Customer Reviews
Just worth watching 
2008-08-15
I enjoyed this to the end. There was enough gore, brutality, crazy inbred villains, and gushing blood to keep me interested to the end. This is not the French answer to Hostel, it is different in many respects. It was blood soaked. If that's your thing, you will like it. If not, then don't watch it.
Torture porn at its best made in France. Gory, fast, well made but with nothing new. 2008-08-05
Well... some people just loved this film. In a certain way, it's understandable. Today, European horror films are outdoing anything done in Hollywood. This film is no exception.
Synopsis: a group of French young criminals are on the run after a heist while Paris burns during the 2005 riots that turned the French capital upside down for weeks. Traveling in separate cars, they decide to meet at a shabby hostel in the coutry... but the place is run by a family of sadistic killers led by an old Nazi.
Yes, it is gore galore.
The problem with these torture-porn films is that there isn't much story. They just turn into a cat and mouse 90-minute journey where every three minutes there's an excuse to someone to lose limbs, the head, get cut, sawed to pieces, etc, etc, etc.
The good thing is that the journey here is made with great actors as the film shows a great cast of young French actors along with some familiar faces.
The bad thing is that the screenplay here copies from 100 other great (and not so great) films we've already seen. No, there isn't one single minute here that you can call original.
So here's the deal: great actors, great makeup, lots of gore... but there's nothing here we haven't seen before.
I was expecting a lot more. But even at that, this film is much better than the usual American horror. This one is REALLY made to shock. It is really made with taste.
It is worth a look IF you're into the genre.
Gory, ultra-violent and nasty - a new favorite of mine ! 
2008-07-29
Paris. The presidential election of a far-right politician leads to large scale riots. Amidst demonstrations and exploding molotov cocktails five young robbers flee after a heist. There is three months pregnant Yasmine, her brother Tom, who has been shot, Farid, Sami and Alex. They decide to split, and while dying Tom is brought to hospital, two guys are sent in advance to find a quiet hotel near the border. To make a long story short and in order to avoid giving too much away, let's suffice to say that all four end up in a miserable hotel in a remote area (and later in an abandoned mine) in the hands of cannibalistic nazis.
And blood will flow in rivers...
I am a big fan of FRONTIER(S). I have already watched it numerous times and of course there will be repeat viewings in weeks, months and years to come!
The movie is incredibly intense, with lots of atmosphere (like the creepy dinner scene, where the nazis toast to "pure blood"). It makes excellent use of the run down locations and the nazi theme. Admittedly FRONTIER(S) is not the first backwoods splatter movie, but it is the combination of various plot elements that make the story so original (the political subtext, pregnant heroine, gore galore, nazis). The film manages to be absolutely convincing and believeable due to Xavier Gens' assured direction. It never ever is campy or trashy. The excessive bloodletting will appeal to all splatter fans, trust me on that!
And of course more intellectually minded viewers will have a heyday discussing the political subtext afterwards.
Actors deliver powerhouse performances and most have outstanding screen presence (especially Samuel Le Bihan as Goetz). I was particularly impressed with the gorgeous looking Estelle Lefébure as blonde nazi bitch Gilberte (given her looks I would not mind running the risk of landing on the dinner table) and Jean Pierre Jorris as head nazi Von Geisler. I also give kudos to Karina Testa as Yasmine in what must have been an exceptionally challenging role, both physically as well as emotionally. (Wait until you see her character's escape from the pigsty!)
It has been said that the gunplay in FRONTIER(S) is unfitting for a horror movie. Quite aside that firstly this is not the first horror film with gunplay (e.g. THE DEVIL'S REJECTS features lots of it) and secondly many other ways of inflicting mayhem and violent death (from steam chamber to axe and also including a hearty bite in the neck usually seen in zombie movies to mention just a few!) are graphically shown, I think that the shootouts are not only excellently choreographed and filmed, but also quite appropriate for the characters and the nazi theme. Von Geisler has a Luger handgun, Gilberte sprays bullets with a Schmeisser submachine gun, Junior nazi boss Karl shoots a German carabine and big Goetz even a light machine gun!
FRONTIER(S) is in my view however not without faults. I have two complaints: The nazi father's few sentences in German (mostly well-known Third Reich slogans like "Arbeit macht frei") are oddly accented and once or twice there are mispronounciations. Of course, this will likely go unnoticed by international audiences, but as a native speaker of German I could not help notice it (okay, okay, I admit I am really nitpicking here). More grave is the occasional ultra-fast paced editing. I am no fan of MTV-style editing. However it would be very unfair to emphasize these rather minor shortcomings, as these do in no way
diminish the impact of this exceptional horror fest.
Unfortunately there are no extra features on the DVD to speak of, just a couple of admittedly very well made and interesting trailers - THE MIDNIGHT MEAT TRAIN, the new RAMBO movie, the excellent THE BACKWOODS and rather fittingly, HIGH TENSION, the gory slasher film which started the new French horror wave a couple of years ago (by the way, check out the last two movies, I have seen both of them and can assure you that you won't be disappointed with them).
FRONTIER(S) comes with this reviewer's highest possible recommendations. Every self-respecting gorehound and splatter fan needs this DVD in his collection. Do yourself a favour and buy it. NOW !
Frontiering apparently is the best way of Pioneering... 
2008-07-14
I ordered this movie along with Inside. Inside was insane, and completely lived up to it's hype. I loved it. I was definatley looking even more forward to viewing Frontier(s), as it wasn't even released for rental in the U.S. This I took as either a bad sign (wouldn't make any money in theatres, which is typical of horror films anyway) or it was an excellent sign (too graphic for open public consumption.) When it came and I saw it, I admitt, I did feel a little disappointed, but it's definately not a bad movie either. Production quality is top notch, and acting is very decent, excluding a bit of which could be considered overacting by our heroine, Yasmine (Spasmic convulsions overcome her within the last 10 minutes of the movie that are a little unbelievable.) But with all of the hype that came from this boy, I expected something a little more manly. Not damn bad, but nothing I havn't seen before. I will give the movie four stars for the most climactic, and original killing I have seen in awhile, including an axe, a shoulder, a table saw, and a solarplex. Enjoy, plenty-o-blood, but a TON! of borrowing, watch some well produced and interesting twists, while calling out over a dozen movies this was inspired by. One thing is for sure, this string of new French extreme gore films has got me captivated, watch out for the renound film by Pascal Laugier "Martyrs" coming to the U.S. sometime soon... hopefully!
No Clever Title 
2008-07-07
Weird, crazy movie. Started out slow. You've got Nazi's, zombie kid, cannibals, one brave herroine, a bunch of gore and not a whole lot of it makes any sense.
FRENCH HORROR CONTINUES 2008-06-27
Alone in a Paris plagued by deadly race riots the young and beautiful Yasmine is looking for a way out. In her desperation she turns to her shady ex-boyfriend. Together with his two thug friends they pull off a bold heist and head for the border. With the police close behind they hide out in a seemingly peaceful inn. But the mysterious innkeeper is hiding a secret more terrifying than anything they could ever imagine. Trapped in an endless maze of tunnels crawling with hungry subhuman cannibals they must fight to survive their bloody initiation into the innkeeper's evil family cult.System Requirements:Running Time: 108 minutes Language: French Subtitles: English / SpanishFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: HORROR/DEMONS Rating: NR UPC: 031398232742 Manufacturer No: 23274
Frontier(s) 2008-06-16
now the last week i have been watching a lot of french movies, mostly horrors. some thrillers as well, like gaspar noe's revenge drama irreversible, plus his movies where we follow a french horse meat butchers life in paris "i stand alone" and "carné". what struck me though is how much i enjoy french horror. movies like "ils", "l'interieur", "haute tension" and to some degree "calvaire". and now "frontier(s)" which was next to l'interieur and haute tension as my favorite one. in an age where most american horrors fail to intrigue me (with exceptions like aja's the hills have eyes remake and perhaps frailty), and a lot of asian horrors include the same white dressed black haired ghouls. france is breathing life into horror. frontier(s) sets off with 5 young thieves fleeing paris during the riots, one of them has been shot and is begging the others to take him to the hospital. so the group split up, 2 is taking him to the hospital while the other 2 is fleeing with the money. to later meet up outside of paris. the latter come across an inn in a rural part of france , where they are told that they can stay the night for free. soon what started as fleeing from the police in paris and jail sentences, ends up as fleeing from cannibalistic neo nazis for their lives. some have said that it borrows heavily from other movies, well it's not the most creative movie i have seen. yet it got a lot going for it with sympathic characters. some cool visuals and leaving you with the feeling that you really want the victims to escape this. (i'm usually rooting for the killers). some stand out details and a great atmosphere through out. i thoroughly enjoyed this movie and will most likely re-watch it over and over again. (the movie suggest a lot instead of showing wounds and carvings, but it does it in such way that it doesn't leave me feeling like i'm watching a "disney horror" and you do get to see tendons cut!=goodie) i recommend it for horror fans, not for the rest
You've Seen It All Before 
2008-06-16
To say that this French thriller is derivative would be a compliment. FRONTIERES follows a road map of other previous films. It travels from RESERVOIR DOGS Place down PSYCHO Lane as five (soon to be four) friends escape Paris with a duffel bag full of cash. There's a signpost up ahead. It reads "FRONTIERES" with an arrow pointing right to HOSTEL and one pointing to the left to TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE (in little letters below that it says "the remake"). A little on up the road there's a detour marked THE DESCENT. All of these places are in the idyllic French countryside in the county of HAUTE TENSION.
Throw in a Nazi war criminal as a patriarch, some terrifically hot girls, and a few thuggish brutes and you've got all the makings of the next Rob Zombie film. I was casting the American remake in my head as the events of FRONTIERES predictably unfolded. The joke, of course, is that the film is named FRONTIERES but it doesn't boldly go into any territory that horror fans (especially those enthralled with torture porn horror) haven't been to before.
nc-17 eh. I've seen worse but amazing non the less... 2008-06-13
This was a breath of fresh air from the past, oh I don't know 50 horror movies I have seen.
But it kept my attention the whole time, it was fairly gory and had an interesting story.
Pretty awesome, if only the US would come up with some stuff as good as this I would be stoked!!!
At last, a French film worth watching. 2008-06-13
This is an outstanding film for those of you who enjoy your blood and gore supersized. This is a dark story that is a cross between Hostel and House of a Thousand Corpses. It's about an evil inbred family led by a grandfather who is a veteran of the WWII Nazi regime who seek people to add to their stockpile of human flesh that they eat. This story line gets even better when the family decides that the female that they have captured is just what they have been looking for to expand their inbred gene pool. The only downfall of the movie is that it is in French with Enlish sub-titles, however, the action in this movie kept me glued to the screen. Good story line.Great cinematography!
