I can’t believe that some critics said that this film was as violent as Hostel and Saw. What movie did they watch? This film has nothing on either of them. I don’t think one scene where a girl’s organs are taken out and a few other people are shot and killed with regular weapons constitutes as a “gore filled film”. Actually Turistas follows the same exact plotline as Hostel does, expect it takes place in South America instead of Europe.
The film follows a group of twenty something years olds who are on vacation in Brazil. They are all taking a bus to their next destination, when the thing breaks down on them. Low and behold it just so happens to break down right next to a tropical paradise. The group finds themselves ditching the bus and partying on the beach with some locals and other tourists they met. Well they all get really drunk, and wake up the next day and realize they were all drugged and all of their belongings including their shoes are stolen. They then find their way into a poor village where they see a local boy wearing a hat belonging to one of the guys in their group. Well one of the guys who name I really didn’t care much to know throws a rock at the kid and hits him in the head. The locals get pissed and the group flees the scene only to run into a guy they met the night before. He then leads them into the rain forest to a secret house buried deep within the forest. He tells them they will be safe there until they can get a ride back to the main city. Well it turns out this luxury house in the middle of the rain forest belongs to a doctor, who’s reason for having the secret place is to lure in unsuspecting dumb tourists there so he can drug them and take their organs. His reason for this is that people in his country are never able to get replacement organs and they die because of it. So he thinks that people who disrespect their bodies such as tourists from “rich” countries don’t deserve to live. So basically our group of tourists is screwed and they have to survive the jungle and the doctor and his crew if they want to survive.
So yes, it’s pretty much the plot line as Hostel, and while I was not a big fan of Hostel because of the porn like beginning, at least Hostel had some great gore and a decent ending. This film wanted to be like Hostel but failed in many ways. First off do I don’t think horror fans want to see a bunch of people swimming and drinking for the majority of the film. The character development was awful. I could of given two shits about anyone in this film except for the Brazilin guy Kiko, who was probably the only good thing this film had to offer. The acting was not that bad, but with a script like this it’s kind of obvious that each actor was typecast in this flick. So anyone who’s good looking and looks great in designer bathing suits could of been cast in this film. And just as long as the girls can scream, then it’s not such a hard job to act in this film.
The production value was really good, I especially admire the great shots of the landscape and the rainforest. They used them well, however this is supposed to be a horror film and not a nature film, and I felt the over use of the underground cave system was a bit much when the first introduce the cave to the story, as well at the end of the film as well. The house was set up very nicely and had a creepy look to it. It had the very uncomfortable look and feel to it. As far as the effects go in this film, I can only give the film credit for the scene where the girl ran off the cliff. The rest of this film has you basic horror film scenes, yes there was some gore filled scene, one involving the removal of a girl organs, but it was not as brutal as we were all lead to believe in the advertising of this film. Don’t get me wrong now it had gore, but it’s nothing we all haven’t experienced before.
Overall, I felt that Turistas was a film that had nothing to offer the horror genre. It was nothing more than a generic rip off of all the slasher films that tried to capitalize off the recent tread of the genre. I honestly found myself rolling my eyes because the film became predictable scene after scene. It’s not that I don’t mind a horror film that takes something from another film, but when the film itself is pretty much a remake of another film, it just takes place in a different part of the world. Your really not making anything original.
– Horror Bob
- Interview with J.R. Bookwalter - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Andrew J. Rausch - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Rick Popko and Dan West - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Director Stevan Mena (Malevolence) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Screenwriter Jeffery Reddick (Day of the Dead 2007) - January 22, 2015
- Teleconference interview with Mick Garris (Masters of Horror) - January 22, 2015
- A Day at the Morgue with Corri English (Unrest) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Writer/Director Nacho Cerda (The Abandoned, Aftermath) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Actress Thora Birch (Dark Corners, The Hole, American Beauty) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Actor Jason Behr, Plus Skinwalkers Press Coverage - January 22, 2015
