Frontière(s)

Relentlessly uneven and hopelessly derivative, Frontière(s) is nevertheless an entertaining horror flick that benefits from the inclusion of several gleefully over-the-top kill sequences. The movie follows four rebellious youths as they take refuge from the police at a country inn, where the overtly sinister nature of their Germanic hosts quickly becomes evident. Filmmaker Xavier Gens has infused Frontière(s) with a whole host of undeniably needless elements, with the gun battle/car chase that kicks things off certainly the most apt example of this. Likewise, Gens’ screenplay is essentially a patchwork of familiar contemporary horror-movie moments – to such an extent that even casual fans of the genre will be able to recognize sequences and kills cribbed from flicks like The Descent, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and High Tension. There does reach a point at which Gens begins to forge his own path, however, and Frontière(s) becomes as gripping and brutal as one might’ve hoped (and if nothing else, the movie probably features the most memorable death involving a table saw in cinematic history).

**1/2 out of ****