Three libidinous college dudes from Texas head to Mexico to party, only to find that their bravado and swagger get the attention of a vicious satanic cult that also deals in drugs. It's a dark, dreary story premise transferred to screen through irritatingly revved-up action and lots of gore. Though the script borrowed its idea from the real-life Matamoros Cult Killings of 1989, the film offers very little narrative realism.
Our three youthful gringos are all jerks. None of them are worth caring about. They make one stupid mistake after another; but that keeps the plot moving. Character stereotypes abound. The script's first ten pages or so could have been condensed into about three. Plot structure is chaotic. And we never get a sense of where in Mexico we are. A few references to "Mexico City" confuse, it being nowhere near the American border. The "border" seems to refer to anywhere along the two thousand mile stretch of land between Tijuana and Matamoros. But who cares about facts when there's so much visual torture to gawk at ...
Cinematography trends dark. That jerky camera gets annoying rather quickly. Background music is highly manipulative. Acting skill is largely irrelevant. What counts here is the ability of a performer, helped along by the makeup and costumes department, to look suitably grungy and/or bloody. As such, these "actors" do a fine job.
Though the film advertises itself as based on a real event, that real event involved only one college guy, not three. And the lack of geographic specificity renders the entire production overly generalized. I was expecting a film that stayed closer to the facts of the 1989 incident, not a horror story that looks and feels more fictional than real.
Our three youthful gringos are all jerks. None of them are worth caring about. They make one stupid mistake after another; but that keeps the plot moving. Character stereotypes abound. The script's first ten pages or so could have been condensed into about three. Plot structure is chaotic. And we never get a sense of where in Mexico we are. A few references to "Mexico City" confuse, it being nowhere near the American border. The "border" seems to refer to anywhere along the two thousand mile stretch of land between Tijuana and Matamoros. But who cares about facts when there's so much visual torture to gawk at ...
Cinematography trends dark. That jerky camera gets annoying rather quickly. Background music is highly manipulative. Acting skill is largely irrelevant. What counts here is the ability of a performer, helped along by the makeup and costumes department, to look suitably grungy and/or bloody. As such, these "actors" do a fine job.
Though the film advertises itself as based on a real event, that real event involved only one college guy, not three. And the lack of geographic specificity renders the entire production overly generalized. I was expecting a film that stayed closer to the facts of the 1989 incident, not a horror story that looks and feels more fictional than real.