Let me level with you.
Most people now regard George W. Bush as an awful commander-in-chief; a breathing parody of leadership, a puppet for the wealthy. When he says that “the terrorists hate us for our freedoms,” most of the non-retards in the states roll their eyes. We know that he’s bullshitting us.
But you know what? I’m just going to say it right now. Bush 43 gets a bum rap; one that is not entirely justified.
Now I don’t agree with everything he does, but let’s be honest with ourselves. Over the past eight years, the Bush administration (via House reps Robert W. Ney and Walter B. Jones, Jr.) is responsible for inserting a keen, intelligent and delicious sentiment into the national discourse- Freedom Fries and the distrust of the French. And Frontier(s), one of the newest examples of French splatter, may be the most potent justification for Neo-con legislation since 9/11.
Frontier(s), directed by Xavier Gens, is really not a hard film to summarize. During a riot, our main characters get into scuffles with cops and end up having to escape to a run-down hostel somewhere in the countryside- one that happens to be run by evil Nazi cannibals, who subsequently torture and kill them. I won’t spoil anything else, but trust me- you’ve seen it all before.
The main problem with this film is that it’s just a rehash of better works. While High Tension and Calvaire (Frontier[s]’s logical predecessors) may not have been masterpieces, they were well executed and fresh enough upon initial release. But Frontier(s) just came out a little too late. There’s absolutely nothing engaging about it, and the entire film gives you a feeling of sickening déjà vu. Its mediocrity constantly reminds you of better movies, and it could be the greatest free advertising that the Texas Chainsaw Massacre has ever had. There’s really just no point in watching this.
I won’t go into too much film student detail on this one, because it’s irrelevant. With an idea this safe and contrived, even Orson Welles wouldn’t have been able to salvage an interesting picture out of it. This movie substitutes anything that could be remotely terrifying with torture and gore. There’s more to making a good horror film than just pointing a camera at violence, and in Frontier(s), there’s nothing beyond the scope of the screen. You don’t walk away with anything, because the spectacle of torture distracts the unconscious from absorbing any real sense of horror. Fronteir(s) offers almost nothing in between the lines.
And for a film about Nazi flesh eaters, it’s remarkably safe. In fact, the word safe can be defined as “dependable or trustworthy,” adjectives that adequately describe Frontier(s). The filmmakers even had the nerve to try and make it unique with that Nazi cannibal gimmick. Frankly, it’s insulting to think that we’re dumb enough to be distracted by a shiny Nazi ornament in the midst of this torrent of familiarity. It’s putting lipstick (or a brownshirt) on a pig.
Yet another example of forgettable torture porn, Frontier(s) can be found clogging up shelves at video stores everywhere.
Don’t waste your time.
- Mike P
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