DeLorenzo & Rohner Ghostbusters
Det. Freddie Chavez (Michael DeLorenzo) has a brush with death when in the line of duty he kills Dr. Roderick Helms (Lewis Fitz-Gerald) who he has been tracking for years. But after recovering he has a strange encounter with Cal Newman (Clayton Rohner) who works for border patrol, not that border patrol but the spectral one which deals with dead criminals who cross over back to Earth to claim souls and use their power to stay in the land of the living. And it seems Dr. Roderick Helms has returned and is after Freddie, which means Freddie must work with Cal to try and capture the dead criminal by working out what his evil plan is.
One of the best things about "Border Patrol" for me was that I could barely find any information on the movie which means I sat down to watch with no idea as to what the movie was about other than it was sci-fi. And there is something surprisingly satisfying about doing this because you experience every second of the movie with a sense of intrigue which is certainly the case here as the opening of "Border Patrol" has this mixed feel of retro with a man in an old suit and an old car combined with contemporary as we see Cal looking like a 50s detective catching a bad guy before they disappear in the car through a brick wall.
Now because I got the most out of "Border Patrol" by knowing nothing I am going to try and limit the detail. What I will say is that we have this entertaining idea of Freddie partnering up with Cal in order to get to the bottom of what Helms us up to. But this isn't a huge production and as such the script has some issues and by issues I mean plot holes when it comes to this partnership. Although in the tradition of "Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased)" we have the fun of Chavez and Cal meeting people but of course they can only see Chavez. So yes in a way it isn't hugely original although the whole border patrol between the living and the dead gives it an entertaining twist.
What also helps matters is that the retro side of "Border Patrol" is wonderful with Cal not only in the old suit but also a fantastic old car with a wicked paint job. The look certainly helps things as does Michael DeLorenzo who has an easy going charm which means whilst we have no lead up to get to know his character it is easy to like him.
What this all boils down to is that "Border Patrol" is actually a lot of fun and works best when you watch with little knowledge of what the movie is about as then the novelty factor comes in to play. In some ways this makes me wonder whether this was a promo for an intended TV series as it has that vibe which reminds me of "Quantum leap" as well as "Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased)".
