Unrelenting, unflinching, horrific occult thriller!
I feel like I just got run over...i'm literally exhausted. This movie drained me, by the end everyone is affected in horrific ways. Innocence is destroyed, lots of people are dead. Emotion is really going to fuel this review, so bear with me. This is by far the most affecting film I have watched thus far, and maybe the most terrifying, because this could happen and is based on true events. And bad things happen to people we have grown to like. These are characters we have grown to care about by the time that things start going wrong...and they go very very wrong!
The film opens up with two Mexican detectives Ulises (Damian Alcazar), and his partner on the trial of some cocaine. They enter a building and find ritualistic trappings...and then get separated. Then Ulises is horrified as he witnesses his partner get ritually slain. This is just a taste of what is to come. We meet 3 guys including genre vet Rider Storm (Cabin Fever) as Phil, Jake Muxworthy as Henry, and Brian Presley as Ed, on the beach. They are about to be split up and Henry convinces them to all take a trip to Mexico with him. He wants the religious Phil and conservative Ed to lighten up and let loose. Pretty soon Ed hooks up with a barmaid Valeria and they start their tour of Mexico...via shrooms and alcohol. Henry tries to get Phil to lose his virginity with a Mexican hooker, but he has a change of heart. Neither of the guys are like Henry.
A few altercations with members of the cult and soon Phil is in their clutches. Held captive by a very unrecognizable Sean Astin as Randall, he starts to understand that his life is in danger. Henry and Ed try to report his absence, but the police seem to not care. In fact, the only one that does care is Ulises, who has been staking out their drug farm. Will they find him in time, and whose lives will be changed in the process? The answer is brutal and terrifying as a brave attempt to save Phil is launched, with horrifying results.
This movie bothered me more than Hostel. The scene's of violence in this film are so realistic and the look of the film is so gritty and dirty. I mean it kind of feels filthy, but at the same time it's so beautiful. The acting is really good, and it helps sell the characters...and that is important. Phil makes a stupid decision, but he is high at the time and is taken advantage of...so I really don't see it as him being stupid. He is lulled into a false sense of security...you can decide for yourself. And you see people change in this film...some of them that appear fearless, show fear, and it's real and visceral. The scary thing about this film is that everyone knows what is happening, but no one will help. I mean it's one thing to be isolated in the woods with a killer, but another to be surrounded by multiple killers in an apartment that is full of people and no one will do a thing but let you die a horrible death. I mean there is a feeling of helplessness that surrounds this movie that I rarely feel. This cult is crazy and will do anything to hide their drug trafficking, including human sacrifice.
Be warned, there is some extremely graphic violence here, but it's shown very realistically. It's a very well done horror/thriller that will get under your skin. I don't know, some of you may watch this and be utterly unaffected by it, but it got to me. Much like Eden Lake, I have never wanted someone to live so badly. Raw, emotional, terrifying, and powerful! I think this movie will stay with me for awhile...
9 out of 10
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