Backpackers beware
The buzz surrounding Turistas kept annoyingly buzzing that “it’s just like Hostel, only in Brazil.” Thank the horror-movie gods that this isn’t the case.
Sure, both flicks feature young Americans backpacking in a foreign country, where they find sadistic locals with an ax to grind. There’s also booze and nudity and some general stupidity. But from there, where Hostel turned off into gorefest territory, Turistas begins to bear more resemblance to The Descent.
The story starts out with a predictable bus crash, leaving everyone on board stranded. Three Americans—Alex (Josh Duhamel), his sister and her hot friend—are among them. They meet up with two Londoners and an Aussie (Melissa George) who, fortunately for them, speaks Portuguese. The newfound friends wander off from the locals to check out a beach bar while waiting 10 hours for the next bus.
The beach is beautiful, as are the scantily clad babes (go figure, in Brazil), and the spirits flow freely. A little too freely. We quickly learn that this beach bar is more of a literal tourist trap than a hip hideaway (though how other tourists would find it, secluded as it is, remains a mystery). The turistas are drugged and robbed and find out fast that they have few friends in a nearby town.
Hours of walking through forests and swimming in underwater caves inevitably lead to a run-in with a psycho killer and his entourage. And just when you thought it was going to get explicitly gory, it doesn’t. Phew.
Director John Stockwell (Blue Crush, Into the Blue) has much more fun with water than blood. The underwater cave scenes are the most beautiful and suspenseful of the lot, but unfortunately they get a bit confusing and the payoff is murky at best.
Turistas shines with scenery and suspense, and the cast does well to retain a fair amount of intelligence while running from a madman with a scalpel. It’s too bad Stockwell takes so long to build the suspense, though, because there isn’t enough time left in the reel to deliver a proper ending. He probably could have continued with his blue theme and called this one Blue Balls.
