Borderland

Zev Berman – 2007 – USA  

Released as part of the After Dark Horror series, a collection of dreadful straight-to-video low-budget horror films, Borderland is easily the best of the bunch, and good enough to be regarded as a fine film in its own right.  The film is based on the true case of the Mexican drug cartel that kidnapped a vacationing American student in 1989 and sacrificed him in a Satanic ritual.  In the film version, three friends on break from college take a trip to Tijuana for a weekend of fun; i.e. mostly drugs and debauchery.  The youngest of the group, Phil (Rider Strong), is plucked off the street by some creepy cult members and taken into the desert to await his fait at the hands of the group’s sadistic leader, the suave Santillan (Beto Cuevas), who intends for Phil’s bloody death to summon Chongo.  Berman, who also made the very interesting southern drama Briar Patch (2003), utilizes a washed-out cinematography that is effective though perhaps a bit much.  Otherwise, though, Berman maintains a suspenseful pace without resorting to the typical clichés and cop-outs of most of such fare.