The tale of a trio of American college boys from Texas who head for a short stay in Mexico to indulge in some fast women and cheap booze after graduation. What they find is trouble in the form of a drug-smuggling gang that practices their own form of Santeria, including human sacrifices.
Another offering of the low budget horror films that was part of the After Dark Film Festival, of which I've seen a dozen or so, and I have to say this is the best one I've seen yet. It's dark, gory, cruel and falls somewhere into that dreaded "torture porn" category. It also has a lot of similarities to Turistas and the Hostel films, but damned if this thing doesn't have a pretty good soul. I'd heard it jokingly referred to as "The Mexican Hostel" even, and that's pretty much dead-on.
The pace is great, the story stays pretty focused, the actors all do a great job and I really cared about the characters. It felt very real, too real at times for those with weak stomachs I'm sure. Rider Strong (still the greatest non-porn name ever) from Boy Meets World and Sean Astin from Rudy give it some acting chops even, and I personally thought Sean's character was outstanding. I thought the dialog and actions of the characters as a whole was very realistic.
The ending plays out like any great action movie I've seen lately and brings the film to a satisfying finish.
The movie is based on the true story of ritual sacrifice killings conducted by a group of drug dealers in Mexico back in the late 80s, adding to the horror.
This movie is far from perfect, and it's not the best horror film I've seen in a while or anything, but for people who liked Hostel, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and hoped for more from Turistas, check this one out.
7/10
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