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.
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.