Movie: Frontier(s)

[AnalBreeze]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v69/Analbreeze/Movie%20Posters/frontiers.jpg

Release Date: May 9, 2008 (limited)

Studio: After Dark Films

Director: Xavier Gens

Screenwriter: Xavier Gens

Starring: Maud Forget, Estelle Lefébure, Patrick Ligardes, David Saracino, Karina Testa, Aurelien Wiik

Genre: Horror

MPAA Rating: Not Available

Official Website: Not Available

Plot Summary: Samuel Le Bihan ("Brotherhood of the Wolf") stars in this horror film set in France and revolves around Yasmine, her ex-boyfriend and his two friends who are entrenched in the Paris riots, and have stolen a large sum of money before they head for the Danish border. On their way, they check into a motel where things appear to be too good to be true. They find that looks are deceiving as this motel rapidly turns into a house of horrors run by a Neo-Nazi family.

[AnalBreeze]

God, I can't wait to see this!

ucWq16FWNak

[AnalBreeze]

May 13th is coming up fast!

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51IgKYIsekL._SS500_.jpg

Product Details

Actors: Samuel Le Bihan, Aurelien Wiik, Maud Forget, David Saracino, Karina Testa

Directors: Xavier Gens

Format: Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC

Language: French

Subtitles: English

Region: All Regions

Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1

Number of discs: 1

Rating: http://g-ecx.images-amazon.com/images/G/01/detail/unrated._V46912133_.gif

Studio: Lions Gate

DVD Release Date: May 13, 2008

Run Time: 108 minutes

When this made the top ten of 2007 on BloodyDisgusting.com I was fervently trying to find some way to find it. I looked for months. I kept hearing how brilliant it was. Usually when I put a lot of time into finding something that I know so relatively little about, it ends up in a huge letdown. This absolutely broke that rule. Some nice viscera gets sprayed around, but the compelling acting and character nuances are what really sink the hooks in deep when the blood starts flying. There's a shaky camera technique that gets irritating only a little bit during some driving sequences, but overall the production and the director's sensibility are sharp. I'd describe it as having some classic 70s and 80s horror trappings (cannibals, nazis, freaks, backwoods family) that are wrapped up in a nice art-house package.

Go out of your way to watch this movie. You'll be glad you did.

[AnalBreeze]

Got mine! Can't wait to watch it! :D

[swivel]

Watched it last night with my wife.

Excellent film. Top-notch horror. I would rank it just under "Inside", with 8.5 stars.

For me, it was a "The Hills Have Eyes" with a better plot, setting, acting, directing, social commentary.

I totally disagree with the political message of the film, but I appreciate there being one.

It was strange to watch Inside and Frontiers back-to-back. Both movies begin with a shot of a fetus, both star pregnant women, and both have Paris riots as a backdrop to a movie that doesn't need the riots at all for them to work. In "Inside", the riots were peripheral. In Frontiers, the riots were used for a first act that wasn't needed. You could start frontiers with 4 kids on their way to Holland, and it would have probably been a more holistic film, if not a better one.

But, there is something about the French. Some sort of all-consuming narcissism which has them all walking around holding a mirror in front, seeing themselves in the world around them. When these movies were made, Paris was convulsing through a long series of riots, mostly based on race and the natural angst of a jobless male population (mostly Muslim). I bet that any French romance movie made in 2007 has to do with a female rioter and a male SWAT member falling for one another and having that "first fuck" in the back of a burning car.

No shit: Both of these films used some of the exact same footage at the beginning of the films. They were using televised riot footage, and a lot of it was identical. This is not a coincidence... it tells us something about the culture of French film-making. But, whatever, both movies blew the best American horror films of 2007 out of the water. It made me knock my internal review of "Descent" down to a 7.5, just to compensate.

[AnalBreeze]

What you said... but I still put "The Descent" and "High Tension" above this
I bought "Inside" but have not watched it yet. So if "Inside" is better than this I'm excited! :D

Kyle, this is for you!
As much as I loved this movie it felt a little like somebody just got done watching Rob Zombie's "Devils Rejects" and made the same movie with the victims being the stars of the movie instead of the villains! :rolleyes:

[AnalBreeze]

swivel says "You could start frontiers with 4 kids on their way to Holland,
and it would have probably been a more holistic film, if not a better one."

To me that's what makes this film cool!
Kinda like goin' to Predator for the first time thinkin' it's another Arnold combat film
when all of a sudden and without warning, it turns into an alien film!

[swivel]

swivel says "You could start frontiers with 4 kids on their way to Holland,
and it would have probably been a more holistic film, if not a better one."

To me that's what makes this film cool!
Kinda like goin' to Predator for the first time thinkin' it's another Arnold combat film
when all of a sudden and without warning, it turns into an alien film!

Hmmm. Good point. But the beginning of Predator was needed to give the humans tons of ammo and badassery. It was necessary.

As for Haute Tension... I give it a 2/10. :o

[Morbid]

Yeah, I easily place Frontiers well above Haute Tension. So far, I would rank them like this.

The Descent - This movie just blew me away as I knew nothing about it going in. 9/10

Inside - Jesus Christ what a beautifully, bloody film 9/10

Frontier(s) - House of 1000 Corpses done correctly. Brutal. 8/10

High Tension - Beautiful to look at. But the "twist" sucked as it lied to you in order to make it work. 5/10

[AnalBreeze]

Swiv gives High Tension a fuckin' 2? Your coolness rating just went down on my meter! :slap:

I love everything about High Tension.

(I know you already know what I'm about to say and I'm not tryin' to change anybodies mind on this film.
This is just why I think it's so fucking cool!)

the whole fuckin' movie is just Marie's interpretation of what happened. we the viewer are watching a made up story of what Marie says happened that night. for all we know Marie could've killed Alex's family and took her for a ride to an ice cream parlor, the whole movie is Marie's twisted idea of what happened. If you continue to try wrapping your head around the massive gaps in logic, it just gets frustrating and leads nowhere. I don't care to try to figure every little thing out because the movie overall is absolutely great for a horror film. But if you accept the theory that Marie is crazy and had most of the events in her head then you can say that she may have fantasized the whole beginning anyway. Marie actually could've been out there in the truck waiting for Alex to get home. Just enjoy the fact that it looked beautiful, had great acting, was brutal as hell and that it makes no sense. Who cares? The movie is fucked up because she was fucked up!

I think a sequel that show's the same story through Alex's eyes would be great!

Sometimes you have to make a stand and this film was worth it to me!

You can start makin' fun of me now if it makes you feel better!

That's all I'm sayin about that!

[AnalBreeze]

Hmmm. Good point. But the beginning of Predator was needed to give the humans tons of ammo and badassery. It was necessary.

As for Haute Tension... I give it a 2/10. :o

Then you could say that the beginning of Frontier(s) was needed to show you that these people were not nice people and bad things can happen to punkass theives as well as innocent college students!
To me it's a trick to lead you to believe it's one kind of film when it's really another!

[swivel]

Yeah, I easily place Frontiers well above Haute Tension. So far, I would rank them like this.

The Descent - This movie just blew me away as I knew nothing about it going in. 9/10

Inside - Jesus Christ what a beautifully, bloody film 9/10

Frontier(s) - House of 1000 Corpses done correctly. Brutal. 8/10

High Tension - Beautiful to look at. But the "twist" sucked as it lied to you in order to make it work. 5/10

Very well put.



Anal, you have to do some bizarre mental gymnastics to make that ending work. Basically, you have to admit that half of the cool shit in that film never happened. The movie would have been 4 times as good without the idiotic twist, which is why I give it a '2'. Without the twist, the movie would be an '8', easily.

Let's imagine Descent, but at the end we get a reveal that one of the girls was really the monsters. One of these life-long friends was really a psycho who kept it penned up until they went on this spelunking trip, and then went crazy and killed all of her friends. And the director, instead of telling THIS story, showed us a bunch of monsters, because that is what this girl saw herself as. And even though there was this awesome dichotomy, this mental rift in the girl's head, the director didn't make us privy to it, he didn't show us what the rest of the girls were going through, all he did was create an illusion for the SOLE PURPOSE OF HAVING A TWIST BECAUSE THEY WERE POPULAR AT THE TIME.

What would you get? A shitty movie. The brilliant thing about "Frontiers" is that no twist is needed at the end of the movie. In my opinion, twists shouldn't come at the very end of a flick, they should come in the middle, so the movie has time to adjust and work out the kinks. I don't mind a "reveal" at the end of a movie (like when they reveal the killer)... which brings up something Morbid and I were talking about the other night.

In the movie "Identity", there is a Twist and a Reveal. The Twist comes in the middle of the film, that these characters are personalities, rather than real people, while at the end you get a Reveal, the young boy killed them all. (Morbid, this new terminology means you were right in that conversation, and I was wrong).

That gives me a new way of looking at Sixth Sense. The Twist could be seen as the moment when you find out that the kid sees dead people. What you get at the end is a Reveal.

In "Descent" and "Frontiers", the Twist comes at the middle, when the unforeseen danger is exposed. In survival horror, the Reveal is always "who survived?", which is presented at the end.

In Haute Tension the director tried too hard to get on the "surprise!" bandwagon and failed miserably. Which is a shame, because some of the pure horror scenes in the film were brilliantly conceived. And the non-existing bad guy (and his truck) were magical. When your Twist is contrived, and designed to ROB the film of all that is good about it, you get a massive chunk of feces for a film.

But that is just my opinion.

[Morbid]

(Morbid, this new terminology means you were right in that conversation, and I was wrong).

*passes out*

[KillBill20]

After I get done with my second shift tonight, I fully plan on loafing around for the demander of the day... I'm going to watch this one and a film called Military Intelligence and You, then tomorrow I'm watching Iron Man again.

I'll let everyone know what I think of this one!

~Kyle

[Nell]

Kyle I think you rock but you are gonna loaf around for the demander of the day? Who is this demander that is insisting you loaf around? I can kick their butt if you want.;)

[AnalBreeze]

That's some funny shit!

Oh shit... Gotta go! My Demander is callin' me! :eek:

[Mr_Vindictive]

Just obtained a copy of this flick. It's been on my radar for a while now, but I had forgotten all about it. Hopefully if time and life permits, I'll give it a try tonight. I've already expressed my insane love of Haute Tension on this site and numerous others and I stick by it to the fullest. Any film that is compared to and said to be better than it is something that I have to watch.

[swivel]

*passes out*

You could very well at least thank the post where I admitted being wrong and provided some well-reasoned opinions.

[Morbid]

Sorry. I passed out.

[Mr_Vindictive]

So I just finished "Frontier(s)" and afterward I kept asking myself one thing:

Did I watch the same fucking movie that the rest of you did?

Honestly the film didn't stand out that much to me. They should have named it "French Chainsaw Massacre" as it was pretty goddamn derivative of TCM, albeit without any chainsaws. The families, the dinner scene, the meat hooks, etc etc....I could go on and on about just how this was a foreign rip off.

The final thirty minutes or so of the film was the only time that I got truly excited or interested. Some of the gore here is superb especially that explosive GSW towards the end, and the scene with the table saw.

If I were to rate it, it would be about a 4.5/10....it's mediocre at it's best and drool inducingly boring otherwise. I went into it expecting something truly affecting and ended up with a sub-standard horror film that uses the same cliches that handfuls of other films have used to better effect.

[Morbid]

I went into it expecting something truly affecting and ended up with a sub-standard horror film that uses the same cliches that handfuls of other films have used to better effect.

I would love to hear of these handful of films that have done it better.

Not SINCE the TCM have I seen a dinner scene worthy of mentioning the two movies in one sentence. Personally, I can think of no other film that involved a crazy family that I have enjoyed since TCM until this movie came out. I truly would love to know what this film did that was cliche, and what films did it better.

[AnalBreeze]

I watched it again and holy cow it's great! I love her acting at the end of the film!
All the twitchin' she did and the look in her eyes was terror-iffic!

The Descent is Still my #1
Frontier(s) is now #2
High Tension is #3(but if what you guys say is true... I have a feeling this will change when I watch Inside!) :D

[swivel]

I don't know what Mr. Vindictive is talking about. If we are that anal about things being derivative we would stop making movies. Traces of something can be found in everything. I guess the argument is that cannibal movies can't be made anymore?

I think this is a better movie than TCM. That wouldn't make me rank it higher, because TCM is iconic, it was a madly successful indy film, and it did a lot of things first. On the movie-screen, that is. Most of these ideas have been done in short horror fiction for years, and lit hounds were already hoarse from scraming, "derivative!".

I hate comparing movies that have 30 years between them, but if you put TCM beside Frontiers today, frontiers wins. It has better acting. It has a much more complex and rich plot (and characters). TCM was a straight-up horror film. There was little exploration of the cannibalistic family (and not the rich history and subtext that we get from Nazi's in France). The young Eve in Frontiers was an amazingly sad character. Being touched and saddened is just as wonderful in a horror film as being wowed by buckets of gore.

If I had to watch either film again, right now, it would be Frontiers. Nostalgia and precedent count for a lot, but it shouldn't corner us into not enjoying future films. And frankly, if Mr. V only enjoys the gore, and not the character-building and tension, I don't think our opinions of film will ever agree. There is more to a great movie than frenetic action scenes and gratuitous violence. Especially in a good action flick or a wonderful horror movie.

[Morbid]

Trust me, I liked Frontiers, but it was no TCM. I actually think the acting in TCM is better only because the amatuer cast, along with the directing, created a movie in which the characters didn't seem lile they were acting at all. None of them.

As far as the family dynamics in TCM, I think that in the short time we saw them interact, we know TONS about them.

Very strong family values. Don't laugh, it's true. Even though their particular family activities were not normal, they stuck together. They lamented past issues and even clued us in to how the family got to where they were today with new technology robbing them of their livlihood. In fact, you can almost pinpoint when they began their killing spree at around the same time that their grandmother died and the grandfather was unable to care for the three brothers. In a few scenes, including the shot of all the cars being camouflaged behind the house, we get some understanding how they had been operating without detection.

They co-operated with each other on multiple occasions as shown by The Hitchhiker and his brother carefuloly carying their grandfather down the stairs. They even complimented each other even if it was just The Hithchiker's admission that his brother makes good head cheese, or The Cook complimenting the grandfathers ability to kill with one hit of a hammer.

They respected their elders and if they liked it or not, they did follow a family hierarchy. This was prominent throughout the film. The Cook blasting The Hitchiker for robbing graves, or beating on Leatherface for ruining the front door.

In some cases, some of the family members showed empathy, specifically with The Cook who admitted to not liking the killing and even telling his younger brothers not to prolong the torture of the captive...even attempting to re-assure her that her death would be a quick one.

Other members showed showed fear. This was specifically shown with Leatherface. While he is the character that went down in horror history as one of the more recognizable killers, he was actually the most timid. He showed fear of surprise, and he worried after the death of the frist two teens shown in a scene in which he fretted over what had happened. He is was also the most subserviant as evident by him following his brother's orders.

Anyway, Frontier(s) may be a more polished film, but TCM is just more realistic and the fact that it is NOT polished just helps it and explains why it is still watched 30 years after it was made. I can believe TCM happened (as do a lot of people to this day) but Frontier(s), while a great horror flick, is not one bit believable.

Also, for anyone who has not watched TCM, you really should. It has little to no gore and still kicks the ass of most modern horror movies.

[Mr_Vindictive]

Didn't mean to piss everyone off by not really caring for the film.

Yes, I understand that every film is derivative of other films. Everything has been done before, I get that. This film just didn't seem to bring anything new which was a disappointment to me. The film has been built up by the various members of this board and other horror sites that I frequent and the film ended up being a let down.

No, it's not all about the gore for me. I commented that the gore effects were very well done, that is all. Hell, I really liked some of the characters in the film and I give the creators credit for being unique. Karl, Goetz, Eve, the Grandfather...each of them were interesting but not enough time was spent fleshing out the characters.

On the subject of the characters, I could honestly care less what happened to most of the victims in the film. Aside from Yasmin, the only other character that I even remotely liked was Tom. I could care less what happened to Farid or the other guy who's name escapes me at this time. I think that was the films first mistake; not making me care about the characters.

Maybe it was just my copy but did anyone else feel the film was too damn dark? Most of the film takes place at night and I was having a hell of a hard time figuring out just what the hell was going on. It may have just been the copy I was viewing. Another issue with my copy was that the subtitles were completely fucked up. The film was oddly translated.

I guess the best thing for me to do at this point is go out and pick up a retail release of the film and give it another shot.


As for TCM, I've never been much of a fan of that film either. It's decent and it's one that has grown on me over time, and I certainly appreciate it's impact on modern horror. That said, I've always preferred the insanity of the sequel to the original.

[KillBill20]

Kyle I think you rock but you are gonna loaf around for the demander of the day? Who is this demander that is insisting you loaf around? I can kick their butt if you want.;)

I'd edit my post... but I think my inability to write a coherent sentence is part of my DD charm! :D

~Kyle

[swivel]

Also, for anyone who has not watched TCM, you really should. It has little to no gore and still kicks the ass of most modern horror movies.

That's what I don't get about TCM's reception. It was railed against, and it wasn't shown in a ton of areas (and I think some entire countries banned it for years)... for what? What was in the film that made it so offensive?

I never understood that. Great film. One of the best. But nothing about it was shocking, even for the day. Unless it was just a response to how popular the film was. Or how gritty it came across.

[KillBill20]

That's what I don't get about TCM's reception. It was railed against, and it wasn't shown in a ton of areas (and I think some entire countries banned it for years)... for what? What was in the film that made it so offensive?

I never understood that. Great film. One of the best. But nothing about it was shocking, even for the day. Unless it was just a response to how popular the film was. Or how gritty it came across.

I think the large response against it was two fold. It came across as real, and since most of the gore was implied it allows you to come up with the worth possible outcome to any given scene.

You guys know what my favorite print of this movie is? Its not the remastered DVD, while I'm glad I own that I much prefer my crappy VHS "recored off HBO" version of the film.

For me personally I don't enjoy being able to see everything in crystal clear quality with this one. Its always added to the overall experience of the movie by watching it with shitty audio that you have to turn up slightly higher than normal, and a kinda fuzzy picture where you can't quite make out some of the details.

So if your ever at a garage sale, or see it on TV... pop in an old VCR tape and record it. You'll find it to be a completely different experience than watching the remastered DVD.

~Kyle

[swivel]

For me personally I don't enjoy being able to see everything in crystal clear quality with this one. Its always added to the overall experience of the movie by watching it with shitty audio that you have to turn up slightly higher than normal, and a kinda fuzzy picture where you can't quite make out some of the details.

I agree 100%. One of the reasons I loved Blairwitch was because it looked like shit and your imagination played a key role in the experience.

[AnalBreeze]

Frontiers is on sale at KMart right now...
Went to buy it and they said sorry you can't buy this now!

[swivel]

Frontiers is on sale at KMart right now...
Went to buy it and they said sorry you can't buy this now!

What the fuck? They have it out, but not on sale? Or the street date is this upcoming week?

[KillBill20]

Frontiers is on sale at KMart right now...
Went to buy it and they said sorry you can't buy this now!

That happened to me with Planet Terror, they put it out like half a week before the release date. I made a gigantic fuss at the front counter, about how I don't care what the release date is they put it on the shelf and they should have to sell it to me. Then I started randomly throwing out the F-Bombs and tired to get a discount on it the next time I came back.

Our K-Mart is really fucking bad about putting shit out before its release date. Thats why I enjoy fucking with them so much when they do.

~Kyle

[AnalBreeze]

What the fuck? They have it out, but not on sale? Or the street date is this upcoming week?


Yeah, I knew the street date was next week but they had it on the shelf!
I tried to buy it knowing that the computer probably won't sell it to me!
But I was nice about it and told them they had 3 more copies on the shelf!
I said I would be back on tuesday and they said sorry and thanked me!

Kyle, that's how you handle that! Just so you know!
Those poor high school cashiers... ;)

[KillBill20]

Yeah, I knew the street date was next week but they had it on the shelf!
I tried to buy it knowing that the computer probably won't sell it to me!
But I was nice about it and told them they had 3 more copies on the shelf!
I said I would be back on tuesday and they said sorry and thanked me!

Kyle, that's how you handle that! Just so you know!
Those poor high school cashiers... ;)

Mike, if you use the word "fuck" enough you can usually get something free out of them... and isn't that what life's all about?

Anyhow, onto Frontier(s). Despite my completely irrational hatred for the title, because of that stupid (s) at the end of it... this movie fucking rocked!

For me to enjoy a film that I have to read, it has to be fairly kick ass film... and Frontier(s) totally blew my socks off! I give it a 9 out of 10.

This is what a horror film should look like, not a remake of something that came out in 1983.

~Kyle

[swivel]

Glad you loved it as much as I did, KillBill. This is one that I will watch several times, for sure!

[KillBill20]

Glad you loved it as much as I did, KillBill. This is one that I will watch several times, for sure!

Usually when it comes to subtitled movies I can enjoy them... but I usually don't end up loving them. I loved Frontier(s), I plan on buying a copy of it here in the near future (is there any kind of a two disc?)

I wish more American horror films would be this... brutal, and good. And it didn't even have the most original plot either, sadistic family of killers who eat people (they eat people too right?)... but it did it much better than every other horror film thats attempted it.

So what was everyones favorite scene?

Mine was the one where the black haired girl (I forget her name) is trapped in the freezer room full of bodies. And she cuts the guys toes off, and shoves him onto the table saw, and gets covered head to toe in blood.

That was Evil Dead style blood right there. She got completely covered in that shit. It was great. I was impressed that she ran around the rest of the film all covered in pig shit and blood, without really whipping it away.

The only part I was a little confused upon was the "children" in the basement. Were they alive or dead? Or zombies? Or what... what exactly was going on with that.

~Kyle

[AnalBreeze]

The only part I was a little confused upon was the "children" in the basement. Were they alive or dead? Or zombies? Or what... what exactly was going on with that.

~Kyle

Kyle... Were they alive or dead? If they were dead they would just lay there, not moving, like what other dead shit does. If they were zombies, that would really be fucked up because the last time I checked, there ain't no such thing! :rolleyes:

They were just some deformed, Cannibal children in the basement because that's where you keep deformed, Cannibal children! Right?

Glad you liked it. now be nice to me if you want to borrow "Inside"! :D

[swivel]

My favorite scene(s):

Chopping the dude's Achilles tendons.

The conversation with Eve about her kids.

When the lady in the meat locker opened her eyes.

[CPL CHUD]

Great film. I felt like a crawled over twenty miles of broken glass after watching it. It's so brutal and constantly in your face that it leaves you emotionally exhausted. It goes to prove that even the most unoriginal plot can survive with enough style. Great horror flick, much better than most of the shite we are dealt in the theatre. I had no problem "reading" it, although I would also enjoy a dubbed version.

[Mr_Vindictive]

I'm starting to wonder if I'm not just desensitized to this type of film. Everyone here talks about how affected they were by the film, how emotionally exhausted, etc.....me, it wasn't anything too out of the way. Have I seen too many horror films? Am I not surprised by anything anymore?

Fuck.

I hope not.

[KamuiX]

I'm starting to wonder if I'm not just desensitized to this type of film. Everyone here talks about how affected they were by the film, how emotionally exhausted, etc.....me, it wasn't anything too out of the way. Have I seen too many horror films? Am I not surprised by anything anymore?

Fuck.

I hope not.

Don't feel bad, I'm with you on this flick.

On the plus side, just a couple weeks before I saw this film, I felt the way everyone here is saying after watching Inside, so I don't think I'm completely desensitized yet!