Frontiere(s) (FR) (limited)
| release date | May 9 2008 |
| studio | After Dark Films/Lionsgate |
| director | Xavier Gens |
| writer | Xavier Gens |
| starring | Karina Testa, Aurélien Wiik, Patrick Ligardes, David Saracino, Maud Forget, Samuel Le Bihan, Estelle Lefébure |
| trailer 1 | Trailer #1 |
1 Comments
Dang Good. One of the best foreign horror movies ever.
EXCELLENT MOVIE! GREAT ADDITION TO THE AFTER DARK HORRORFEST COLLECTION!!!
THANK GOD THE FRENCH ARE ON THE RIGHT TRACK, THEY MAY GIVE THE ASIAN HORROR COMMUNITY A RUN FOR THEIR MONEY! BEST HORROR FILM OF THE YEAR SO FAR!
ACTING WAS TRUE TO LIFE-VERY CONVINCING! THIS IS DEFINATLY A MOVIE WE WILL WATCH AGAIN!
Fucked up movie. One of the best foreign horror films I have ever seen. It was so messed up and really gory. I really dont like subtitles at all but it didnt ruin the movie at all. If you like fucked up movies than check this one out.
The theme has been done with a lot of variables, a group of misfits get stranded and seek a place to stay, and staying in that place turns to be the worst idea ever….But also the goriest and coolest movies…
There may be Spoilers; You Have been warned!!!
From Dusk Till Dawn, Calvaire, Texas Chain Massacre, House OF 1000 Corpses. you name it, we pretty much have learn the golden rule; If the place it’s good for hiding, it could be that Something it’s already hiding there!!!
In Frontiere (s) the acting it’s very good, the gore it’s more than abundant and the setting it’s more close to home than most of us are willing to admit… the Freak family here has very likeable points on their character, in a ironic way, the family it’s remnants of a Nazi group, but they are more likeable than the white trash family Rob Zombie keep presenting us in his films, and the ones in the Texas Chain Massacre films, I actually could picture a lot of American actors for the parts in the most assure Dreaded REMAKE.
In the third act there’s a lot of time when you would think that you’re watching the last scene, just to realize the film keeps going, (about three times), In this film the culture it’s not a factor, like in Asian films, so you can easily relate to the whole setting.
Be sure you check this film, but be aware than although the pacing is very good and steady, it might be somehow slow for those are used to the pacing in “Saw”, in any case this film it’s a great new breath for an saturated remake market…
Who knew such extreme pain and gore could be so artistic and beautiful?
Going into this, I already had word from Mr Disgusting (Thanks to a brief conversation at the March Horrorhound) that it was a very good film. Little did I know HOW good it was going to be. The acting was top notch and the story was interesting and layered using elements from so many films before. It has an homage kind of feel. Let that be know before going into this. There are various moments you know exactly where the inspiration comes from.
Without going into anymore detail (that being the sites reviewers job) the movie is well worth checking out and sits with my top films of the year.
i hated this movie! this film did not cover my expectations one bit. in my opinion this movie carries a story that becomes less that important passing the first part of the movie, the violence is lame and predictible, i expected a lot more from the trailer and posters… i can go on and on. it sucks!!!!
This is a well-made film suffering from a mediocre script and an editor who didn’t know what to leave out. It’s way too long, and keeps beating the same dead horror horses to death over and over. There are some great scenes and characters –Father is superb, definitely the best thing about the film. But too much is predictable and overdone. The excessive length detracts from the efforts at building a good atmosphere of terror. For those who never tire of seeing the same gore cliches repeated verbatim, it’s probably a lot of fun. But to compare it to Haut Tension is, in my opinion, completely out of order. It’s mediocre in comparison with Haut Tension, which I think was one of the best films in the genre in years. Worth a watch, but not a must-see unless you’re a dedicated gorehead.
V-I-S-C-E-R-A-L!!! I have a warm spot for any movie where fascists get their due treatment. While I feel the narrative is a bit loose; the action, violence, and gore are T-I-G-H-T. The core of Frontiere(s) is an anti-fascist parable for a world where violent, reactionary politics seem to pass, even among the mainstream, as a positive solution to complex global problems. Progressives should love this film, but the more conservative horror hound will likely only see its flaws. C’est la vie, et nous ne nous reposerons pas jusqu’à ce que le dernier nazi meurt.
WOW! is all i have to say. Blood. Guts. drama. amazing. I thought the movie would have been a little more gruesome because of the exploited fact it was only in the movies for four days, But overall it had some worthy gore. I liked and disliked the fact that it took a lot of things from other horror movies. This move did stand out from all of the other hostels and torture films purely because of the acting. The acting was so incredibly believable i forgot it wasn’t even in english.
Definitely worth seeing
WHAT MORE DO YOU WANT ?! A GREAT STORY.. DRAMA.. INTENSE MUSIC.. NAZIS.. BLOOD AND GUTS(AND WHEN I SAY THAT I MEAN A LOT OF FUCKIN BLOOD AND GUTS).. AND GUNS!
I THINK THIS IS AN AMAZING MOVIE, ONE OF THE MOST MEMORABLE SINCE HAUTE TENSION OR INSIDE.
THESE FRENCH D00DZ KNOW WHAT THEY’RE DOING.
THIS IS MY FAVORITE FOREIGN FILM SO FAR, PEOPLE ARE TRYIN TO COMPARE IT TO HAUTE TENSION AND WHATNOT, BUT THEY ARE BOTH TOTALLY DIFFERENT TYPES OF HORROR AND BOTH ARE SO GREAT IN DIFFERENT WAYS, BUT I’D CHOOSE THIS OVER HAUTE TENSION.
Yea, this movie was absolutely incredible. It definitely exceeded my expectations on every level. Fantastic direction, cinematography, story, acting, and special effects. Just watch it, you’ll see.
I felt that this movie was alright. I was waiting in anticipation for months for it because I thought it was going to be gory, twisted, and amazing…I was slightly let down. There is some decent gore, sure…but not as much as I was hoping for. The story turned out to be a little blah…the basics of the story are pretty trite, plus it all felt very underdeveloped. The dialogue isn’t very strong and there isn’t much character development occurring. The acting is decent, but not mind-blowing. Overall, it was a fairly decent horror film but nothing to gush over (just like Inside, which I felt was WAAAAAAAYYYY too hyped up and a huge letdown).
Damn this movie made me mad… I trekked all the way out to the Mann’s Chinese Theatre in Hollywood, the tourist capital of LA, with huge expectations after reading everyone’s reviews and having just watched Inside – an amazing French horror film…. What did I get? The French version of Texas Chainsaw Massacre… Why did anyone think this was original? The crazy family that kills together? What a fucking hunk of shit! The gore was decent (the tablesaw scene was unbelievable), but this storyline SUCKED. The whole intro bank robbery was completely superfluous. The boyfriend dude, who seemed like he could be somewhat of a hero, was killed in like 2 seconds in a completely anti-climactic way? “Haute Tension” was OK – the beginning was amazing, but the end was completely unoriginal…. “Inside” spun my head around and was completely original…. This movie was a complete and utter hunk of shit. I’m just not convinced that the French are the next big thing for horror. BD – I trust your 5 star ratings and go out of my way to see them… this was not, by any account, a 5 star movie.
this movie sucked. which movie was it tryn to be? it borrowed every tired horror cliche imaginable. the only reason i didnt return it is the gore. inside was better.
It seems like this is one of those movies that people either love or hate. Here’s my two cents… I thought it was pretty good. True, it did seem like it borrowed a lot of ideas and characters from other horror movies, but I think the fact that it was a foreign movie helped me overlook it. Bottom line is that it’s a violent adrenalin rush with solid acting.
Great film. The amount of realism is incredible, and the performance form Karina Testa is nothing short of breathtaking. This is easily my favorite film, and I hope to see more like it from Xavier Gens, as well as more roles from Karina Testa, in the future. Absolutely incredible.
One of the best horror films in years.
amazing.
I love this movie
a lot of things going on but man it really nails it!
It IS great, but it did’nt beat Haute Tension.
I really liked this film. But, I wasn’t sure where all of it was heading. It seemed like it was using the violence just to be violent. The plot was a little thin IMO, but it was done very well. I think that Inside was much better than this one. I would like to see more from the people that made this film because I see talent all over the place!
Average. Shouldn’t be mentioned in the same breath as Inside
Maybe I need to watch it a second time. Just being honest, the first time I saw it I actually fell asleep because it was so typical. I watched the last hour I had left this morning, and I still wasn’t impressed. I think reading the review here on BD helped me enjoy it a bit more, but . . .
Things you need to know about this film that no one is mentioning:
- It takes a lot of time to start up. There is a lot of action in this boring time, but none of it is extremely well done, so you’ll most likely be bored in the first hour.
- The plot itself is nothing special. It IS, not arguably, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre with a Nazi instead of a wannabe cop gone over the edge. Leatherface is replaced by a guy with his exact same build, but no chainsaw or skin disease. The family table scenes are copy/pasted into this movie in nearly the same exact form. Rip off or inspiration? You decide, but you can’t deny the liberties the director took to use the same exact story as The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.
- The way it’s shot is a copy/paste of the Saw franchise, minus the clock-tick camera scenes. The way it’s cut, combined, edited, and shot originally are all heavily influenced if not directly ripped-off of Saw. Once again, decide for yourself which it is.
- Unlike the poster tries to suggest, this is no epic. It’s more or less a “went to a hotel with the family from The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, they put me in a Saw II-like maze, and I got out like every typical horror movie ever”. Nothing more, nothing less.
- It is NOT insanely violent. If you’ve seen Saw III, this is tame. Nor does it have the brutality of Saw II. The gore is very generic, almost boring, and certainly predicable in every way. It remained me of an edited cut of The Hills Have Eyes minus the mutants and minus the more extreme moments. Do not expect a gorefest. If you do, you’ll be disappointed. Some gore scenes are even cut-off scenes.
My opinion:
This film was way too typical. You’ve seen the formula done a hundred times. The reason I enjoyed it was because it was very well done, and it was pretty intelligent. I was disappointed with the lack of gore, but it wasn’t too bad. If I hadn’t seen the movies it took everything from, I would have really loved it. But I have, and it was just too typical. The action scenes with the guns were very cool and probably the most memorable parts of the movie. Some of the acting was dead-on-amazing, while others–the little girl, the fat guy–were just lame. The only thing that sold me was the twisted moral about wishing your child was dead before it was born into a world like this.
Worth a buy? Not really. Worth a rental? Hardcore, yes! Just don’t go into it with the expectations that a perfect review from this site suggests you have. Maybe it does earn a perfect review for the moral, or maybe it deserves a low one for the clichés. I don’t know. Decide for yourself. Do not skip a viewing of this movie in some way.
awsome
this was a good violent horror movie. acting was good. they might have take some scenes from other movies but it still was a hell of a movie. well worth it
Its a good movie, but its still a hollywood approach to what a german torture for american guys should be like, its not as dark and deep as I hoped it would be like. Aya should do a remake of this, it had far more potential, still its a good movie, especially if you liked the last 2 TTCM movies
I loved this movie. I wish they would come out with a dubbed version.
A gem in the world of mostly shitty horror films
Visceral, violent, very well made. This reminds me how I felt the 1st time I watched SAW!
This film goes to show that even when the overall story has been done before, you can still blow an audience away by doing it passionately.
The few flaws there are are easily forgiven – this film just doesn’t let up.
As someone already said – you forget it’s in a different language.
Recommended.
After all the hype on this film, I was expecting it to be alot better. Overall, I thought the film was decent (gore wise) but the plot had been done a million times in countless other cliche’ horror films…
I possess what can only be described as a raging huge mega-boner over French horror films, as they have consistently ranked among some of the most well-executed, terrifying, and beautiful films to represent the severely under-appreciated genre, so when I heard that a French film crept into the line-up at the 2007 HorrorFest, I shit myself in excitement. Of course, as this was originally an “8 Films to Die For” release (it was pulled from the line-up due to the MPAA being whiny ass faces and rating it NC-17), my expectations weren’t too high, as Wicked Little Things was the only film I had seen from that year, and that movie made me so angry I punched a kitten.*
Frontier(s) follows a simple premise: a group of amateur thieves flee Paris after riots break out and get held up at a small inn owned by less than reputable characters. Their plans of a quiet night away from authorities changes course when their hosts reveal themselves to be neo-Nazi with both a taste for human flesh and the theatrical. What follows is a brilliantly crafted thriller that transcends your stereotypical gore-fest into a horror film that will go down in the annals of history as that one French horror film of 2007/8 that wasn’t À l’intérieur.
This film contains a number of homages to classic and contemporary horror films, used against them in the guise of unoriginality. All Movie lists its primary influence as the Texas Chainsaw Massacre, a claim given credence toward the end of the film with the dinner scene, which features the twisted cannibalistic Von Geisler family discussing Yasmina’s new role as the “brood mare” to their Master Race. Though glaring in its influence, it remains one of the most tense scenes I have ever seen, due in no small part to the phenomenal soundtrack that accompanies it and the stellar and incredibly disturbing portrayal of Le Von Geisler, the twisted leader and father of the pack, by French actor Jean-Pierre Jorris.
Another scene features an Achilles tendon snipped by a pair of shears, itself reminiscent of Hostel and no doubt appropriate, as the film displays many characteristics of torture porn. Though a good, solid portion of the film features scenes such as this, I would be hesitant to lump it into this category as it was entirely secondary to the story and only served to illuminate the perversity and sadistic nature of the Von Geisler family. Additionally, the scenes are brief, and no more twisted than anything found in Hostel and its ilk, which makes me wonder why the film was rated NC-17 in the first place. It could have been the allusions of underage rape, or it could have been the thematic elements (Nazis are always a touchy subject, especially when they eat human flesh). Whatever the case may be, in the end the scenes of torture and gore aren’t entirely necessary, and I felt they some of them could be eliminated, or at the very least toned down. It does remain a testament to the film, though, that after viewing the film over a month ago, the acting, story, cinematography, and incredibly bad ass fucking score come to mind well before the blood and guts and various grotesqueries.
It pains me to see a movie I love so much be so critically derided, but I guess it comes with the territory. The influx of films that fall under the umbrella of torture porn seems to make ANY portrayal of torture and violence anathema, and the few reviews present on sites such as MetaCritic reflect this. Its perceived unoriginality serves as major fodder for these reviews as well, as much of what is presented is gleaned from other films (see above) and typical horror film tropes. While this does detract from the film in one way or another, I don’t think it deserves immediate dismissal as a result, as I personally believe any idea, no matter how unoriginal or outlandish it may be, can be done well. This goes double for horror films, where the employment of various techniques can take the focus off a bad script and scare the shit out you. In the end, however, the only reviews that matter come from the real horror fans, and this film has received rave reviews across the board from those rare individuals who are sick and twisted enough to love horror more than anything in the world. Like myself.
My love of this film might seem hypocritical of me, what with my unabashed and often overtly discussed disdain of torture porn (remember: they are to be enjoyed, but not appreciated), but one only has to view Frontier(s) to understand where I’m coming from. While my cynicism prevents me from taking a leap of faith and saying that horror movies are on the rebound (some really good flicks have started coming out and are actually receiving attention), it does not prevent me from saying that the French are now the undisputed kings of horror. It is a superb film, yet not without its flaws, but they’re so minor that they don’t take away from the viewing experience. Highly recommended.
*It was an ugly kitten, don’t worry.
i went to my wal-mart (of all places lol) to pick up a movie last night just because i was bored and they have a pretty decent horror movie collection there. I ended up picking up this movie for 13 bucks came home and watched it and enjoyed alot more then i thought i would it. it reminds me of a alternate version of the texas chainsaw in many ways but its brutally violent and has some genuine creepy moments. deffinetly pick it up
I’ve seen this movie two days ago and it totally kicked maximum ass. It sure was one of the thoughest I’ve seen recently. Although you actually don’t see any hardcore-violence at all…its up to your imagination. I would say, it is nothing new – we have seen all of it before in other movies – but it sure is worth seeing.
Nothing original. Tried to hard to be disgusting and hard to watch.
Pretty stupid gorefest. It was amusing during the first viewing, guessing in which gruesome ways the cast will die but there
loved this movie!!
Insane violence! I picked up this movie without knowing anything about it, and you can bet I was surprised. It was very well filmed, but it lacked that something extra. In this movie I felt as though I saw cliche after cliche. But I’m not going to complain too much, it was pretty awesome.
Don’t believe the hype at all people, it’s pretty much a waste of time. The gore was decent at the most, but there wasn’t that much of it. You want a disturbing, great, gory movie see the movie INSIDE, it will change your life. now that movie is well worthy of it’s hype. INSIDE OWNS. Frontiers does not.
I was REALLY disappointed by this flick. DOnt get me wrong, its not bad, but definatley not great. I really didnt find it all that violent like the hype suggested it would be, just plain average violence. Even for a french horror film it was disappointing. Worth a watch if your bored with nothing to do. Watch Inside instead!!!
Stemming along the same veins of High Tension and Inside, the French give us another film to keep us hooked on their way of doing a horror film. Unfortunately to me Frontiers didn’t quite live up to it’s hype but none-the-less had the same feeling that I love from the French, lots of blood and violence, female leads, and creepy stuff! Hopefully we see better in the future.
I must say, it takes a lot for a movie to leave me speechless at the end, but this one had my jaw on the floor constantly. While the story may have been a little cliche it was still an amazingly well done film. Not only was the gore pretty intense, but you really find yourself rooting for yasmine to get her vengeance on this group of twisted bastards. The violence and gore looked amazing and the family was genuinely creepy. Those that cant handle reading subtitles and watching a movie at the same time wont like it as much, but if you can get past that it is nothing short of breathtaking. I recommend this movie to anyone that truly appreciates the horror genre. it will be time well spent!
UNBELIEVABLE. if youre favorite recent’s were the Descent and the Ruins (which I loved) you’ll love this one.
One of the best horror films ever made for sure!
what a masterpiece of a horror film that this is.
I read positive reviews before watching it, but rarely do i let reviews sway decisions in watching certain films, so i watched it already knowing people loved it, and i could clearly see why, this movie’s formula wasnt exactly new ground as far as a killer type of family in the middle of nowhere goes, but in terms of suspense, intensity, drama, and overall horrific this film succeeds as a perfect horror film that any true horror film fan should absolulty adore, that is unless you cant read (subtitles)
this movie was awsome it had a wicjed story line and the actors were amazing.
Nothing new here. Everything has been done multiple times in other movies. The story in this movie is as deep as Hostel (yeah, it sucks THAT hard), characters weren’t very likable and the main character acted like she was retarded at times (in shock of course) and then acted completely normal, and then went back to being retarded. Don’t believe the hype, this movie is way overrated.
Another superb French horror. It has the same feel as Haute Tension. Grim. grisly and gory as hell – wonderful!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
It’s a decent movie…Nothing original, too many cliche but i enjoyed it…
i saw this movie yesterday and i expected so much but it was so crappy. of course for gore fans its ‘gore heaven’ but it was not exciting or enthralling at all in my opinion! i mean of course the idea with the nazi family who eats people is wired and some will find it cool, but everything was done so crappy. i mean the characters were so stupid and i dont know. it was a waste of time. if i see a horror movie i want tension and my heart has to beat fast but this movie was just about stupid chararcters and blood. and that doesnt make a movie a horrormovie
Excellent
I loved it downright. I also really liked the score.
This movie was tense and bloody, just like I like it. It was slower paced than others I have seen recently but it was a good change of pace in my opinion. It allowed the movie to build tension up to the bloody payoff which was, well, bloody. It was a smart and scary film and is highly recommended. See it.
I think at this point, especially here on BD, there has been huge expectations built on the rather new French horror sub genre. These in my opinion, are the most well crafted and intense horror films that have come out in the 2000′s. Unfortunately I think folks can sometimes give too much credit to the French for their extreme cinema. In this case, a little too too too much credit. Though this far surpasses more recent horror films, this is nothing groundbreaking. With all of the intense hype that was surrounding this and “Inside” (which definately deserves all of it’s hype IMHO) I was expecting much more from this gem. Especially since it attained a higher rating in France then Inside did, which had tons more gore. Perhaps that only has to do with the neo nazism themes through out the film. But either way, the effects were done very well, the deathbytablesaw was killer, and perhaps the coolest killing in in horror for 2008. This is by no means a waste of time or money, definately one for the collection, but definately a bit overhyped
i didn’t like this movie becuase it reminded me of alot of other movies
Hostel and the people under the stairs
but yeah the gore is pretty awesome and the story is ok but i didn’t think it’s as good as poeple siad it was going to be
after the 5th viewing of this film i can still say i love it
What can I say but the movies was golden why because
gore, lots of deaths and a great story line. I think like the comment before I have seen it about 5 times and it’s not old to me yet. I suggested if you like original killing scenes this one is it i don’t know which one is my favorite scene either the head shot scene or when she is covered with blood from head to toe.
This is a great movie. Good story. Very good special effects, violence, extremley bloody, good acting. One of the best horrors of the year! Don’t pass this one up!
what a crap film – absolute shit ! dire, dire trash
Frontieres is awesome, Inside is awesome, Haute Tension is awesome – now bring on the big daddy that is Martyrs, which i feel will surpass them all.
Are you kidding me? Frontier(s) is a mediocre offering… AT BEST. Mr. Disgusting should be embarrassed by and for writing such a distorted review of the movie. It rates a 6/10.
There’s simply no way that it deserves to be mentioned in the same breath with such recent gems of the genre as: The Descent, The Girl Next Door, Inside, The Mist, The Strangers, Rogue, The Mist, or Eden Lake.
it was OK… Noting special here!
The movie was excellant. It had loads of gore. The whole movie is in French. The movie dosn’t lose a moment. If you liked High Tension then you should definetly watch this movie.
Its a french version of hostel (but better). Overrated but not bad.
I loved this movie. It kept such a GREAT pace. It was lacking in nothing. 10/10
i expected alot more from this movie while it still was good it is way overhyped…after finally having money I rushed to Wal-mart this morning and brought this as well as 28 Weeks Later…The story line was good and i loved the main girl but the pacing was slow at first and didn’t really get exciting until 20 minutes before the movie went off…it wasn’t as bloody as i expected it to be but i guess it’s bloodier than some movies…i was just expecting a whole lot more than this…
excellent film of violence and torture, The Axe and buzzsaw is all im saying!
not as good as it was hyped to be but one of 2 best 8 films to die for(both seasons)
just watched this movie the other day and was dissapointed. i kept hearing it was like Inside but Inside was way beeter even that film too had its flaws. the story was in Frontier(s) was not really interesting. some of the characters were stupid and the movie was not even that gory. maybe a renter at best.
This one was good. Same old stuck in the grips of a killer family, but def. one of the best out of 8.
I bought this movie 2 days ago and was totally amped to see it. Gathering from all the hype and reviews, I thought this was going to be something that I’ve never seen before. I expected sick experiments, more variety of kills, and original characters. Nope, just super bloody and gorey, even that though, I thought it would at least be one of the top goriest movies because of its rating, Ive definately seen at least 15 movies that were gorier. The Hills have eyes totally beats this one out in the gore factor, so use that as a barometer. Good movie, but I expected WAAAAYYYYYYY more. One of the best horrorfest movies this year, I honestly think borderland might be better and I actually thought lake dead was one of the better ones too. OVERALL good, but unfortunately not a shocker
Not much to say about this one. It was a decent slasher flick resembling Hostel a lot. However it was much better i did have a few qualms with it though. The film was great but several things were lacking. The camera work was quite well done as was the overall pacing of the film. However some bad acting and cliche’s were less than desirable and deterred from the experience.
All in all a solid watch but nothing too special.
This film does have the essence of Hostel, with the hotel chop shop, but I feel that it delivers more. The ending gave me a feel of the end of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre. It’s politically charged, a didn’t feel it was that gory though. The sawblade is awesome, I agree that some parts were cliche’, but overall it was one hell of a ride.
Not as nasty as I would have thought when reading the reviews. But none the less it was pretty brutal at times. I liked the story and the family was pretty weird and demented. I was pulling for the girl, her boyfriend and the bald kid but was hoping the blonde haired kid would meet his demise and was glad that he did. Overall, this was a very bloody and gory film that I enjoyed alot. I would definitely recommend it if you like blood and gore.
awesome
Nothing to get too excited about if you ask me. One of those movies that’s just brutal for the sake of being brutal. Some cool stuff in it though. Like the dude hanging from the meat hooks by his feet and the table saw death.
And, maybe it was because it was foreign, the psycho family didn’t really do it for me. They all just felt awkward and random. All the stuff with the deformed children felt unnecessary too.
Essentially the French version of Hostel but with the Texas Chainsaw family as the killers. By no means a poorly made film. Just not my cup of tea I guess.
It’s actually good and it was pretty intense. I think it’s really worth a peek. I don’t like this as much as High Tension but I like it a little better than INSIDE.
I think this movie should have been given more credit than it got. The lead actress was phenomenal and although the story mirrored the likes of TCM, it was more intense to me. The rate of panic was insane!
Really over estimated film, generally well done, but filled with lots of gerne cliches. I found the naive political references so irritating that the film just never worked with me.
Perfect horror film that really deserves to be watched. Outlandish and tense this horror film is truly creepy!!
the best horror to come out of France since High Tension. It’s up there as an equal.
This movie was…WOW! I’m really glad I was curious enough to watch it because it really left me speechless(mainly because I had to read the subtitles, HA!) But in all seriousness I enjoyed this movie, the characters were gripping and the story is one of my favorites, the french have really impressed me this time through especially with how graphic it is. This could easily rank up there with some of the best cniematography in horror.
Better than Hostel and Saw by FAR. The french have mucho talent, and this is good stuff. How a good movie got into horrorfest I don’t know. Bought this a long time ago, and first watch I thought it was the best, but as I’ve rewatched with friends, I’d say it’s just good, pretty much a bloody recycling bin of the stuff we’ve seen before, but it is made into a satisfying blood day. Good story, acting, blah blah just watch it you’ll love it. Keep at it France.
One more French movie that just kicks ass!!
Very good movie.. The French do it again…
I love a good bloody movie, and I didnt even mind the subtitles, but honestly this movie was aweful, I didnt even finish watching it. Many will like it and I’m glad they do but for me it just wasnt something I’ld watch over and over again.
The french have just done it again! They are really sick people! Which is wonderful for making fantastic horror films. This is very disturbing and very gory! Lots of blood to keep you watching. The first 40 or so minutes are a bit slow but once it gets going IT GETS GOING!
Great film from start to finish. Foregin horror is taking over
I had never heard of this movie before and when I did read up on the whole Neo-Nazi ideas I thought this was gonna be a full on Nazi torture fest, it was a great movie as a whole it wasn’t the best movie I ever saw, but it was good for what it was. The special effects were well done to say the least. The characters all had this Texas Chainsaw Massacre/Devils Rejects feel to them, I never felt really sorry for the characters I was just in that sucks to be you apathetic mood and was really watching it to see if they came out alive and if they did not what would happen.
A over the top, disturbing, violent movie in the vein of High Tension and Hostel. Not one of my favorite french horror movie I’ve seen, but definitely a ballsy one. I just felt like I’ve seen this before, but I still like what it brought to the plate and I recommend it.
A brilliant movie. I haven’t seen anything like it before.
For an after dark horror film, it was amazing. But the fact is, there are so many better French horror films out there that are better. It was good though.
This film was slow for me in the beginning…once the gore fest started it was a little better…Good story but predictable…This is like a french version of Hostel meets Texas Chainsaw Massacre.
This is the film that Hostel and Saw wish they were. The french have done it again with an uber violent tale but back up the carnage with a politically charged story. This tale starts with a bang and rarely let’s up as the film makers use up every second to create an intruiging story filled with suspense, tension and violence. All though the characters are put through the meat grinder they are people you actually care about, even though they are not essentially ‘good guys’ and even the villains are interesting, thanks to their neo nazi traits and ideas of family and pure races. The villians are painted with the same brush as the TCM clan but they are worlds apart. There seems to be more method to their madness instead of just chopping people up. The gore and make up effects are just as good as any Hollywood film, sometimes even better, and the pain and viscera are cranked all the way up to eleven. A scene involving a cricular saw will stay with you for days as will all the other deaths. The blood flows like it’s being pumped out of a fire hose. Gorehounds will love this but so will people who like a bit more story to go with their suffering. This blows Haute Tension and Martyrs out of the water so if you love those then this will sit along side them on your dvd shelf.
this movie was amazing. it was so good i didnt even mind the subtitles. the gore in this puts hostle and saw to shame. this is the first movie in a long time thats left me speechless.. its crazy
Fucking brilliant.
Let me repeat that, just in case you missed it.
FUCKING BRILLIANT.
Frontiers is the horror film I’ve been waiting for, and I’ve been waiting an awful long time. After years of crappy American horror flicks, I’ve been catching up on both Japanese and French horror, and it’s wonderful to see not one, but two countries churning out high-quality horror over the last decade. Frontiers firmly ranks as one of the best.
Now, before I get into what I liked about it, let’s keep expectations in line by discussing what Frontiers isn’t. This isn’t groundbreaking horror — everything in Frontiers is something you’ve seen before. If you’re looking for something innovative or new, you’ll be disappointed. Frontiers is full of homages to horror greats, but rarely have respects been paid so well.
Frontiers places itself firmly in the tradition of ’70s exploitation/grindhouse horror — it aims to build tension and to shock, with nary a laugh in sight. For a recap of the action, see the official review – no need to rehash here. Frontiers obviously owes a huge debt to Texas Chainsaw Massacre and the successors it spawned (Hostel, et al.), but it does enough on its own to be considered a worthy heir to the tradition rather than just a cheap rip-off.
Indeed, the genius of Frontiers isn’t in its groundbreaking story, but in the way it seamlessly weaves its familiar pieces together. It spends its first 20 minutes as a crime movie; shifts to gritty, visceral survival horror for the next 40 minutes; then abruptly shifts again into a fever-dream nightmare for its final 40 minutes. Though Frontiers doesn’t really resemble either of them, the abrupt shifts reminded me of two other films: From crime to horror was as dramatic a shift as it was in From Dusk ‘Til Dawn; The switch from survival to surreal was as as pronounced as House of 1,000 Corpses. Yet, unlike both of those movies, the shifts in Frontiers WORK. Unlike the other two films, Frontiers never breaks narrative tone — the shifts are natural, and you still feel like you’re watching the same movie.
In the end, Frontiers is a lot like watching a great blues performer: The song he’s playing might be an old standard, but the way he plays with the structure, shifts it around, and adds a few wrinkles to make it his own is unique. You might already know the way it goes, but Frontiers is still a damn fine tune.
This movie was really good,i mean not as good as Martyrs and Inside. I really didn’t mind the subs. The storyline was great and the actors were good to, but what i don’t get is how come people tell me “its so gory and brutal” i mean its nothing we all haven’t seen before
Yet another great frnch horror movie. I didn’t like it as much as Martyrs and Inside but still an amazing horror movie.
Funny to see how Americans love this movie when the French hate it so much.
It was just ok to me.
The best torture film out there other than Saw, and way better than hostel.
I seen this over my friends house on copy & it’s really good because it’s strange & not like any other film with the same plot. Looking at it this could be the Texas Chainsaw Massacre of our generation.
Frontier(s) Is a great horror movie,it was defiantly the best movie of all the horrorfest flicks this year and and IMO the best of any so far..It’s like the Texas Chainsaw Massacre for the new milineum with some Hostel thrown in..
great gore effects, great characters,.It has everything I want in a horror/Slasher movie,a good story as well.
It is a must buy,I dont want to give too much away but if you like cannibalistic Nazi’s that butcher their prey ,hang them on hooks by their feet,make prisoners eat their friends,Oh and mama has a tube in her throat and when they feed her it can be rather messy and unpleasant to watch worse than Grandpa in TCM ..The gore was a delight for the die hard slasher fan plus it has some very redeeming scenes of revenge.
Just saw this movie…and It’s def. in my top 5 now…loved it!
This movie is such a rip off. It tries to steal scenes from The Descent, House Of 1000 Corpses, and Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Completely unoriginal.
Some of it is done pretty well but every last thing in this movie has been done before, and better. I would definitely say pass on this one.
Frontier(s) is a French amalgam of Texas Chainsaw Massacre, The Hills Have Eyes, and Hostel; however, it blows the latter two out of the bloody water and comes close to equaling the first. Set in the future of a right-wing takeover and civil unrest, four outlaws try to flee the country – the main character, Yasmina, doing so mainly to receive an abortion so her child will not be born into “this type of world.” At first this setting seems rather unnecessary and contrived until the nature of the murderous family they encounter is revealed, in their deadly splendor, as Nazis. To make sense of this, one must take into account France’s history as well as the destructive riots that occurred in Paris back in 2005, which resulted from high youth unemployment and the failure of French society to integrate its immigrant population. One of our protagonists is a Muslim, and this is certainly symbolic, and the movie takes on a sort of morality tale about the dangers of fascism and intolerance, with the Von Geisler family serving as the horrifying culmination of both. Whether this metaphor succeeds or not is debatable. Nevertheless, it does offer an interesting layer to ample amounts of blood that splatter every frame in the second half of the film.
Yasmina and her friends are subjected to unspeakable torture via eugenics and cannibalism. This is not merely a torture flick, however, it is also a revenge one, and the best gore is reserved for the dispensing of Nazis. Quentin Tarantino knew that no one could argue with this brand of sadism in his Inglourious Basterds, and so too does Xavier Gens, the director. A scene with a table saw, though predictable, is nonetheless incredibly satisfying, and I am admittedly not a fan of the torture porn subgenre.
Truly, if I were to simply read the script, much of the film would sound awfully hokey, but a talented and well-chosen cast brings the characters and dialogue to life. The deformed daughter and mother to the subterranean mine children, especially, is a presence that captures one’s attention and sympathy. In the wrong hands, this movie could indeed have easily been terrible.
I should say that I loathed France’s previous and much-loved gore-fest Haute Tension, mainly due to the purposeless gore and illogical/unnecessary twist ending. However, this movie is a different beast, far superior to most American films of the same ilk, to Haute Tension, and deserving of the praise it receives.
B-
Brutal
This was horrible; and not in a good way. Just bad. Very stupid plot.
The French must be frightened of fey, geriatric Nazis.
I loved this movie, from beginning to end.
dis is 1 movie wich has matchd up 2 d reviews its recievd,,,,gory,,sadistic,,,the plot mayb paperthin n d movie stretches a bit 2 long,,,,bt d movie reels u in 4m d start widout a dull moment,,,,,d movie achieves wad it has set out 2…2 shock n make d audience squirm,,,,worth a watch,,,,,
this film was entertaining, I am just not that impressed with the french horror wave.
Frontiere(s) was extremely brutal. Probably one of the most brutal movies I have ever seen. Better than both Hostels, and any SAW. This movie was amazing. You actually feel bad for the characters in this film which never really happens in horror movies so thats a plus. The gore effects were astonishing. All in All, Frontere(s) was amazingly brutal and I highly recommend it.
Frontiers is one of the best horror movies to come out in a long time. Very intense, and well acted. Viewer beware, there is some hardcore violence in this one. This is a must see.
A must see for fans of the new wave french horror genre. Who cares about the paper thin plot, this movie is designed to shock you to the very core, and does. Frontier(s) delivers toe curling tension, over the top and realistic scenes of torture and humiliation, its guttural, visceral and will stay under your skin for day’s.
Even as a hardened horror fan, certain scenes made me feel sick to my stomach and i loved every minute. highly recommended and not easily forgotten. Definitely not a date movie!!
You have been warned!!.. 10/10 for shock value and 5/10 for plot
started off good, should have ended earlier
Fun movie but not entirely original or even all that clever. I honestly don’t understand the hype over it over Inside or other French new wave horror.
Decent but not great like the brutally fun Inside, or to a lesser degree, Martyrs or High Tension. Some nice gore and violence, no real scares or chills, and a flow very akin to the torture-porn genre (except for a bit of a breakout for the finale). Thought it was ok, didn’t love it. Gets to go in the collection for another view sometime, but not on a fav list.
great gore.
Decent French horror flick love the gore other then that it’s to over hyped
One of the best horror movies of 2008.
A stunning, impeccable film that would make Eli Roth or Quentin Tarantino proud. The acting in this French-language film puts much of the horror genre to shame. Horrific, enthralling, terrifying. French Neo-Nazi, hillbilly, redneck, bogan cannibals running a motel? What more could you want? Actually, describing the film in such simplistic terms does this masterpiece a great disservice. Truly fantastic horror.
I must say that I don’t understand the high ratings for this movie. I just watched it last night — I was really excited about it — and I have to say the it felt like a bunch of half-assed ideas thrown together. It’s like they said “We like zombies, we like The Descent, we like Texas Chainsaw Massacres, and we hate Nazis… hey let’s throw all those things together and make a disjointed, impotent horror flick and hope nobody notices our complete lack of originality while they’re busy reading subtitles.” I don’t think so. It had it’s moments, sure, and I didn’t HATE the movie. But it was nothing special in anyway. And I gotta say, I’m sick of people constantly using Nazis as the ultimate bad guys. I don’t like Nazis but it’s just a huge cop-out in my book. Why do they have to be Nazis? What does that add? Nothing. It’s just a reason to remind the audience that historically, Nazis were bad. Thanks for the history lesson, Xavier. Better luck next time.
Good not great… I too wonder why this gets the praise it does… I mean, I love the new wave of French horror, but this doesn’t qualify into the holy trilogy of High Tension, Inside, and Martyrs for me…
Still, very good, and one of the better horror releases lately… just not worth losing your shit over…
insane movie i loved it!
thought it was way better than both hostels and high tension. the acting was top notch and the kills were great. Movie was really brutal, loved it.
cant call it origonal but it does everything right. i hate movies that are nothing new but this one here has something about it that makes it kcik so much ass, think of a neo nazi texas chainsaw movie. thats this and i love it!
TORTURE TERROR AT IT’S BEST! Not too much, but just the right amount of torture to have you sitting on the edge of your seat rooting for the heroine. The story does have a few holes though (I still don’t fully understand “the family”…they only really explained the weird hunchback girls story, not the brothers; and how did that guy not see her crawling for the ax?!) but overall this movie was pretty good & gory.
It’s always great to see a woman in one of these films just refuse to be a victim and start kicking some ass, which is eventually what the lead character in this movie does. She goes batty, and really doesn’t give her abducters much of a chance to hurt her too badly (besides a few kicks to the face and a much-needed haircut).
Though I preferred HIGH TENSION, this movie was ALMOST as good. The only thing lacking was a huge twist at the end like in High Tension. The end of Frontier(s) is actually a little weak when compared to the rest of the movie.
Overall a pretty fun film much like TCM with a family of neo-nazis.
great film
A vastly over rated Frankenstein of a film; pieced together from ideas, cliches and imagery lifted wholesale from other superior horror films. It’s pretty bad when you can name the pacific film an idea or scene was lifted from, and I’m not just talking about oft used staples like TCM. Now don’t get me wrong; countless horror films I’ve enjoyed have used cliches and archetypes for characterization, plot and padding, but where Frontiers differs is in its brazenness and failing to do anything remotely original with the material, not to mention the sheer volume of pilfered content and cliches. Despite all of this, Frontiers does have its strong points; it’s well directed with great production value, there are several outstanding, memorable kills and whole thing is appropriately intense. Saying it ranks above average when compared to the entirety of the horrorfest output isn’t a high compliment.
Capsulesn’Coffee hit the nail on the head, so I’ll focus on other aspects of the film. I’m no harsh critic, but I felt little tension at any point in the film – I wasn’t immersed as I often am with horrors. Neither did I feel any remorse for any victims, particularly not the blonde guy with stubble. There seemed to be no character development at the start that made me empathise with victims.
MILD SPOILERS:
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It appeared as though a group of violent yobs (at the beginning of the film) just fled for safety to avoid being arrested. Plus, they were really stupid by not getting help for the shot man until 10minutes after getting him to safety, but instead spending their time arguing over nothing, which could have been done later. Also, the ending was very blunt and could have been much improved just by continuing the film for a few minutes more. Finally, nazi cannibals – a little unrealistic?!
SPOILERS OVER
Enough with the negatives, good parts – I liked a couple of the kill scenes, particularly the table saw scene – brilliant. The cinematography was effective.
5/10
Great film slightly overrated though.
Great film slightly overrated though.
Overrated? I think not, this film was absolutely great. Everything about it, no flaws whatsoever!
I was leery of seeing it because of all the hype surrounding it, usually NOT a good sign, but I was surprised! A gory nail biter with some truly wince worthy moments
Overhyped and under achieving. The film is less enjoyable than many, but still a gem for the 8 films to die for series.
People have been calling the French gore-horror flick “Frontier(s)” torture porn, needlessly violent, and pretentiously ambitious. I was once one of those people, as I did not, at first, enjoy the film. Tonight, I decided to give it another go. This time, I took time to absorb the political messages, survive through the blood-and-gore, which is in large surplus. Different results, all over the place. Now I think that “Frontier(s)” is really damn good.
This is likely to be one of the most violent films most of us will ever see. But that’s how the French are; embedding violence into their horror, and that’s also how us Americans are. I’m not one to praise a film just for being foreign, and I’m not going to do that here. I’m going to base my opinions purely on the quality of the film, and what I personally thought of it. Thank god I can stomach films such as this; because I can also absorb their messages and directorial craft. This is not torture porn, this is not needlessly violent, and this is not pretentious. And I’ll tell you why.
The story opens by showing riots in Paris, which should alone give you the impression that this film is going to be very political. I admire that in a horror film, and some seriously historical films from the genre have gone down a similar path. Some have failed; some have succeeded. Anyways, back to my synopsis.
We have our heroes, run-aways, as I like to call them. They evade capture at the hands of the police, and are on the run soon after. They take two cars, since one of their own is wounded from the riots, and they must make it to a hospital. Those in the other car get a head start towards whatever destination they may be heading to, and they choose a hostel that seems about “right”. However, two are killed soon after arriving, while the other members of the gang of thieves find out the hard way that the owners of the hostel are vicious, merciless, sadistic neo-Nazis; born of the hatred that surrounds the regions of France at the time.
Then the plot takes a dip, turning into some sort of “slasher flick”, or so we like to call them. The film takes much inspiration from “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre” without ripping that movie off, as most horror movies of this type tend to do. This is a well-told horror film that gets its horror out of many things, and it’s actually smarter than you may think. Some will not take the story seriously, and some may not find the messages to be powerful, intellectual, or interesting; but I let them sink in and ate them up with much ease and will. Pleasant? No, but certainly indulgent when it comes to the “bloody goods”.
As for that, I admired how this film did not exist merely to sicken and “be violent”. All the violence and mayhem had a purpose, and this film had a story and characters; all of which I cared greatly about. I assume this is a heck of a “divisive” film, and there will be those of you who will want to throw up and fall into a deep depression after watching it. That’s how I felt whilst watching films such as “Hostel” and more recently, “Offspring”, but this is not how I felt with “Frontier(s)”. Underneath the extreme violence, there is intelligence, good direction, and good acting to be found. I liked how the film was made, it looks great, and never feels like the glorified cinematic snuff-film that it probably could have, and should have been. An underrated work that just about any horror fan should see, and I’d be interested to hear back, from any of my readers, regarding what they thought about the work here. I quite admired it.
I would loosely compare it to Texas Chainsaw Massacre. A family full of murderous creeps and their enablers. But it just got too far fetched toward the end with mutant babies and Nazi crap. Entertaining nevertheless.
Crazy chaos after what appears to be a right-wing gov’t wins a national election. Is there a political statement other than cannibal nazis are bad? Great colour, great camera work. The tunnel scene reminded me of the descent. The cannibal children are fucking awesome, in much the same way that the Piano Bar Crew from Calvaire are awesome.
This one borrows to heavily from other succesful films / franchises and fails to really deliver anything new to have it’s own identity.
If you have a chance to see it, go for it… but don’t go out of your way to find it.
Overrated and familiar. Stick with the original TCM instead.
Meh. Something really got be considered “New Wave” if all you have done is add more violence to a story that has been done to death. Yes the violence does sedate the gore hounds amongst us, however there is not much else that is redeemable. Yes there are one or two moments of thought that should be given but they appear at the beginning and the end. The rest of it however has no message. Nazis are bad? Wow my world has been reinvented. The message sadly got been said here without giving away the ending, so I will leave it alone, but all in all I would not view this as a classic or even comparable with other modern gems at best it is an average affair and just when we thought France was going to be our new safe haven we get not even a handle full of films and most of them are too flawed for us to care.
I didn’t really feel much for the characters however I am always fond of Nazis getting there ass kicked. It reminded me a little too much of TCM but with a nazi angle. The gore factor, I felt, was just right. It extreme enough to be believable yet not so over the top that it ended up being silly. All in all a good film.
One of the first french horror films I had the pleasure and discomfort of seeing, Frontiers set the standards for me for most French horror ( if thats not too narrow minded)and even made me look at horror from a different point of view. I consider most french horror to be art compared to most and this one doesn’t disappoint.
I enjoy the backdrop of riots and chaos in the city, causing anyone to flee the city and this was a great start to the film, and it only escalates from there.
I did like the characters as each one brought a different view point and counterweight to each other and really brought out the best and worse in anyone they interacted with. The “villains” are also convincing and make you hate them even more.
The fx were very well done and the violence was pretty real from a logic and scientific standpoint making it look very real.
This movie is a great horror, violent and sometimes political film that’ll make you cringe and stare in awe at what unfolds. Great film to have alot of people over with tons of food and have everyone (maybe including you as well) jump yelp and cringe at this French horror masterpiece!