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Recent releases:
- Mothers' Instinct
- Sweet East, The
- Ghost Busters: Frozen Empire
- Immaculate
- Roaring Twenties, The (reissue)
- Soul
- Dune: part two
- American Star
- Dune: Part 1 (reissue)
- Jerry & Marge Go Large
- Argylle
- Forever Young
- Jackdaw
- All of Us Strangers
- Holdovers, The
- Mean Girls
- Poor Things
- One Life
- Ferrari
- Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom
Borderlands, The
Stars: Gordon Kennedy, Robin Hill, Aidan McArdle, Luke Neal, Patrick Godfrey
Director: Elliot Goldner
The groundbreaking (at the time of its release, that is) but overrated shocker The Blair Witch Project unleashed the found footage genre that has become a cinema staple, notably in horror movies like Cloverfield, Paranormal Activity and their plentiful ilk.
So my heart sank when I realised at the start that The Borderlands was yet another headcam movie.
Which simply taught me yet again that no reviewer should ever reach a final judgment until the movie is over.
Praise is due to writer-director Elliot Goldner for creating growing suspense and reaching a truly chilling climax by telling the story of two investigators sent to the West Country to check out reports of paranormal activity during a Christening at a newly reopened remote church.
Supernatural shocks duly occur and the line Its just echoes. No monsters. No demons proves to be a great deal less than comforting.
The inclusion of a lay head-camera expert (Im a techie, mate) in the-demon-seeking safari turns out to be particularly effective as Goldner approaches his truly terrifying underground climax, while the absence of unfamiliar faces in a cast giving convincing performances adds impact to a small-scale chiller that achieves much more than might initially be expected.
Alan Frank
UK 2013. UK Distributor: Metrodome. Colour.
88 minutes. Not widescreen. UK certificate: 15.
Guidance ratings (out of 3): Sex/nudity 0, Violence/Horror 3, Drugs 0, Swearing 2.
Review date: 28 Mar 2014