Undocumented

Travis (Scott Mechlowicz), Liz (Alona Tal), Davie (Greg Serano), and Jim (Kevin Weisman) are making a documentary about the abuses suffered by undocumented immigrants. They join Davie's cousin Alberto (Yancey Arias) and his family crossing the border when they are intercepted by a private militia. They are enlisted to film the horrors that follow.

This is a low-budget horror piggybacking on some immediate modern political issues. It's illegal immigration with a healthy dose of Abu Ghraib. The main characters don't get enough time to present themselves. It may work better to have only two filmmakers which would allow them more screen time to fill in their roles. The most annoying is the usual hand-held shaky camera work with some in night vision. There's too much of it and it's not necessary. I get it. They're an indie doc film crew. The premise has some promise but it needs some better imagination to spice it up. It needs to have some fun with this horror setup.

I'm all about horror movies, I'm always looking for the next best thing so I have an acquired taste and know when something works and doesn't in the horror industry part of the movies. There are many great horror films out there but only a certain few really push the edge of what makes a out of the ordinary smashing hit horror movie. This movie does that, its a rare breed of great horror that has came out in the last decade.

Obviously movies cant cater to everyone's taste and especially in horror as everyone has limits on what is deemed acceptable more so then many other types. The only reason I guess I mention this is the low rating given at the time I viewed it was 5.8 which to me is a blunder beyond blunders. This movie, has all the aspects you want in a horror movie from, all of the aspects everything;scary,gripping,intense,relentless,etc. There really is no lull or give through out this movie, not one second, every second is like a fine wine of horror that's the only way to describe this movie.

I could write a book on why this movie is great but ill just say that in thousands of horror movies out there, there are a few that stand out and once in awhile one gets it all right and this is one of those!

I noted that this movie got a 7.1 and thought it sounded interesting. However after about 40 minutes or so I began to have my suspicions. In reality after watching it I now know that I was duped. The other reviewer who guessed the movie's production crew must have been the ones who voted is on the right path. At best this movie is a 'nothing else on not even a re-run of a movie I only kinda want to watch". It's not terrible but it's 100% predictable. There are no brain cells required to watch it. In fact my sore head hurts more now than it has suffered this movie. The characters are completely transparent, as are any twists (oh wait there aren't any at all) and the plot is rather obvious. The violence is needless and without any menace so doesn't serve the plot at all. I guess the central message gets through. If you want to fuel your hatred of rednecks then this movie is for you.

Undocumented is about a couple of grad students making a documentary about illegal immigrants crossing the US border. But things go wrong when the vehicle that their in gets jacked by so called "Patriots".

Chris Peckover did a great job as a director. Throughout the movie i didn't really feel connected to the characters due to dumb decisions. But they also made some good ones. The acting is pretty good. It is a decent time waster but nothing to special. I would say check it out if you think it sounds cool. I wouldn't buy it on DVD unless its a good deal. It is on Netflix Instant Watch.

Movie Reviewer, Dean Nixon

This movie reminded me of The Most Dangerous Game where a hunter grew bored with hunting animals and turned to hunting humans instead.This hunter lived alone on a remote island and relied on the surrounding hidden rocks for the shipwrecks that supplied his victims. And so with Undocumented. The humans in this movie, the undocumented immigrants, would never be missed or could never be tracked. I found the movie very hard to watch but it was an effective a warning of man's inhumanity to man as you could get. Do I think that this could really happen......yes! Peter Stormare was very convincing as the psychopathic leader, Z, and I thought the acting was strong all round with an especially fine performance by Scott Mechlowicz as the lead journalist. This film was tight, tense and unforgiving to the senses but it's a story that needed to be told to remind us all that we are all brothers and sisters no matter where we come from or what our circumstances. And yes, we all have a Z inside of us waiting for that spark. Proceed with caution.