What are your boundaries?
In Paris, during the riots due to the election of a conservative candidate to the presidency of France, the Muslin small thieves teenagers from the periphery Alex, Tom, Farid, the pregnant Yasmine and her brother Sami plan to run away from Paris to Amsterdam with a bag full of robbed money. However, Sami is shot and the group split, with Alex and Yasmine going to the emergency of a hospital with Sami while Tom and Farid heads to the border with the money. Tom and Farid decide to stop in a bed and breakfast nearby the frontier, and are hosted by Gilberte and Klaudia that offer free room and sex to the newcomers. They call Alex and Yasmine that are fleeing from Paris to join them in the inn, but sooner they discover that their hosts are sadistic cannibals of a Nazi family leaded by the deranged patriarch and former SS officer Le Von Geisler.
Genre(s): Crime, Drama, Horror, Thriller
Runtime: 108 minutes
Rating: 6.1/10 (5,325 votes)
Release Date: 1 July 2007
Country: France, Switzerland
Languages: French, German
Company: Cartel Productions
Sound: Dolby Digital
MPAA: Rated NC-17 for extreme sadistic graphic violence and gore.
Director(s): Xavier Gens
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Producer(s):
Luc Besson - co-producer
Hubert Brault - executive producer
Eric Garoyan - co-producer
Karim Guellaty - associate producer
Rodolphe Guglielmi - co-producer
Bertrand Ledélézir - co-producer
Noël Muracciole - co-producer
Frederic Ovcaric - co-producer
Teddy Percherancier - co-producer
Laurent Tolleron - producer
Writer(s):
Xavier Gens - writer
Cast:
Karina Testa - Yasmine
Samuel Le Bihan - Goetz
Estelle Lefébure - Gilberte
Aurélien Wiik - Alex
David Saracino - Tom
Chems Dahmani - Farid
Maud Forget - Eva
Amélie Daure - Klaudia
Rosine Favey - La vieille trachéo
Adel Bencherif - Sami
Music: Jean-Pierre Taieb
Luc Besson - co-producer
Hubert Brault - executive producer
Eric Garoyan - co-producer
Karim Guellaty - associate producer
Rodolphe Guglielmi - co-producer
Bertrand Ledélézir - co-producer
Noël Muracciole - co-producer
Frederic Ovcaric - co-producer
Teddy Percherancier - co-producer
Laurent Tolleron - producer
Writer(s):
Xavier Gens - writer
Cast:
Karina Testa - Yasmine
Samuel Le Bihan - Goetz
Estelle Lefébure - Gilberte
Aurélien Wiik - Alex
David Saracino - Tom
Chems Dahmani - Farid
Maud Forget - Eva
Amélie Daure - Klaudia
Rosine Favey - La vieille trachéo
Adel Bencherif - Sami
Music: Jean-Pierre Taieb
Posted on: May 16, 2008
November 10th, 2008
I expected a lot when I first sat down to watch Frontier(s). Thestoryline was better than I had expected, and was suitably chilling inplaces. This film promised gore, and it was delivered, but in not asmuch quantities as I would have expected from the hype.
The story follows a group of young adults who try to flee to the borderof France after they attract some heat in the midst of political riots.Finding refuge in a hostel, they soon discover that it is run by afamily of Neo-Nazi cannibals. The film develops into torture and brutalkillings, finally taking the only surviving member of the originalgroup, a pregnant women, who they try to marry to one of their own.
As a horror film, this is a reasonable story, perhaps unimaginative insome places. However this film promised to me over the top killings,extreme torture and gore, this is does not have. As someone who is afan of horror movies, and has seen a lot of gore-fests I was notphased, however the people I was watching this obviously were, but Ifelt it Frontier(s) didn't show anything you wouldn't expect to see inyour average horror film. The most memorable of deaths are pliers tothe achilles tendons, a head getting shot clean off, a face melting andan ear being bitten off. A slight let down I couldn't but think.
The actors generally play their roles well, however Karina Testa in therole of Yasmine does get slightly annoying towards the end of theflick, usually overacting everything that happens to her. The rest ofthe group are believable but nothing more than that. I thought the bestacting came from the family in the hostel. Their acting was really whatmade this film as chilling as it was.
Overall, a reasonable flick, but I really don't think it lived up toits name. It's plot was similar to "Texas Chainsaw Massacre", "TheHills have Eyes" etc, but I found the introduction of neo-Nazis to berefreshing. Worth a watch if you like horror films, but don't look hearif your looking for something really shocking.
January 11th, 2009
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre is credited with revolutionizing the horrorgenre. Many subsequent films emulated its brutally, psychologicallyviolent approach. And a few subsequent films have just ripped it off.
Accordingly, I've generated a checklist to evaluate whether and howwell modern horror films rip off the TCM. (I'm kidding, BTW. I'm makingthis "checklist" up on the spot.)
Qualification checklist:
–Crazy family of murderers? (Check.)
–Butchery of the dead? (Check.)
–Emphasis on realism and brutality? (Check.)
–A scene where someone thinks they've escaped the family and gottenhelp, only to discover that the person they're getting help from isalso part of the family? (Check.)
So, yes. Frontier(s) definitely qualifies as a TCM rip off. But howgood is it? Pretty darn good. Good enough to offend you. Good enough tokeep you on the edge of your seat, even though you've seen it a milliontimes before. Good enough, perhaps, to make you cringe. Highlyrecommended, if that's your sort of thing. Not really as gory as somefilms, but it certainly has enough brutality to stand among the best ofthem.
Of course, it takes a lot more to shock us today than it did in the70s. Accordingly, my quality evaluation checklist bears littleresemblance to the shocks from the original TCM.
Quality Evaluation:
–Pregnant women gets punched in the face? (Check.)
–Severed tendons? (Check.)
–Someone gets ruined with a buzzsaw? (Check.)
–Exploding head? (Check.)
–Boobs? (Sort of. I recall seeing a boob for about half a second inthe latter half of the film, and earlier in the movie there's anonsensical, fast-paced sex scene with music video style editing. Ican't remember if any breasts are bared in this early scene.)
So, all in all, it's pretty good.
On a parting note. Others have compared it to Hostel and to HighTension; I think these are inappropriate comparisons. The film'sstructure is much more similar to TCM. Hostel is divided distinctlyinto two sections, with the first half being a fantasy wonderland andthe second half being its seedy underside. High Tension is pretty muchone situation happening for an hour and half. Frontier(s), like TCM, isa downward spiral for the first 45 minutes or so, and then an extendedclimax that maintains its intensity right up until perhaps 30 secondsbefore the credits roll.
February 16th, 2009
As a horror fan, I've tried not to expect anything from each of thefilms I watched over the years, so I can view them individually andform a better opinion, so far the movie THEM and this film, have bothbeen my introduction into the french horror circuit, THEM was one veryintense movie experience, relying on virtually no gore and more onatmosphere.
I found out about Frontiere(s) when I checked out info on the 2007horror fest, and found that it wasn't allowed because of scenes ofextreme violence, me and my friends actually found it funny because youwould think people actually go to see a film like this at such anevent, and me being the first to see it can safely say, what theyallowed and did not allow turned out to be a huge difference, becausein comparison with the horror fest films (the majority of which werenot really horror films) it was certainly the best, and in terms of SAWand HOSTEL, I liked SAW but HOSTEL in my mind is a total joke, by thatI mean the film tries so hard to shock you by relying on over the topgore and torture scenes that are so over acted or so unconvincing theonly torture I went through was thinking Eli Roth believes he can shockpeople, well just think again, because he can't shock me and neverwill, but this film however managed to do it with very little effort,because it was very straight forward in telling the story it set outfor, and relied on more atmosphere, and the gore though very little,was very effective when I saw it.
Overall, A very effective shocker that accomplishes everything it setsout for and more.
So in terms of the shock factor, Xavier Gens 10, Eli Roth -100.
February 17th, 2009
This film, was awful. I note how many comments are saying the same,that the film is awful, but, they are meaning it is hideous andgruesome and they seem to be saying it is very entertaining and awful.Sorry, it's awful but not in any kind of entertaining way. This filmwas so dull I actually wanted to rip my own skin and torture myself.The filming is very stylised and artistic, you could say. I appreciatedthat. Almost like 28 days later with the speed-ed up camera cut-shotsall over the place. the sense of movement was brilliantly carried overto the viewer. However that's about where the praise ends. This filmlacked so much and yet drew from many other horror movies that aregood.
I'm not even sure where it went wrong. Was it due to the whole storybeing a cliché? I don't think so: 99% of horror movies are, yet theywork! Was it due to the main characters being so weak and transparentlyunbelievable? In a word, yes. The stupid idea of some Nazi leader (Iwon't say any more, wouldn't want to spoil it for you) is such apathetic part of the 'plot' that it only adds to the horror of thewatching experience. There are only about two places where you mightactually get a chill or feel scared but it quickly passes. Thetorturers are pathetic and just seem stupid with not much of a plot towork with. The tortured are uninteresting and, again, veryunbelievable. This film stinks. To compare it like some have here, withChainsaw Massacre or any other highly successful and entertaining movieis a folly. If you're reading this for advice then heed: AVOID.
February 21st, 2009
What we have here is some of the most redundant, presumptuous, andoverall worthless knock-off of the new "torture porn" sub-genreengulfing the modern horror scene. Now I can find certain aspects ofcertain recent "gore" flicks that I find redeeming and enjoyable forthe most part, yet "Frontier(s)" was such a bloated heap of nonsense,it became painful to sit through. Picture "Hostel", "Wolf Creek", and"Live Feed" combined into one movie and just add the French language toit and that is this movie. It takes place during the politicallycharged rioting following a presidential election where a band ofcriminals pull off a heist and plan to meet up at country-bound hostel(imagine that!) after two of them drop a wounded comrade off at theE.R. As it so expectedly turns out, the Inn is run by a family ofcannibalistic butchers… The back of the DVD case states a promise of"hungry sub-human cannibals" which couldn't have been further from thetruth! All I saw were several mean looking bald guys, some roughlooking seductress's, and an old neo-Nazi preaching about a "purerace". No sub-humans anywhere in sight. In one scene, showing two guysclimbing up a vertical, underground tunnel, briefly flashes a glimpseof some creature with red, glowing eyes… Where did THAT go? I assumeit was one of the "children" mentioned later on, yet they are neverincorporated into the movie any more than that. Also, I can't believethis movie received an NC-17 rating from the MPAA. The bloodiest thingshown was probably the Achilles tendon cut; which has become THE singlemost typical method of torture in these movies. Boring! Avoid this oneat all costs!
February 22nd, 2009
Again France proofed that they could make real horror. After the muchacclaimed Irreversible and the well known splatterfest Haute Tensioneverybody in the genre was waiting what came next from France. Well,this one. Already well spoken in the States concerning the explicitscenes and the fact that this movie was not allowed at the horrorfest.What this movie does is making SAW and Hostel look like rubbish. Oh, amI not liking those flicks? Yes I like them but the torture porn styleis made to watch the suffering of people in an amusement way. Thisflick is straight in your face. It starts pretty calm with some riotsin Paris, suddenly the film changes into a real splatter. For me Icould/should refer it with Texas Chainsaw Massacre, the atmosphere andthe shocking scenes. The actors are all believable, the script isexcellent and the editing is really nice done. Like Irreversible, thisis not for the faint hearted, it's not your average Hollywood horrorbut an independent gorefest nicely done, not like the German ones. Ifyour stomach is strong enough, don't hesitate