It was only a matter of time before someone in Hollywood would cash in on the Matamoros murders. Unfortunately for those anticipating a thrilling adaptation, full of larger than life occult drug lords, gut-wrenching gore and mind games, Borderland does little justice by any means to the story it was inspired by. Not only is there little build up and suspense, the violence is so obviously fake, even an amateur horror film junkie like me would not flinch. Given that the entire film is about a palo mayombe worshipping drug cartel that practices human sacrifice to receive protection from the gods, the maker’s of this film had to have tried really hard not to make it even remotely terrifying.

Eddie (Brian Presley), Phil (Rider Strong) and Henry (Jake Muxworthy) are recent college grads looking for sex, drugs and thrills on the Mexican border the summer before graduate school. Following horror flick formula, Eddie is an intelligent, well adjusted male, Phil is a smart-ass and Henry is naïve and fun-loving.  After a night of partying with a bartender Valeria (Martha Higareda) and her sister Lupe, Henry and Eddie realize that Phil never made it back to the hotel. When the police refuse to help, they begin to realize they are dealing with a powerful and ruthless drug cartel that prowls the streets seeking their next victim. One by one, the few who dare to help are slaughtered and the trio finds their numbers dwindling. Meanwhile, Phil is being held hostage by the ring leader, Santillan (Beto Cuevas) and his cronies who are preening him for sacrifice. Ultimately, his friends stumble upon an ex-cop who has been on the trail of the cult since witnessing his partner’s murder and they combine forces to rescue Phil before his time is up.

The premise has the makings of the next Texas Chainsaw Massacre, but fails miserably. Here’s why: the screenplay is dull and predictable and the graphics are something out of a high school production. Even a scene involving chopping off a victim’s head and replacing it with a goat’s head failed to terrorize! The saving grace is the cast. The acting is the best I’ve seen in a horror film, so hats off to the cast because they really had their work cut out.

Overall, if the screenplay and effects were better, I might recommend watching Borderland. It is definitely not horror, maybe suspense/thriller, and watching it is about as scary as Casper. It lacks originality and makes some serious racial generalizations to boot. The characters seem to be designed from a template and even if you’ve only seen 3 horror films in your life, you will be able to predict who survives and who kicks the bucket.

Special features include “Inside Zev’s Head- A Filmaker’s Diary” and “Rituals de Sangre- The True Story”, which is an interview with a police officer who investigated the Matamoros murders. Audio commentary with the director and cast/crew is also included.