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Reviews
The Borderlands (2013)
Slow burner that delivers magnificently.
Before I write this, I have to confess that I love found footage films. There are excellent ones (The original PA, Cloverfield, REC), good ones (Troll Hunter/V.H.S.) and some seriously flawed (Willow Creek anyone?). But the way this seemingly slow paced film gets my mark for being between excellent and good is the characters. While things go quietly bump in the night, we learn about the characters themselves. Whilst every character has their agenda/bonus for completing the investigation, the most flawed character stands out as the one that wants to know the truth, and this film delivers in spades. There are just a few of these films that gives me chills when absolutely nothing is happening on screen, but the tension is rapidly building up, this happens to be one of them.
My only question that would give this an eight. If it is found footage? How was it found?
The Divide (2011)
Extremely bleak, but also very well done.
I have never posted a review on IMDb, purely because I find that some reviewers apparently enjoy trashing a film, while completely missing the point. Some of the reviews here had me shaking my head in wonderment. Calling it trash? It is labeled as Science Fiction/Horror, although I personally think that it is more a character study in human behavior. The following can be regarded as spoilers: A nuclear missile hits New York, we don't know why. People rushing to survive whilst pushing away other people (they are not so innocent to begin with), gets trapped in a bunker. There are some tantalizing glimpses of what is going on outside, but that is not what drives the film. What drives this film is the interaction between good and bad. For the reviewers that saw this movie as people descending into violent behavior, they apparently did not notice this interaction. I would therefore like to break this up into the following and maybe answer some stupid questions that were raised. These people are trapped, they have nowhere to go, and they are slowly being poisoned by radiation seeping in through the sewers. (And yes, reviewer that asked where the air came from? It was explained in the first five minutes of the film.) So the film asks of us, what would you do to survive? Will you give yourself up to degradation and humiliation to get food and water? Will you be strong enough to stand up and defend people, even the ones hurting others? Or will you go insane when you lose someone you love and just give in, because you know there is no escaping, and death is more preferable. How strong is the survival instinct, and how far would you go. Some reviewers thought this was supposed to be an art film. No it is not. Not in the least bit. It was not sold as such. It is also not supposed to be enjoyable. (How is a post-apocalyptic film supposed to be enjoyable anyway?). It is not a 'Hollywood' movie, but an independent production. It is a bleak movie. And yes, not for the faint of heart. But it is the kind of film that explores its premise, and delivers in spades. Some of the reviewers apparently expected a 'Saw' type movie, and was so bereft; they just went ahead and blasted away at it. It is not torture porn. It is not supposed to make you feel all warm and tingly inside. It is supposed to make you think. It is a shame that this get overlooked. In the end, it has nothing to do with the 'Nuclear Missile' and subsequent aftermath, which was just to set the stage.
And for the reviewer that posted that 'Saw' is a excellent movie? I personally think that 'Saw' is the American Idol of film making. It degraded it, trashed it, and got rewarded for it. I realize that this is a long review, but I am sick and tired of armchair reviewers getting their kicks out of trashing extremely well done films.