When thinking of a film to do on Wednesdays I have a few steps I need to go through. First, which streaming service am I going to use or am I going hard copy DVD? This week was a Prime week. Next, what genre do I fancy? This week was horror. Then, how much time do I have to spare? This week (and most weeks) it was around ninety minutes. This helps whittle down the film choice, but it is still a huge amount of choice to go through so then I have to go off gut feeling and prior knowledge. And so, we get to ‘The Borderlands’ (2013), a film I vaguely remembered Mark Kermode praising. Bingo! We have our film. The film follows a group sent by the Vatican to a rural English town to investigate and report on a possible miracle that the town's priest said occurred there. However, as their investigation picks up steam, they realise that they may actually have stumbled upon something much, much darker.
I am about to say something that is probably going to turn a lot of people off almost instantly. This film is a found footage film. I know some people hate found footage style films and so this film is already on the back foot for some. As for me, I do not mind found footage style films, but they can be obnoxious at times with the camera movements and often are found lacking in narrative reason as to why these cameras are on all the time. This film eliminates both of these issues. In narrative terms, they have cameras on all the time as they are reporting in s possible miracle and so need to capture any possible occurrences. And in terms of camera movements, they either place cameras on walls so they have a steady base, or wear head cams so the film gets more of a ‘Peep Show’ vibe and also eliminates camera shake from people holding the camera in their hand. What the film also manages to do well is keep the acting naturalistic which adds to the found footage genre. Because of the style of the film, the acting needs to be a bit more subdued and ‘realistic’ to make the audience believe what they are seeing really happened, which is effectively the reason that found footage exists. All the actors do well in this regard and you also follow two very likeable characters which allows you to invest in them and makes the horror of the film that much worse, which can’t always be said for horror films.
But did the film work on the whole as a horror film? I have to say yes it did. It isn’t the scariest film in any sense, and it does take a while to get going, but once it does get going it goes. Of course, as pretty much all found footage horror films do, it does involve a fair few jump scares which can sometimes feel a little cheap (or maybe I am just embarrassed that a couple of them got me). But the film doesn’t rely on jump scares and actually goes for an approach of creating an eerie and unsettling environment more than it does on making a loud noise to get an instant reaction. And the fact that it does this means that when it does go for the jump scares, they are more effective because you have been filled with this sense of dread. But like I say, overall, it isn’t the scariest of films. But it does have a couple of great moments of horror. One comes early on in a scene which is genuinely quite disturbing and is a great mix of sound and visuals that show you enough to know what is going on without showing the real brutality of the scene. The other is pretty much the entire last ten minutes of the film. Here the film basically forgoes jump scares altogether instead creating a really creepy atmosphere and environment that you can’t escape from. I will admit as well that the final sequence may have affected me due to my own personal ‘phobias’ rather than being a genuinely terrifying scene, but boy it worked for me.
If you were to make a Premier League out of found footage horror films I would probably compare ‘The Borderlands’ to Everton. By that I mean it is a well-made film in the genre which has high moments but ultimately doesn’t elevate to being more than good. You know, like Everton. I would recommend it if you are into your horror films. It is not obnoxious like many found footage films can be and it does manage to create a creepy and scary environment. Not one to rush to see but would be a good addition to a horror film marathon.
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