Colin & four of his friends undertake a road trip to Mexico to locate a remote beach where his surfer brother Tyler is camping in, the promise of uninterrupted waves being on the agenda. But after arriving at the beach, they find that Tyler & his group are not there – only their vehicles & belongings are left behind with all the food missing. One of the group, Lucky, goes missing while exploring the area. After searching for him, Colin & his friends find Lucky's missing camcorder. They turn it on & find that Lucky had discovered the mutilated bodies of Tyler's companions & was promptly attacked by crazed people. As night falls, the four remaining friends are assaulted by wild crazed people who are the victims of El Gringo, a cult leader thought dead who haunts the area, turning any foreigners into cannibals by his eyes.
Trespassers was one of a long line of independent horror films made by wannabe filmmakers who have gotten hold of a camcorder & some money & roping in a few friends for actors & production personnel. This low-budget approach is a time-honoured tradition – many of the best horror films throughout history, from THE EVIL DEAD to NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD, used exactly the same setup.
However, unlike those two classic examples, Trespassers is something of a disappointment, although it isn't particularly terrible – more of a mediocre effort that has a reasonable idea – surfers head to a beach that is cursed territory, later attacked by crazed cannibals led by a cult leader who judges people's fate by his eyes – but fails to make much use of that premise. I've heard some people call this a zombie film, which might be halfway applicable if you use the term very loosely.
Trespassers is undone somewhat by a lack of technical polish. Again, this need be not a liability – many classic horror films had a certain roughness that added to the charm – but without the talent to use it effectively. There is a modest atmosphere to be had in the film, but the use of camcorders as primary equipment for the film hurts the film's chances since camcorders (or whatever equipment they used for the stock, which is full of digital grain & a noticeable lack of resolution, which really defies any effort to gauge what is going on in the dark) have severe limitations in the film department – they belong to home movies, not professional genre films.
That said, Trespassers works a fair bit in the horror department. Director Ian McCrudden uses the empty lands of Mexican coastlines & abandoned buildings to decent effect, generating some much needed atmosphere for the film. The actors do a relatively professional job & the characters are modestly drawn. I found the idea of the film's exposition being delivered in Spanish by a fisherman the friends head to as interesting, but in translation by one of the cast, it loses some fidelity. The "zombie" attacks are done mostly offscreen & with little to no gore, losing the film some much needed marks.
Trespassers was one of a long line of independent horror films made by wannabe filmmakers who have gotten hold of a camcorder & some money & roping in a few friends for actors & production personnel. This low-budget approach is a time-honoured tradition – many of the best horror films throughout history, from THE EVIL DEAD to NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD, used exactly the same setup.
However, unlike those two classic examples, Trespassers is something of a disappointment, although it isn't particularly terrible – more of a mediocre effort that has a reasonable idea – surfers head to a beach that is cursed territory, later attacked by crazed cannibals led by a cult leader who judges people's fate by his eyes – but fails to make much use of that premise. I've heard some people call this a zombie film, which might be halfway applicable if you use the term very loosely.
Trespassers is undone somewhat by a lack of technical polish. Again, this need be not a liability – many classic horror films had a certain roughness that added to the charm – but without the talent to use it effectively. There is a modest atmosphere to be had in the film, but the use of camcorders as primary equipment for the film hurts the film's chances since camcorders (or whatever equipment they used for the stock, which is full of digital grain & a noticeable lack of resolution, which really defies any effort to gauge what is going on in the dark) have severe limitations in the film department – they belong to home movies, not professional genre films.
That said, Trespassers works a fair bit in the horror department. Director Ian McCrudden uses the empty lands of Mexican coastlines & abandoned buildings to decent effect, generating some much needed atmosphere for the film. The actors do a relatively professional job & the characters are modestly drawn. I found the idea of the film's exposition being delivered in Spanish by a fisherman the friends head to as interesting, but in translation by one of the cast, it loses some fidelity. The "zombie" attacks are done mostly offscreen & with little to no gore, losing the film some much needed marks.