The Borderlands, released as Final Prayer in the US, is a 2013 found-footage movie written and directed by Elliot Goldner (who has only done TV since this came out) and more people should see it.
Gordon Kennedy, likely better known to Scots as part of the comedy troupe Absolutely, plays Deacon, an investigator for the Vatican who’s tasked with checking out claims of miracles to see if they’re fake or not. Following an investigation where things went badly wrong he’s been sent to a small church in England where the local vicar is claiming to have witnessed a miracle involving strange sounds and things moving around on their own. Accompanied by tech expert Gray (Robin Hill) and another priest, Father Amadin, (Aidan McArdle), they set out to inspect the church to see if the “miracle” is merely a convenient way for the vicar to get more people to bolster his failing congregation, or if it actually might be an act of God.
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Released at a time when found footage movies were everywhere, The Borderlands didn’t make a massive impact on first release, and it wasn’t really helped by the decision to rename it to the rather generic Final Prayer for its US release and give it a truly awful generic and overly bombastic “THREE MEN. ALONE. TRAPPED. WILL THEY SURVIVE?!” style trailer that doesn’t capture the true essence of the film at all. It’s also a somewhat slow starter, taking a good half an hour or so for things to really get moving and with found-footage-fatigue having definitely set in amongst moviegoers by that point, The Borderlands had a hill to climb to get recognised for what it is.
And what is it? A beautifully tight, claustrophobic piece of filmmaking, with some truly rather clever tricks to make it feel like a found-footage movie. The cast give it their all and the story goes places that nobody will expect, with a final scene that comes out of nowhere but doesn’t at all feel like a last-minute bait and switch. It’s a beautiful example of what can be done with the genre, embracing the limitations of the found-footage style rather than feeling like just another painfully low-effort horror cash-in like so many others.
Originally released with only a single behind-the-scenes featurette, Second Sight have taken it upon themselves to remedy this and now we not only have a film that looks great, it also has plenty of behind the scenes stuff for fans to enjoy. There’s now a commentary track with our two lead actors as well as producer Jennifer Handorf and special effects artist Dan Martin, which is honestly great fun to listen to.
We also have three new interviews. There’s one with Dan Martin called ‘Monster Goo’ which looks into, well, monster goo. Specifically the slime that’s used in one scene in the film and he talks about where it came from, how it’s made, and some of the tricks for using it in a movie. There’s an interview with Jennifer Handorf, ‘Losing Faith’, which looks into the production of the film, focusing on the hunt for just the right church to film in, and finally there’s ‘Dressed the Part’, an interview with Robin Hill and Gordon Kennedy where they chat about how they got their parts, the costuming process and what the production experience was like.
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All the interviews are really informative and fun to watch, but more than that you can see a genuine passion for this film, even ten-plus years later. They all talk about the film and the production fondly and seem genuinely excited that it’s getting a new release that will hopefully garner it the audience it deserved at the time. While the found footage genre is a somewhat tired one these days, and The Borderlands suffered by being lumped in with all the other sub-par horror experiences of that time, it’s an absolute gem of a film that any self-respecting horror fan should check out, with a final scene that I guarantee will stay with you for a long, long time.
The Borderlands is out on Limited Edition and Standard Blu-ray on 15th April from Second Sight Films.
