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Good movie but grossly overrated

I am only giving this movie a 1 for the great cast, though I can't imagine what any of them were thinking. This movie was horrible

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

I was expecting a much better movie. Based on a real story very, very loosely. I didn't find this to be much of a thriller and with the run time and limited action it felt slow. Overall these characters make a lot of poor decisions under the guise they are rational choices. If my friend gets kidnapped in Mexico I'm not going rogue to get them back knowing that like is going to end with all of us dead and no one even knowing where we are. The most action was one situation in a hotel where one of the characters had to try to escape a mob of machete wielding satanic lunatics. For some reason Sean Austin was in this movie as part of the Mexican satanic gang which made virtually no sense and his acting was comic relief that didn't fit the overall genre they were going for. Overall given what passes for horror/thrillers it was okay but nothing like I thought per the reviews.

The sepia toned cinematography in this movie captures expertly the surrealistic, bizarre, and disturbing landscape familiar to anyone who has found themselves running for their lives across it as a hapless tourista. Unflinching truth and unrelenting power is a cinema triumph. Zev Berman directed this essential and enlightening drama from a brilliant script co-penned with Eric Poppen. What they have accomplished with this important film is to expose the unholy dangers Americans face south of the border. Pulling no punches and depicting the horrors in Mexico in graphic detail, this is nothing less than essential viewing for tourists, especially the young who believe they are immortal. This is not a horror film but more a docudrama based in reality and truth. For anyone who has lost a friend or loved one to the violent, carnal, and vicious devil worshipers, drug cartels, and corrupt police of our neighbor down south, the experience of this film will be quite moving indeed. An outstanding cast give superb performances and demonstrate the overwhelming evil of those who prey on vulnerable, innocent victims with impunity. A vital film that serves to awaken a complacent nation to the terrible risks inherent in any senseless southern journey.

This movie is meant only for the mentally disturbed. I went for the movie knowing its story line and expecting no Academy stuff. I knew this was a movie where the omnipresent American hitchhikers encounter a "human-sacrificing cult". I knew there was going to be gore and cheap thrills. What i didn't knew was how boring it would all be. Three friends go to Mexico to do the "usual" things: get high, get laid. but one of them is kidnapped by the aforementioned cult because the head honcho of the cult believes that Satan would be pleased if they sacrifice some one after torturing the poor soul. the pleased Satan would enable their drugs to pass into the United States by making the drugs invisible to the custom officers. I mean, what the f**k where the script writers thinking? this must be the lamest excuse for the gore. As for the gore and blood, the best sequence which is truly hair raising is one in which one of the friends is chased through the length of the hotel in which he is staying by a machete wielding mob. The rest of the scenes are just pathetic. The director tries to give some back story so that we can "connect and identify" with the lame ass characters. but they still come across as clichéd. So kindly watch something else. Anything as long as it is not Borderland. For the lovers of violence, there still is no movie better than Martyrs. This pretentious sh*t is just that. a pretender. nothing more.

This movie kicks off brilliant. It starts right in the middle of a brutal torture and killing scene. Leaving not much to your imagination, which isn't always a good thing, but it really worked for this movie. You better install yourself well before the movie starts, because you will have no time to open that bag of crisps in the first minutes. After this promising start, we meet the protagonists during an outdoor party in Texas, one year after the opening events. One of them (Ed, played by Brian Presley) is the calm and serious type, but two of his friends convince him to go on a short trip to Mexico. We already know that they will meet trouble, so all we have to do is wait for it. Together with some girls they decide to go to a funfair where they take magic mushrooms. This really adds to the chill, as it is not surprising that something must happen during this sensitive state of mind. And so it does, while Ed and Henry party on with their new love interests, Phil decides that he is the fifth wheel on the wagon and takes off. While walking on the streets alone he meets a friendly stranger asking for a light. Phil at that time is totally peaking from the mushrooms and sort of collapses. A car passes by with the friends of the stranger, and they offer him a ride. Which he better had refused. When he comes by, he is tied up and soon finds out that 'he is the special one', but for what he doesn't know. The cult leader is well played by Beto Cuevas. When he appears to Phil he does so in a charming and caring way, which makes it more chilling as we know from the opening sequence what he is capable off. (A critical note here, his tattoos are far too black which makes them look too fake. Real black tattoos turn more to the blue side. And since he had a lot of 'ink', they should have done that better.) At the same time Phil's friends try to find out what happened to him and go to the police, where they are turned down. They soon meet the first-scene-surviving policeman, who brings them on the right track.Some of the cult members are really creepy. I was much impressed by the appearance of the big bald guy Gustavo, played by Marco Bacuzzi. Sean Astin plays an American follower of the cult, and he does so pretty well too. So where did it all get a bit disappointing then? Well, somehow after that real promising start, and after the abduction, it just get's a bit boring. Things could have been worked out better. For example, Ed's girlfriend Valeria is introduced as a tough girl, but in the biggest part of the movie not much is done with that. Also, I am not so sure about the stereo typing. The friendly virgin of the boys gets abducted, the rougher guy eventually turns into tears and becomes the coward, and the good old promising American kid becomes the hero. Hmmm. I don't know, that was just a tiny bit too Christian Heroic for me. Even though the tension rises, it doesn't rise enough. More could have been done with poor Phil awaiting his destiny, more could have been done with the cult, and the same goes for the surviving police guy. It just feels like it goes.. a bit flat. The start is so strong, and then it turns more to a.. well, nothing-special kind of movie. It just didn't hold it's magic on me. I would have liked to know more about this cult, especially because it is vaguely based om real events (the kidnapping and murder of Mark Kilroy, which brought light to a much bigger murder case). Also, after such a strong opening scene, I would have expected that the scene in which Phil meets his fate would have been done much stronger. So, that was quite a disappointment. The abrupt ending also just didn't do it for me. I don't mind abrupt endings, but then at least leave me behind totally stunned. And I wasn't. All in all, Borderland has it's strong moments, but slowly slips into a more run-off-the-mill horror movie. Which is a pity. Still, it has enough of an atmosphere and good moments to not being rubbish.