Go out and hug a goat as I tell you about a surprisingly well-made horror film from Lionsgate and After Dark films. “Borderland” is a film that was originally released as one of the “8 Films to Die For” at Horrorfest 2007. Loosely based on an actual cult that used human sacrifice in 1989, the film is about three men named Henry, Paul, and Ed and their trip down to Mexico. The trio intend to have some fun before starting their freshman year of college. While in Mexico, Paul is kidnapped by a cult that wants to sacrifice him to obtain the power of the God Nganga, making it easier to smuggle drugs. This film relies on a lot of horror clichés to make itself seem a lot scarier than it actually is.
It contains the usual jump scares and eerie music all over the place to make sure people are startled when the filmmakers want them to be; although, it is commendable that it doesn’t go the “buckets of gore” route that most horror films use to get scares. The film has its’ moments, but it is mostly constrained; this factor does help it to stick out of the crowd. It should also be noted that there are no mystical forces at work throughout the film that inconvenience the heroes. However, during the entire second act, there is nothing to show that there is cult activity going on except for a woman explicitly stating it for expositional purposes. If the viewer were to mute the entire second act, they may think it was from an action movie or something.
The only scenes in the entire movie that show anything cult-oriented are at the beginning and at the end, when the evildoers prepare to sacrifice Paul. The leader of the cult is a decent enough actor; he gives the right amount of presence to the role, but if he acted a little bit more crazed, it would have heighted the fear in his scenes. The heroes themselves are alright, but they seem to fall into character molds that you have seen a million times over: Henry is the jerk, Paul is the virgin, and Ed is the good guy. Overall, this isn’t a bad horror movie. It utilizes good camera work, good special effects, unique setting, and avoids tons of gore. It still has to rely on very tired horror clichés that get mundane after a while, and the characters are nothing to write home about. Additionally, the cult feels a bit like it was tacked on when the script was all said and done. Get this film if you want to see a not-so-gory scary movie, but otherwise, steer clear.