7/1/08: Frontier(s) (2007)Let’s start with today’s spoiler situation. If you’re fond of the horror genre lovingly described as “torture porn,” then nothing we’ll say here will interfere with your enjoyment of
Frontier(s). People who don’t enjoy watching gory movies will be happy with whatever we give away in this entry.
Never mind where our personal tastes lie.
Frontier(s) speaks to our politics. It was a pleasant surprise, too. We can’t think of many similar French horror films.
We were also confused by a recurring mistake in the plot synopsis. We kept hearing that
Frontier(s) is set in a futuristic France where a fascist regime has taken control. That’s not true. We could tell from the opening that this was modern-day France. Yes, there’s a bunch of grimy angry youth rioting on the night of an election. They’re not up against a fascist regime, though. That’s made clear early on, when one of our lead characters faces off against a police officer. The cop won’t pull his gun on the unarmed youth. This gives the activist a chance to beat the policeman unconscious.
Later on, one of the other leads will be sitting in a bed and watching the election results. He’ll be complaining about how France is always a decade behind the United States, and now his country has elected its own George Bush—clearly referring to George W. Bush.
Boy, is this guy disgusted. So is his Muslim pal. They don’t know it, but they’ve settled into the film’s plot. It’s not an original plot. These two are part of a group of young people who are staying at a hostel that will turn out to be run by a family of inbred cannibals who’ll be killing the cast off in gruesome ways.
These aren’t your typical victims, though. They’re political activists who used the riots as a chance to rob a bank. One of them—the brother of the group's sole female—was shot by a policeman. He’s dead. The rest of them are trying to drive to the border and get out of the country.
The big gag is that these disillusioned youth—so disturbed at the political trends that would elect a president like Nicolas Sarkozy—will end up being tortured by monsters fathered by a former Nazi. It seems that WWII isn’t such ancient history that you can believably have a former Nazi running around as the head of a family of psycho killers. These socially sensitive bank robbers take the porn out of torture. Or is it the other way around? Anyway, the mayhem couldn’t happen to a nicer bunch of cretins.
Frontier(s) isn’t meant to be this much fun. Writer/director Xavier Gens claims the film was inspired after a particularly creepy French candidate made a strong showing back in 2002. We can relate to Gens’ concerns. We’ve met the types who support Ron Paul. It’s just that the rise of Sarkozy helped to clarify the film’s message. Some of the opening riot footage is even pulled from the aftermath of the 2007 election.
As a result,
Frontier(s) offers a fine conservative vision. You thieving kids are worried about getting your own President Bush? You heard he’s just like Hitler? We’d personally recommend this hostel to them with a clear conscience.
The heroine seems to have learned a lesson by the end of the film—and her dying brother has already talked her out of the abortion she planned to have, although we’re not sure that was doing anybody a favor. But there’s an even more obvious endorsement of
Frontier(s) as right-wing trash. Some angry Leftists have already complained that Gens is a closet fascist who doesn’t understand political complexities. It’s like he doesn’t know the Nazis are already running his country.
Make it your own: Frontier(s) is part of the “After Dark Horror Fest” series. That’s why a lot of horror fans haven’t bothered watching the film. It’s the first decent production to be released under the banner—and was violent enough to never be part of an actual After Dark Horror Festival. Anyway, that explains the minimal
DVD release. There’s no director’s commentary, and that’s a shame. It’d be interesting to hear what Gens has to say about the film now.
