Hostel meets Texas Chainsaw Massacre in Frontier(s), a viciously gruesome French horror film about several young anarchists who, after fleeing the mayhem that has broken out in Paris, come across a cannibalistic family of neo-Nazis. Despite the movie's flaws, French director Xavier Gens delivers one of the year's bloodiest and best horror movies that, in addition to packing more than enough gore to satiate the taste buds of any horror enthusiast (so much so that the film is rated NC-17), also includes a well placed political subtext.
Frontier(s) has some of the foulest gore we've seen is a long time.
French Chainsaw Massacre
Frontier(s) opens with Molotov cocktails exploding on the streets of Paris where rioting is in full swing. The film's central protagonist Yasmin, her boyfriend Alex, and several of their friends slit up and drive out of the city after Yasmin's brother is gunned down during a botched robbery. The thieves eventually stop to rest at an inn and get acquainted with the owners, who seem friendly (and slutty) enough at first, but soon turn out to be sieg heiling cannibals who are determined to preserve the Aryan race by butchering and consuming Semitic/swarthy-looking travelers and raping to increase their numbers. Yes, your typical family film.
Sure, you could probably replace Frontier(s)'s neo-Nazis with Texas Chainsaw Massacre's rednecks or The Hills Have Eyes'... erm, mutant rednecks and essentially have the same movie, but Frontier(s) overcomes its hackneyed premise with its interesting, but frightening crew of villains, its convincing performances all around, and its truly disgusting and unrestrained gore scenes. In addition to sharing a certain gritty atmosphere to that of the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Frontier(s) also contains a number of scenes that are almost identical to TCM, such as the scene where Grandpa Sawyer is fed at the dinner table. A similar scene exists in this film, only it's grandma who is fed.
This Nazi cannibal is one old dude you don't want to fuck with...
BOOM! A head-explosion that rivals Scanners' famous scene.
Don't Eat Anything While Watching the Movie
On top of Frontier(s) solid performances, the film's imagery is extremely well done, maintaining this ominous quality throughout each of the locations shown in the movie, from the chaos-filled streets of Paris, to the pig feces-drenched dungeon, to the freezer room loaded with plastic wrapped human carcasses--just about everything shown in the film fills its viewer with an acute sense of dread. And that's to say nothing of exceedingly horrific gore Frontier(s) is dripping with.
While not nearly as shockingly gory as you may have heard (most of the scenes are no worse than seen in High Tension or the Hostel films), Frontier(s) is rated NC-17 for a reason. It contains some of the most relentlessly grisly scenes we've ever seen: such as a scene where a young man is boiled to death in extreme heat and another where a big circular saw shreds through one of the film's killers. The movie also has one of the most impressive splattering head explosions ever.
All in all, Frontier(s) is a highly recommended horror film that will please both gore freaks and those seeking a genuine scare.
Terror Rating: 3 out of 5
Originality: 3 out of 5
Level of Gore: 4.5 out of 5
Overall Rating: 4 out of 5
Other Recommendations: Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974), The Hills Have Eyes (2006), Hostel, Hostel: Part II, High Tension
The family in Frontier(s) makes Leatherface and his family look tlike the Brady Bunch.
