Turistas (2006)

Director: John Stockwell

Writer: Michael Ross

Tagline: Go Home.

Actors: Josh Duhamel, Melissa George, Olivia Wilde, Desmond Askew, Beau Garrett, Max Brown, Agles Steib, Miguel Lunardi, Jorge Só

Runtime: 1h 33m

Category: Thriller

Synopsis: Young backpackers find themselves stranded on a remote Brazilian beach after their buss careens into a ravine. The beach is a virtual paradise, filled with booze, cool ocean breezes, and beautiful bodies. After a night of partying, the group find themselves drugged and robbed. With no money or passports, and nowhere to go, the group is lead through the dark and mysterious jungle with promises of help at the other end; only to find themselves face to face with a fate they could never imagine.

Review: At first my thoughts on this movie weren’t really much. I thought it was gonna be another attempt at horror but Turistas (2006) was an inventive twist at horror: standing the principles in Brazil, and instead of giving us a masked psycho-killer, we were given a killer with a purpose…a plan. It wasn’t a plan to go crazy and wreck havoc, he wanted to give back to his country the only way he could…by helping the sick with stolen organs…eww. This didn’t instill the regular type of fear like most movies. This is real fear brought on by a real killer with connections and motivation.

Most of the principle characters were necessary to the story, while the others were obviously cannon fodder. It just seemed like some of the unnecessary characters could have been left out to extend the story of the more important characters. The killer’s associate seemed, for the most part, useless, and most of the backpackers were comic relief at best.

The photography and cinematography were beautiful. The Brazilian countryside is a gorgeous location for any type of movie. But the real attraction for Turistas (2006) is this killing, which, when you watch the movie, didn’t have much of; just one really intense dissection scene. That’s kind of a downer because I wanted to see more, but the way he talked to the girl…so calmly…while removing her organs when she was barely awake was just plain creepy.

If there’s a lesson to be learned with Turistas (2006) it’s this:

1. If you are traveling in a foreign country and your bus breaks down…STAY WITH THE FREAKIN’ BUS!!
2. Don’t trust anyone other than the folks you traveled with
3. If you find yourself in a messed up situation and someone tells you to run…DO IT!!

That’s my advice to you.

Rating: 17. Although I liked Turistas (2006) it wasn’t one of my favorites. Sometimes you want a movie to be more scary and more intense; Turistas (2006) didn’t completely cut the mustard. It was enjoyable and I’d own it but I wouldn’t rank it with the best horror movies. I would list it as watchable though. I would put this in the same category as movies like I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997) and I Still Know What You Did Last Summer (1998). Just another summer thriller to fill a movie slot. Still, being a fan of horror movies, I don’t think Turistas (2006) should be missed. (17of25).