Frontière(s) (Frontier(s))

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Frontière(s) (Frontier(s))

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Frontière(s) (Frontier(s))

Karina Testa, Aurélien Wiik, Patrick Ligardes, David Saracino, Maud Forget

A gang of young thieves flee Paris during the violent aftermath of a political election, only to hole up at an Inn run by neo-Nazis.

Id: 10986929

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Frontière(s) (Frontier(s)) Recent Reviews

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Frontière(s) (Frontier(s)) Recent Reviews
  • flixsterman
    December 6, 2009
    flixsterman
    For some reason, Netflix had this listed under the genre of 'Zombie Flicks'. It's not. It's more along the lines of Hostel or Wolf Creek or a hundred other TCM wannabes. The story line is gleaned from those films that preceded it, not that a story is all t...( read more)hat important here. Any semblance of a plot is merely an excuse to show more decomposing corpses hung up on meat hooks. It's not a badly made movie, it's just that it's extremely unoriginal. There's not a single frame of film here, not one, that you couldn't point to and say 'I've seen this before'.
  • EarthlyAlien
    March 26, 2009
    EarthlyAlien
    "My name is Yasmine. I'm three months pregnant. One day, someone said "Men are born free with equal rights". The world in which I live is the opposite. Who would want to be born to grow up in the chaos and the hate? I've decided to spare him the worst."

    ...( read more)72.photobucket.com/albums/w25/EarthlyAlien/?action=view¤t=frontiere-7.jpg" target="_blank">Photobucket

    When it comes to reviving old horror clichés, the French have been on quite a roll recently. In a cycle that started with Alexandre Aja's High Tension, they deconstructed the stand alone suspense thriller with the straightforward shocker Ils. Then they took on the hoary slasher genre with the gruesome, gore-drenched delight Inside. Now, Xavier Gens, the man who would direct the video game actioner Hitman reconfigured the isolated terror take best exemplified by Tobe Hooper and his larger than life man-monster Leatherface. And while it's not as successful as his countrymen's contributions to the category, Frontier(s) is still one surprisingly sick ride.

    The current political situation in France is horribly unstable. Young people, fed up with the conservative tone of the government, the institutional racism, and lack of opportunities, are rioting everywhere. During one of these fracases, Yasmine (Karina Testa) and her criminal brother Sami (Adel Bencherif) are trapped. With the help of other gang members Alex (Aurélien Wiik), Gilberte (Estelle Lefébure), and Farid (Chems Dahmani), they get their fallen mate to the hospital and head out into the countryside. The plan? Make it across the border and into Amsterdam. Stopping off at an out of the way motel, they run into a group of nasty neo-Nazis. Ethnic hatred aside, the leader is looking for someone to help continue his family's master race... and Yasmin might just fit the bill.

    If Lionsgate, distributor of this After Dark Film Festival reject (originally part of the eight film overview, but pulled at the last minute to avoid MPAA hassles) was looking for an American title for this oddly named French film, there's a couple of obvious suggestions. With its killers in a remote locale leanings, The Teutonic Chainsaw Massacre would make for a nice exploitation name. Or better yet, the secluded slaughterhouse posing as a hostel might suggest something like Motel Heil. Seig Psycho also comes to mind. Any one of these marketable monikers would come close to describing the sluice induced grotesqueries that make up this film's motives.

    For those offended by blood and guts, Frontier(s) flaunts the very limits of both. While the opening sequences are rather sedate, once Gens gets going, it's brutality and vivisection served up in heaping hack and slash helpings. Characters are carved up with sadistic regularity, and no one is exempt from the bountiful bloodletting. One individual winds up literally covered, head to toe, in arterial spray. It makes the critter claret bath Carrie White takes while at the prom seem calm by comparison. With its buzz-sawed body parts and exploding heads, this is one juicy jaunt.

    There is also a fair amount of suspense here as well. Because it plays directly into the recent social strife dividing France (unrest settled mostly around class, immigrants, and race), the entire black/white - Caucasian/minority subtext suggests something much deeper. When our first two gang members stumble upon the remote inn, their ethnicity is enhanced by the Brunhilda nature of the lead villainess. Even better, the old school Hitler devotee is all Reich rants and ethnic cleanser. How this unusual dynamic plays out gives Gens plenty of room to maneuver. He drinks in the hatred and spits out sequences of unconscionable cruelty.

    Yet there are a couple of minor flaws here. One revolves around familiarity. If you remember that famed Southwestern splatter fest from the early '70s, you'll be able to predict almost every one of Frontier(s)'s freak show plot points. There's the carefree kids, the remote backdrop, the oversized killer, the crazed family, the second act escape, the eventual recapture, the final confrontation, and the "will she or won't she" run for freedom. Certainly, Gens offers a couple of critical changes here and there (the Sawyers didn't have mutant cannibal "children" crawling around their Texas homestead). Still, enough of this film feels recognizable that tiny hints of disappointment pepper the grue.

    And the acting is no great shakes either. Yasmine, more or less reduced to illogical 'last girl' status, is essayed by Karina Testa as a series of whines and pouts. Once it's knives out, she substitutes shrieks for the latter. The rest of her crew is equally one note and indecipherable. They're reduced to playing types - scared novice, hard ass hero - before falling under the bad guys' assault. Only our Nazis get any kind of characterization, and it's more scripted than performed. The men are thuggish ideologues, concentration camp guard types without a prison populace to destroy. The head of household, on the other hand, is the kind of Final Solution apologist who appears frightening for what he stands for as well as his actions. And he's deliciously played by legendary French actor Jean-Pierre Jorris.

    Since it all seems so obvious, so steeped in what previous masters of horror have handed out over the last four decades, Frontier(s) fails to appear fresh. It also cheats a bit, giving audiences ample false hope before finally fulfilling its payback parameters. But just like Ils, Inside and Haute Tension (as well as a few other prime examples), it is clear that the current social clime in France is feeding fear in a big bad way. Most macabre scholars like to point to political uncertainty as a spawning ground for our most violent, repugnant terrors. Some even liken the rise in so-called 'torture porn' to the post-9/11 uncertainty in the world. Whether this is true or not, Frontier(s) still finds a way to mine the past while staying rooted in the present. It may seem recognizable, but it's a well made and effective awareness.
  • kiriyamakazou
    February 13, 2009
    kiriyamakazou
    The La Haine Multiple Implement Massacre. It's very French and also very vicious. It's easy to see how Xavier Gens wound up directing Hitman. His "frantic" style is more suited to action films. The editing is such a mess it was like watching Quantum of Solace: The Horror Years. T...( read more)he change from heist movie to horror is well done and doesn't come from nowhere. The build up is rather suspenseful but unfortunately I really couldn't care what happened to anybody in this film. The whole Nazi Cannibal thing is overdone and verges and pastiche at times. For it's genre though, this is a strong and worthy contender. It has the gore, the stupid characters and those frustrating moments where you shout at the screen. Isn't that half the appeal?
  • kevinjoy98
    November 12, 2008
    kevinjoy98
    A gang of young thieves flee Paris during the violent aftermath of a political election, only to hole up at an Inn run by neo-Nazis
  • creepfreak
    October 22, 2008
    creepfreak
    Rip off of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Hostel, but Frontière(s) is still an entertaining, sick and twisted little horror movie. Very violent and bloody indeed. A well deserved NC-17 rating! Nowhere is this near an outstanding horror film, but it's definitely enjoyable and goo...( read more)d enough for at least one viewing. Great cinematography, solid performances, and bloody, bloody, bloody violence! Good times!
  • eryri
    December 17, 2009
    eryri
    Amidst fierce rioting in Paris, 5 young thieves flee the capital with a stash of loot and head out into the French countryside en route to Holland only to encounter a fate worse than what they escaped from. They unwittingly end up at a hostel run by a family of cannibals led by a...( read more)n elderly ex-Nazi patriach. Terrifiying French horror with a great storyline and solid performances from the cast especially from the heroine Karina Testa. Be warned that this movie is very violent with a lot of blood. Gorehounds - miss this at your peril!
  • roxsytyler
    December 16, 2009
    roxsytyler
    Oh, I just couldn't wait to see Leatherface! This was Texas Chainsaw Massacre, right? No, it wasn't but it was so obnoxiously obvious that it was yet another rip-off of TCM except this time it was coming from overseas in a (what is seemingly) and americanized French horror film. ...( read more)The trailer for this movie looked amazing but the movie just pissed me off. Like I said, I was wondering when Leatherface was going to appear. Please stop making the same horror flicks. I don't care what country you come from. You can't do it better! I'm only giving this two stars because the death scenes were all pretty cool. Everything's dirty and everyone is over-bathed in blood.
  • sakatsu
    December 12, 2009
    sakatsu
    not very original but there was an attempt to make it unique at the start. Midway till the end just went down hill. Ending came too long. A bit too much blood and gore really. Over the top acting from protagonist. Best acting came from the head of the family.
  • 1HotGrandma
    October 30, 2009
    1HotGrandma
    THis was to me an unimpressive movie.
  • BillyRevenge
    October 25, 2009
    BillyRevenge
    I really enjoyed this. I didn't care much for political election bit at the beginning, but the rest of it was great. It's really silly and OTT and borrows a lot from other horrors like it, but isn't that why we watch films like this? I know it's why I do. I thought the special ef...( read more)fects were top notch and definitely one of the best things about the film. A brilliant addition to any horror fan's film collection.
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