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Good movie but grossly overrated

Boring

It’s sentimental, ridiculously long and only occasionally funny

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

Frontiers is a good movie - or rather a 'good movie' if you like horror films. However, in my opinion, it will never be a great movie, on account of the fact that it's just The Texas Chainsaw Massacre set in France.A group of youngsters head out into the French countryside (does it really matter why?) and spend the night in a local hotel. Sadly for them, the hotel is run by a family of cannibal Neo Nazis.From then on we're treated to the general 'hunt 'em and kill 'em' type film which the Texas Chainsaw Massacre is often credited as starting. We have escapes, near escapes, gruesome deaths, a family of murderers with a strong family bond, an elderly relative that needs help eating her chopped up human dinner and all the things we've seen before.So, if you liked any of the Texas Chainsaw films or are generally a fan of the genre, you could certainly do worse than Frontiers. It's well shot, well-acted and has plenty of the red stuff flying around. Perhaps the only criticism is that some of the youngsters are pretty much as unlikeable as the Nazis who are hell-bent on chopping them up.If you don't mind the subtitles, you could spend a worse hour and a half watching this. It's just a pity it basically covers the same ground as the Texas Chainsaw Massacre.

One of a new wave of ultra-explicit French horror/thrillers, FRONTIERS is everything a gore-drenched thriller should be. Set in the near future, it sees the usual bunch of unsuspecting victims holing up in a remote hotel, where they find themselves at the mercy of a hillbilly family who make the Texas Chainsaw clan look like the Brady Bunch. What follows is an odyssey of bloody murder, torture and revenge, expertly directed by Xavier Gans.I'm not really a fan of gore films per se. A lot of the horror films I love were made by Universal and Hammer, and of course these are considered tame by modern standards. But I don't mind gore when it's done right, as in the likes of HOSTEL, and it's certainly done right here too. We see brutal violence and punishment meted out to innocent victims before the tables are finally turned and the bad guys get their comeuppance, and that's just the kind of bloodshed I love watching. The film can hardly be applauded for originality but it certainly makes up for it in execution.This is a taut, tense and extremely gruelling affair which barely lets you catch your breath from beginning to end. Gans' direction is adroit and the spare script allows the story to be told mostly through action rather than needless dialogue. The performances are decent for what is clearly a low budget film, and the special effects are, of course, grisly and spectacular, especially that saw scene. FRONTIERS is a film for movie-goers who like their horror full-blooded and gritty and it beats any Saw movie hands down.

I'm a big fan of horror films, and I can safely say that this film only comes across as mediocre in it's genre. But, having spent a mere £1 on the film, which was given to Cancer Research UK, I've got no complaints, and I'm sure the money will be going to good use.The film opens with an interesting back story about riots caused by recent political issues. This is actually quite thoughtful, and could have been very interesting to explore, and could have made the film very thought provoking. But no, the director decided to use that as nothing but a story to get the film started, and isn't actually referred to much, if at all, after the opening of the film.So now that we've already lost out on the interesting story, what have we got to salvage? Thieves that got caught up in the riots, trying to escape, and finding free accommodation. Now it's turned into the French version of "Hostel", it's not going to get any better. Especially when they introduce the people the main characters will have to run from: cannibalistic Neo-Nazis and cannibalistic Neo-Nazi prostitutes. From then on, the story turned from interesting to truly surreal, and not in a good way.Gore was clearly a point they aimed to put first, yet, despite the rather grim cover, there wasn't as much gore as one might think. The scenes that were violent, were hard to watch at times, but very few of these scenes actually turned up. This is good in a way, because it means that while the film definitely belongs in the torture porn genre, it still builds some sense of tension, which is always a good thing in a horror film.The tipping point for me that truly spoilt the film was the section in which one of the characters acquires a gun, and begins having firefights with the cannibalistic Neo-Nazi prostitutes. This is living proof that one should never attempt to shift from one genre to another, because it will kill the tone that has been painstakingly built up by the film. Horror is good, and works, and would have worked for the ending of the film. Going from horror to action is pathetic, and, if anything, doesn't go at all, and completely destroys any good views of the film.However, despite my slating of the film, it is the sort of film one could watch easily as a bit of evening entertainment. The acting is solid, and shows that the actors themselves have some ability in spite of the pathetic story. One should also bear in mind that the lines in the film were quite well written: it was the plot that needed an overhaul.

Honestly I can't say much bad about Frontier(s) because it was mostly exactly what I expected. The film easily channels Hostel, Saw, High Tension, and Texas Chainsaw Massacre just to name a few of the more obvious cult classics that the film borrows from. But you will also find elements of Human Centipede, The Descent and more. It is melodramatic, gory, twisted, disturbing and will leave you speechless. It is dark and gritty and features some of the most disturbing, filthy horror scenes I have ever seen. Despite certain aspects of it feeling like it was lifted right from the films I mentioned it is also a very unique concept in certain ways. It has some politics mixed in there and a heavy handed political message buried beneath the blood and guts. Every horror fan will find some aspect of Frontier(s) that they like because it has a little bit of everything. I wasn't sure what to think of the film in the beginning because it seemed like it wasn't anything that I expected it to be and then it took the turn into familiar horror territory and that's when it simply got very good for what it is. It is the type of horror film that is hard to watch, one I may never watch again and yet it is powerfully messed up and entertaining for the two hours its on.Karina Testa is our scream queen basically of the film. She does decently in the role though I don't think she is the strongest of the cast. She certainly is effective in her role and shows plenty of emotion. Aurélien Wiik, Chems Dahmani and David Saracino are the three male victims. The four of them are friends of a sort that are trying to escape Paris with their lives and end up at the Inn. All three guys are decent in their roles. Saracino wasn't my favorite but it wasn't my kind of character either. Wiik was very good, probably the best of all the victims and Dahmani was also really good too. Frontier(s) shows off a family that Texas Chainsaw could be proud of. This is one messed up crew led by the incredible Jean-Pierre Jorris who truly nails this role. He is demented and creepy and sheer brilliant in his part. He is definitely the highlight of the film. That's not to say the rest of the family aren't good too. Patrick Ligardes, Samuel Le Bihan, Amélie Daure and Maud Forget are particularly great in their role. In the early part of the film I really didn't care for the character played by Estelle Lefébure. By the end of the movie I thought she was a terrific part of this completely messed up family. I believe that the family dinner scene in this film will haunt me for a good long while and that's saying something.Usually I comment on how a director who also writes the script is almost always a bad movie but Xavier Gens makes this work. The disgusting gritty, dark and dirty scenery and scenes make your skin crawl. The various settings from the rioting streets of Paris, to the Inn, to the farmhouse, to the underground mine tunnels keep you constantly guessing and glued to your seat waiting to find out where the story takes you next. Some of the imagery in this film, the murder scenes, the vengeance scenes, Testa's appearance in the end as she frantically searches for freedom...was masterfully done. And yet ironically, I was honestly unimpressed for the first half hour and actually almost considered bailing on it because I didn't think it was what I wanted to see but everything changed and I'm so glad I stuck with it. Its lack of originality in some respects is unfortunate because it is a well made movie that genuinely scares you, something the horror genre struggles to do nowadays. This low budget After Dark feature was well worth it!! I watched this mostly in the hopes that it would channel some aspect of the amazing Alexander Aja's High Tension and it nailed those expectations! 8.5/10