History Film / Borderland

* ReligionOfEvil: Subverted. The film makes clear that Santería and Palo Mayombe have been perverted by the cult for their own selfish purposes and are not evil religions by themselves.

* ReligionOfEvil: Subverted. The film makes clear that Santería and Palo Mayombe have been perverted by the cult for their own selfish purposes and are not evil religiona by themselves.

* VeryLooselyBasedOnATrueStory: The core of the story (a drug cartel and cult that ritually sacrificed people for "protection" abducted an American college student) is based on the involvement of the Hernandez drug cartel with Adolfo Constanzo and Sara Aldrete. In real life, though, the disappearance of the college student caused an uproar and set off a massive search for him and the cult was ultimately undone by the Ralph Wiggum levels of stupidity exhibited by some of the cartel/cult's members.

* BaldOfEvil: One of the recurring cultists sports one giving him a sinister skeletal appearance, his character seems more wicked than some of the other cultists, and the complete lack of hair on his head helps him stand out compared to the more shaggy appearance of most of the other members.

* VeryLooselyBasedOnATrueStory: The core of the story (a drug cartel and cult that ritually sacrificed people for "protection" abducted an American college student) is based on the involvement of the Hernandez drug cartel with Adolfo Constanzo and Sara Aldrete. In real life, though, the disappearance of the college student caused an uproar and set off a massive search for him.

* AGodAmI: The leader of the cult sees himself as this.

* {{Hubris}}: The leader of the cult considers himself to be invincible thanks to the sacrifices performed. [[spoiler: He is shot and killed by Ulises moments later.]]

* SexAsRiteOfPassage: Phil tries to do this with a young prostitute but stops once he discovers that she has a baby.

* ReligionOfEvil: Subverted. The film makes clear that Santería has been perverted by the cult for their own selfish purposes and is not an evil religion by itself.

VeryLooselyBasedOnATrueStory, although more so than other horror films with the same claim; there was a religious cult lead by a man named [[http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/serial_killers/weird/constanzo/1.html Adolfo de Jesús Constanzo]] in Mexico City who performed human sacrifices in order to gain protection in his drug deals. He was arrested after murdering a college student on spring break.

* HeyItsThatGuy!: Who'd a thunk Beto Cuevas of Chilean rock band La Ley would play an antagonist?
** Its the guy from BoyMeetsWorld!

* PlayingAgainstType: Sean Astin plays a scumbag serial killer affiliated with the cult.

* Hey, It's That Guy!: Who'd a thunk Beto Cuevas of Chilean rock band La Ley would play an antagonist?

* AGodAmI: The leader of the cult sees himself as this.

* HeyItsThatGuy: [[Film/TheLordOfTheRings Samwise Gamgee]] has a darker side that he never showed Frodo.

It was part of the AfterDarkHorrorfest film festival.

'''''Borderland''''' is a film directed by Zev Berman in 2007.

VeryLooselyBasedOnATrueStory, although moreso than other horror films with the same claim; there was a religious cult lead by a man named [[http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/serial_killers/weird/constanzo/1.html Adolfo de Jesús Constanzo]] in Mexico City who performed human sacrifices in order to gain protection in his drug deals. He was arrested after murdering a college student on spring break.

* BaldofEvil: One of the recurring cultists sports one giving him a sinister skeletal appearance, his character seems more wicked than some of the other cultists, and the complete lack of hair on his head helps him stand out compared to the more shaggy appearance of most of the other members.

* EvilForeigner: Played with. While the foreign drug cartel/cult are easily evil, the cards are balanced with the characters of Ulises and Randall; the former is a Mexican cop who proves to be the biggest hero in the film, the latter is an American serial killer who becomes affiliated with the cult and easily one of the more loathsome characters in the film.

* HeyItsThatGuy: [[TheLordOfTheRings Samwise Gamgee]] has a darker side that he never showed Frodo.

* HeyItsThatGuy: [[film/TheLordOfTheRings Samwise Gamgee]] has a darker side that he never showed Frodo.

VeryLooselyBasedOnATrueStory, although moreso than other horror films with the same claim; there was a religious cult lead by a man named [http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/serial_killers/weird/constanzo/1.html Adolfo de Jesús Constanzo] in Mexico City who performed human sacrifices in order to gain protection in his drug deals. He was arrested after murdering a college student on spring break.

VeryLooselyBasedOnATrueStory, although moreso than other horror films with the same claim; there was a religious cult lead by a man named [www.trutv.com/library/crime/serial_killers/weird/constanzo/1.html Adolfo de Jesús Constanzo] in Mexico City who performed human sacrifices in order to gain protection in his drug deals. He was arrested after murdering a college student on spring break.

VeryLooselyBasedOnATrueStory, although moreso than other horror films with the same claim; there was a religious cult lead by a man named Adolfo de Jesús Constanzo in Mexico City who performed human sacrifices in order to gain protection in his drug deals. He was arrested after murdering a college student on spring break.

* Hubris: The leader of the cult considers himself to be invincible thanks to the sacrifices performed. [[spoiler: He is shot and killed by Ulises moments later.]]

* RedemptionEqualsDeath: [[:spoiler: Ulises, the disgraced cop, finally kills the leader of the cult but is shot in the process and dies from his wounds.]]

* SexAsRite-of-Passage: Phil tries to do this with a young prostitute but stops once he discovers that she has a baby.