The Gory Nature of Frontier(s)

The one After Dark HorrorFest movie that has plagued me for some time now has been Frontier(s) because I missed out on the showing and I heard rave reviews about it’s brutality and it’s performances. Well, I had a chance to finally watch it and I thought it was a pretty good movie. I enjoyed the story, I enjoyed the performances and I especially enjoyed the fact that it pays homage to The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. However, what I want to talk about is the gore and the brutality of Frontier(s). I enjoy seeing gore and I enjoy seeing a little brutality but with this movie, it seems like an excuse to spray blood and guts on beautiful woman.

Note: I think I am probably one of the few people who is actually bothered by the gore and brutal nature of the film.

When we see the main heroine push one of her captors over a table saw and starts sawing him in half blood is sprayed all over as she is screaming and yelling and crying and everything but she doesn’t leave. She still stands there letting all the blood spray all over her and the camera is more focused on her screaming, as her face is drenched in blood than anything else. I guess psychologically you would be traumatized but I just find it a tad idiotic.

I guess the way I see it, considering how long it was and the fact that the camera was ore focused on the blood spraying on her face, this scene is just a last minute excuse to make the movie more brutal and make an attractive female lead go through an even more unlikely traumatic experience. Of course a lot of parts in this movie are unlikely but to me this one is just pushing it. I already felt for the character but I didn’t need to see her caked in blood to make me feel like she went through a truly life changing experience.

This isn’t the first movie that I felt this way, in fact I felt the same way when I saw High Tension when Alexa was in the back seat of the car and Marie was sawing the guy’s face in half as blood and brains coated Alexa’s face. She is just seated there letting herself get drenched in blood and not moving out of the car. Again, I think it’s just an excuse to take a pretty woman and soak her in blood to stimulate horror fans.

Though these scenes didn’t really ruin the movies for me at all; I loved High Tension despite its flaws and I enjoyed Frontier(s) quite a bit. I just think scenes like these don’t have to be in movies to try to out-beat other horror films in terms of blood and brutality. However, for those of you that really know me… you’ll know that I am not a big fan of gore because I don’t think excessive amounts of it are scary. I don’t know, I know I am in the minority on this but it’s just a concern that I have. I still enjoyed the movies.