Bloodtype Online

    Alongside A l'interieur (Inside) and Ils (Them) the one movie that I was eagerly awaiting was Frontiere(s) (or Frontier(s) if you like). Yes, all three are French and the first two had not let me down in the slightest, so I was hoping to complete the trio with this release. When I first heard that After Dark Films had decided not to screen Frontiere(s) during their 8 Movies 2 Die 4 Horrorfest I was mightily annoyed at them, but having now seen the movie in all its uncut glory I can only commend them for hanging onto it and giving it its own release, without subjecting us to a truncated version. Frontiere(s) is a savage and unrelenting couple of hours, cutting it would in my opinion cause the movie to lose some of its power. 

    Before I divulge the plot I will just say that it is not the most original ever commited to film, I counted untold nods and winks to all manner of horror flicks old and new, but do not let that dissuade you in any way, shape or form from seeing this movie. Believe me, I have seen the good, the bad and the ugly of survival horror over the years and this one ranks right up there with the better ones. 

    The movie starts off amidst rioting in Paris, caused by an electoral result, which is shown to us through a montage of news footage. Then, as soon as the credits end, we are thrown into the battleground as we join Yasmine (Karina Teste), who is trying to make it to a safehouse after pulling off a heist. She is to meet her three accomplices, Alex, Tom and Farid here, and from there they are heading off to the Dutch border (Not the Danish border as Lionsgate would have us believe), and then onto Amsterdamn. 

    Due to the fact that Yasmine and Alex leave after Tom and Farid they arrange to meet up before they reach the border, spend the night somewhere, and then move on the following day. Seems like a stellar plan, and no doubt it would have been, had the motel that they choose to stay at not been run by a particularly nasty family. If you've read anything about this movie then you'll know exactly what I mean, but for the benefit of those that haven't I will leave it at just that; nasty. 

    Of course, things don't start off that way, they never do, and they are treated relatively well before the movie shifts gear into a quite brutal strain of survival horror. 

    Now, as I previously mentioned, Frontier(s) doesn't exactly reek of originality in its story. What lifts it above the tried and tested though  is in its execution; Frontiere(s) is quite simply exhilarating stuff. From the opening scenes in the chaos that is Paris through to the mayhem that ensues at the motel, this movie never lets up. Now this isn't always enough, just because a movie flies along doesn't necessarily make it a good one, no no of course. But what we have here though is some wonderful direction from Xaviers Gens (Hitman) that seems to flow with the onscreen action, at times frenetic whereas other times a more graceful approach is employed. This along with some fanatastic editing, excellent use of colour, different film speeds and a quite superb score that adds so much to the emotional impact of this movie, and yes ladies and gentleman you do have yourselves a winner. 

    To top this all off, and this is a rarity in horror flicks, there honestly isn't one weak link in the cast, each character is different and each one is played perfectly. I will however single out Karina Teste though, as her performance as Yasmine is nothing short of fantastic. 

    To finish off i'll just say that it is possible to take familiar material and breathe some fresh new life into it, if it is put in the right hands. With Frontiere(s) Xavier Gens has not only furthered my passion for French horror but has got me excited about survival horror again. And that is saying something. 

    One final thing, and I hate to finish on a negative but this concerns the release itself and not the movie, and that is the complete lack of any extras on this disc. There's fuck all here aside from the trailers that come on automatically at the beginning. Surely Lionsgate could have dug something up? I also would have liked to have seen a little more time and care taken over the subtitles too. There is the odd occassion where characters are speaking yet there is no accompanying subtitle. Also there are times when the literal translation does not always make perfect grammatical or situational sense to what is going on onscreen. These problems aren't really enough to spoil your entertainment, but I did find it a little frustrating. 

    Despite that minor gripe this is a fantastic movie that I thoroughly recommend. 

*** 1/2