Undocumented (2010)

A documentary crew accompany a group of illegal immigrants crossing the Border, but their plans run afoul when they are captured by a gang of sadistic radicals in New Mexico.

Director:

Chris Peckover

Writers:

Chris Peckover, Joe Peterson

Stars:

Scott Mechlowicz, Alona Tal, Yancey Arias

Cast

Credited cast:
Scott Mechlowicz	...	Travis
Alona Tal	...	Liz
Yancey Arias	...	Alberto
Greg Serano	...	Davie
Kevin Weisman	...	Jim
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Casey Adams	...	Student #2
Amy Baklini	...	Prisoner
Tina Borek	...	Maid Maria
Chad Brummett	...	Whitaker
Richard Christie	...	Deputy
Tom Connolly	...	Brad
Carmen Corral	...	Maria
Christopher Dempsey	...	Border Patrol Officer Marsh
Christian Di Salvo	...	Dead Body
Tim Draxl	...	William

Storyline

A small group of documentary filmmakers chronicle the trials and inequities faced by Mexican illegal immigrants. When they join a group of families illegally crossing the border to record the experience firsthand, their truck is pulled over and detained. What happens next plunges their group into unimaginable horror.

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Plot Keywords:

illegal immigrant | mexican | mexico | truck | documentary crew | 

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Genres:

Horror

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

September 2010 (USA)

Filming Locations:

Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$1,400,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Sheperd Glen Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

96 min

Color:

Color

User Reviews

This time we're torture-porning some Mexicans...

A gratuitously violent and tedious "mockumentary" styled Hostel rip-off which thinks it can sneak under the torture porn label and into the land of acclaim under a thin veil of social satire.

In short the story follows the journey of a group of US film-makers and Mexican nationals as they make their way across the border illegally. They are all then caught and subjected to torture and murder at the hands of extreme racist, xenophobic sadists who decide to tear a leaf out of al-Qaeda's book by filming their crimes in the hope it will scare other Mexicans away from US soil. Well, that's the violence and gore justified then.

As a long time horror fan I am becoming somewhat jaded to the copious amount of "verite" offerings of late. Whilst Undocumented is not a terrible film such as The zzzzZombie Diaries; my review of which was removed from IMDb because someone(I assume the director's mum)got all weepy eyed about it, the pitfalls of making a fake documentary are now outweighing the benefits. Like entertainment wrestling, we all know that these films are fiction (sometimes based firmly in fact) but fictional portrayals nonetheless. After a while the frenetic hand-held camera work and grainy video footage is no longer ominous or uneasy and the films merely become irritating. We also know that the main reasons for making a docu-style film is often down to budget constraints.

I am left longing for the days of low budget shocks provided by the silly but talented Sam Riami or the silly but whacko Frank Henenlotter. Better still, the early 1970-80's films of Tobe (Texas Chainsaw Massacre) Hooper and John (Halloween and Assault on Precinct 13) Carpenter will still show that it is possible to produce a compelling piece without a huge budget with tight as a drum editing and unsettling cinematography. Please come back guys, your genre needs you.