.  I was surprised to find out that it was the latter and is based on what happened to Mark Kilroy in 1989.

Borderland starts out with a good deal of gore to set up the story and pretty much reminded me of Hostel, a movie I am very fond of and enjoy, and comes complete with an Achilles tendon severance.  The story then slows down a bit and sets up the trip to Mexico before going back into the gore.  Let me tell you, for being a low budget horror film, no expense was spared on the gore either as it seemed to be done very well.

What also impressed me with Borderland was the familiar faces in the movies.  The movie starred Rider Strong, who isn't a household name by any means, but also starred in another horror movie called Cabin Fever.  Ironically, that movie was written and directed by Eli Roth, who also did Hostel (see above).  Borderland also features Sean Astin from The Goonies and Rudy.  The role was a departure of what he normally does and it actually took me a bit to realize it was him, even though I noticed his name in the opening credits.

With the solid story, acting and effects, I believe Borderland could have been released on its own without the help of the After Dark Horrorfest.  After sitting through some of the clunkers in the first batch of movies, it is surprising that there have been a few decent gems this time around.

At any rate, I'm glad I didn't run into anything like these tourists did while we were in Mexico this past January.  After hearing about all of the recent killings and problems in Ciudad Juarez and seeing this movie, which is eerily similar to what is happening now, it is getting me to think twice about returning to that country.

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