Director: Xavier Gens
Screenplay: Xavier Gens
Starring: Karina Testa, Aurélien Wiik, Samuel Le Bihan and Estelle Lefébure
Country: France
Running Time: 108 min
Year: 2007
BBFC: 18
I’m a big horror fan. Whether it’s 70s slasher classics like Halloween or The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (which I reviewed earlier in the year) or arthouse flicks like Antichrist, The Lighthouse or Possession, I love the genre dearly, warts and all. One of the more fascinating horror movements in recent memory to me is the New French Extremity movement. With directors like Alexandre Aja (High Tension), Claire Denis (Trouble Every Day) and Pascal Laugier (Martyrs) directing some of the biggest hitters in the genre, I was beyond excited to check out Frontier(s). It’s something I’d heard tons about over the years, but with the film having no UK Blu-ray release, I never got around to checking the film out. Thankfully, the lovely folks over at Second Sight Films are releasing a Limited Edition of the film on Blu-ray, which I’ve spent the last few days diving into. Now the big question is, was the film worth the wait and did it live up to the hype? Well…
The film follows Yasmine, who’s three months pregnant. She’s part of a street gang with a couple of friends and her brother. After her brother is shot during a robbery that takes place during a political riot, the gang splits up in two groups, with Yasmine taking her brother to a hospital with her friend Alex. The others (Farid and Tom) decide to stash the money in an inn, far away from law enforcement. Yasmine’s brother dies in the hospital and Yasmine and Alex go on the run. The inn that Farid and Tom end up at is run by Gilberte, Klaudia and Goetz. At first, they seem friendly and the ladies flirt with Farid and Tom. Unfortunately, the owners of the inn attack the pair and are later revealed to be, wait for it, Neo-Nazis. Yasmine and Alex are unaware, but after being given the location to the inn earlier in the film, they make their way there in the hopes of hospitality and safe haven.
While the plot of the film was initially compelling, Frontier(s)’s biggest weakness is the screenplay. The film is full of completely unlikeable characters, with Farid and Tom in particular being horribly gross and misogynistic. Yasmine is probably the most likeable of the bunch, but with a lack of any real characteristics other than being pregnant, she’s not the most interesting protagonist out there. Honestly, there’s parts where it almost feels like you’re supposed to be rooting for the Neo-Nazis over the main characters, given how frustratingly dim the gang is. There’s rarely a moment where you’re expected to care for any of the characters, outside of Yasmine’s whole segment early on involving the loss of her brother.
The film’s influences are obvious, with parallels to films such as Tobe Hooper’s The Texas Chain Saw Massacre with the oddball family living on the outskirts of town, Wes Craven’s The Hills Have Eyes in ways I won’t spoil and Neil Marshall’s The Descent with a few claustrophobic sequences inside of a mineshaft. It’s obvious that Gens is a huge horror fan, and while I can absolutely respect his clear love for the genre, there’s a lot of moments in the film where it feels like a combination of all of these great horror classics, without the technical prowess to truly pull off an original take on them for modern audiences. Even the ending of the film, which I won’t spoil here, feels incredibly derivative of The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, and I was really hoping for… well, more.
There’s some interesting direction at times, the odd shot that I absolutely loved and it’s clear that Gens wanted to create something that replicated action films of the era, with an emphasis on shaky-cam in the most intense sequences in the film. Unfortunately, those moments didn’t work for me but I can completely get why it would for others. The same can be said for a lot of the soundtrack choices, which range from eerie and unsettling, to feeling like they’re straight out of a Taken movie.
The film almost revels in the violence, which is something that bothered me. I can stomach my fair share of blood, gore and violence in a film, but it almost feels like Frontier(s) assumes that an emphasis on this can make up for the aforementioned lack of real characterisation. Sometimes, this works. There’s moments in the film that caught me by surprise, such as one of the early deaths, a sequence inside of a pigpen involving somebody’s heel that’s grotesque and shocking and also a nasty scene involving a saw blade. Sometimes, these moments can be fairly effective, and I commend the team for their great practical effects work. Unfortunately, a lot of the time, it’s purely shock factor for the sake of it, which I found a bit disappointing.
Overall, Frontier(s) was a major let-down for me, as somebody interested in the New French Extremity movement and knowing the cult reputation of this film in particular. There’s the odd element that impressed me, I think the performances are mostly pretty solid. The violence, while lacking any substance, is impressive. I just wish I connected with anything that was going on. I wanted to root for our main group of characters, but they have no character. I wanted the finale to feel like a proper payoff, but it didn’t. As previously mentioned, there’s a cult audience for the film and although I’m definitely not part of it, I can understand why people would like this film in concept. It’s the execution that didn’t work for me.
Film: 
Frontier(s) is being released on the 24th July via Second Sight on Limited & Standard Edition Blu-ray. The limited edition is packaged with a booklet, a hard case and artcards. I reviewed the standard edition, which has identical on-disc extras. Surprisingly, this was a bit of a let-down for me on a transfer level. It felt more like a DVD upscale than a true 1080p presentation, with crushed blacks visible at multiple points and quite a blurry image at points. According to IMDb, the film was shot on 35mm, so I’m quite surprised by the less than stellar image quality here. For audio options, there’s a 5.1 surround mix and a 2.0 stereo mix, as well as optional English subtitles. The film is in French, so I viewed it with the 5.1 mix and subtitles. It sounded great, and the subtitles seemed accurate, so no issues there.
Special Features
- Audio Commentary with Zoë Rose Smith and Kelly Gredner
- Reinventing the Extreme: a new interview with Director Xavier Gens
- Going Method: a new interview with Actor Karina Testa
- A Light in the Dark: a new interview with Actor Maud Forget
- Lights, Camera… Fear: a new interview with Cinematographer Laurent Barès
- Sounds of Violence: a new interview with Composer Jean-Piere Taïeb
- The Making of Frontier(s)
- Deleted Scenes with optional commentary by Xavier Gens and Karina Testa
- Behind-the-Scenes Photos with commentary by Xavier Gens and Karina Testa
- Storyboard Comparisons
- Fotografik Short Film
- Xavier Gens Highschool Trailers
- Trailers
Limited Edition Contents
- Rigid slipcase with new artwork by James Neal
- 70 page book with new essays by Dr Sarah Cleary, Mark H Harris, Carolyn Mauricette and Alexandra West
- 6 collectors’ art cards
Audio commentary – Zoë Rose Smith and Kelly Gredner lead this commentary which is an alright one. The pair love Frontier(s) and touch on the political themes of the film, as well as on whether or not the characters are unlikeable. I was glad that Rose Smith was critical of the film at times, such as the aforementioned unlikeable characters or Gens’ overreliance on borrowing from other films. It’s a breezy listen, as Rose Smith and Gredner have an excellent rapport.
Reinventing the Extreme – A new interview with director Xavier Gens that runs for around 24 minutes. Xavier talks about the horror films that influenced, including the first two Texas Chainsaw Massacre films, Jacques Tourneur’s Cat People and more. He talks about how B-cinema doesn’t really exist in the US anymore, and Europe is what’s really keeping it alive. Gens talks about how he’d worked with most of the cast before on his short films. He also talks about his insistence on shooting the film on 35mm, as well as the saw blade sequence being the most challenging to film. It’s a lengthy interview, but Gens is fun to listen to and it’s well worth checking out.
Going Method – A new interview with actor Karina Testa that’s 14 minutes long. Testa has a lot of positive things to say about the film, both while filming and its legacy. She explains that during the shoot, she took the film completely seriously, and she was completely committed and driven to deliver what Gens wanted from her. She also mentions how Gens told her to watch films like Alien and The Texas Chain Saw Massacre in preparation for the film. It’s a solid interview.
A Light in the Dark – A new interview with actor Maud Forget that’s around 12 and a half minutes long. Forget touches on the New French Extremity movement, as well as the reception when Frontier(s) premiered, as well as similar films in the movement such as Inside. She talks about how she loves challenging herself with her film roles, taking on anything from a comedy film to a horror film like Frontier(s). It’s an intriguing interview that I’d recommend.
Lights, Camera… Fear – A new interview with cinematographer Laurent Barèsthat’s 24 minutes long. Barèsthat touches on his experience with Xavier, as they worked together on commercials prior to making Frontier(s). He mentions that the script was over 150 pages initially, but it was trimmed down before shooting began. Barèsthat talks about how this was the first horror film he worked on as well, even though he wasn’t super knowledgeable about the genre, although mentions how huge of a horror fan Gens is. He details the shoot too, such as the challenges of shooting at night as well, but how the limitations didn’t stop the team from creating the film they wanted. It’s a really great, in-depth interview that’s absolutely worth watching.
Sounds of Violence – A new interview with composer Jean-Piere Taïeb that’s around 14 minutes long. Taïeb talks about how he became connected to the film, as well as his musical background. He explains how Gens wanted him to emulate the scores of John Carpenter and Peter Jackson’s Braindead, as well as Taïeb’s admiration for Dario Argento and Zack Snyder. It’s another good interview.
The Making of Frontier(s) – An archival documentary focusing on the making of the film that’s around 27 minutes long. There’s interviews with Gens and the cast, they touch on the meaning of the violence in the film, there’s even a section of the documentary highlighting the references to other films, with Texas Chain Saw Massacre and Salò being brought up by Gens. It’s a really interesting look into how Gens directed certain sequences, and it’s clear that a lot of effort went into creating the film. I must admit, I was amused by the Gandalf statue on top of Xavier’s shelf during his sequences in the documentary. Overall, a really informative and interesting documentary.
Fotografik – A short film directed by Xavier Gens, starring Frontier(s)‘ Maud Forget. After doing a little bit of research online, this seems to be part of an anthology television series called Sable Noir, and this short has made me want to check out some of the others! The atmosphere is great with a range of influences such as the found-footage nature of The Blair Witch Project and the foggy visuals of Silent Hill. A family of three move to a new house, where the daughter finds herself in the attic, looking over old photo albums before finding out about the ‘November 3rd’ curse. Unfortunately, November 3rd is only a day away! Don’t worry, I won’t spoil the rest. I found Fotografik extremely compelling. The characters are interesting, the pacing is solid and as previously mentioned, the atmosphere is incredible!
Storyboard Comparisons – A 9 minute featurette showcasing the story boards and their final live-action counterparts, with commentary included. A nice inclusion to the special features, I’m a sucker for these.
Behind-the-scenes photos – Around 13 minutes of behind-the-scenes photos, with commentary by director Xavier Gens and actor Karina Testa. It’s a really nice watch, and you can tell that despite the violent and dark tone of the film, the cast and crew had tons of fun behind the scenes.
Deleted Scenes – 7 minutes of deleted scenes, with optional audio commentary from Gens and Testa. I viewed these with the audio commentary, and it was interesting hearing Gens talk about why he chose to cut some of these sequences. They’re pretty inessential sequences, but it’s nice to see them included here.
Xavier Gens High School Trailers – a 4 minute compilation of trailers for early student short films by Gens, with blaring electronic music soundtracking the trailers. The quality is relatively shoddy, but it almost adds to the charm of the DIY action and horror films the trailers are for. As with other extras, it’s a really fun watch.
Also included are five minutes of trailers for the film, which range from full trailers to teasers.
As I reviewed the standard edition Blu-ray, I didn’t have access to the booklet or art cards, but as detailed earlier, it comes with new essays by Dr Sarah Cleary, Mark H Harris, Carolyn Mauricette and Alexandra West. Second Sight’s booklets are usually excellent, so I’m assuming this one will be the same.
Frontier(s) is a tough release to grade. I wasn’t a huge fan of the film, but the release has some fairly great special features. The video transfer is poor, but the audio sounds brilliant. There’s pros and cons to the release. I do wish that Second Sight restored the film in the same way they have done for prior releases, as then it’d be an easier recommendation from me for fans of the film. It’s worth picking up for the special features, both newly commissioned and archival, as they really saved the release for me, but it’s still a mixed bag overall.
Disc/Packaging: