a Brazilian vacation gone to hell . . .
Added 1/12/2010
Turistas (2006) is a tropical variation of the backwoods killer thriller, with a group of tourists running into horrific circumstances while vacationing in Brazil. The film has a very organic, and realistic look and feel, as much of the movie was actually shot on location in Brazil, providing a variety of looks, from beautiful beaches, waterfalls, and underwater caverns, to the mostly dank, damp, and muddy conditions in the jungle.
Passengers aboard a bus travelling along a rural road, are unexpectedly stranded, when the driver loses control, and the bus tumbles down the side of hill. Josh Duhamel (Las Vegas) is Alex, travelling with his sister Bea (Olivia Wilde, House), and her best friend Amy (Beau Garrett). After the crash they form a group with Pru (Melissa George, Alias, Grey's Anatomy), an Australian, and friends Finn (Desmond Askew) and Liam (Max Brown) who hail from London. Finding a beach with a bar nearby, the group decide hang out and party, instead of leaving on the next bus out. It is all great fun, until after a night of heavy drinking, the group is robbed with left with nothing but the clothes on their backs.
Seeking help in a nearby village, the group nearly cause a riot, when Liam injures a boy. A local boy name Kiko (Agles Steib) who they met earlier at the beach, comes to their rescue, and leads them on a trek into the jungle to escape the agitated villagers. On the way to his uncle's house, Kiko shows the tourists his 'secret place', a waterfall with water filled caverns behind, and a large pool beyond. Some of the group venture into the caverns, but their fun is interrupted when Kiko injures his head taking a plunge. The group manages to find the uncle's house. They are safe for the moment, but the group is uneasy.
Later that night, Kiko's uncle Zamora (Miguel Lunardi), and men with weapons arrive via helicopter, and things suddenly take a deadly turn. Zamora is a doctor, but one with a twisted view of humanitarianism. He begins operating on his captives, intending to harvest their vital organs. Zamora explains that the 'contribution', will be a way for the gringo to give back to his people. Tied up in animal pens, some of the group manage to escape with Kiko's help. An attempt to save their friends, has disastrous results. Strangely, the survivors head back into the underwater caverns. It is not a good idea, as Zamora is waiting with a gun, at the large pool. The survivors are forced back into the caverns. Eventually they find a way out, and again Zamora is there. Unfortunately for him, his bad management skills finally catch up with him.
The entire cast does a good job, under difficult conditions. The authentic locations, and the casting of many locals, helps create an atmosphere of realism, and Turistas hangs together pretty well, up until near the end. The caves are a cool location, and the underwater scenes were no doubt challenging to shoot, but perhaps a bit too much time is spent there. The logic and geography of the caverns is something of a mystery. Why Kiko leads the survivors into the underwater caverns, when there is apparently a faster way to the large open pool travelling by foot, is a mystery. Being under falls, the caverns should be close to pitch black, and indeed when the swimmers pop up for air in the caves, it is dark, with the only light coming from a flashlight. This makes sense, but what does not is that instead of being pitch black, the underwater environment is lighted well enough so the action can be filmed. This is understandable from a practical standpoint, but it subtracts from the realism.
The DVD contains both the rated and unrated, widescreen versions of the film. Two of the movie's most shocking scenes, involve Dr. Zamora. In one, he kills a man by casually shoving a wooden skewer through his eye. The second is an operation, where he cuts open the abdomen, and removes the liver and kidneys from one of the tourists. These scenes may be too much for some to sit through, and they appear in both versions of the film. The featurette, The Bloody Truth, shows how some of the film's more graphic scenes were accomplished. Another bonus is an informative commentary track, by director John Stockwell, and producer Ken Kubena. There was some controversy regarding the film, because of the negative aspects related to tourists. However according to Stockwell and Kubena, they received a great deal of cooperation while in Brazil, and employed many locals in the making of the film.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
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Just Another Lame Exercise
Added 11/20/2009
Remember when horror movies, I mean cheap, drive-in knock-offs, used to be fun?
I don't know where they went to shoot this one. It's supposed to be Brazil. Maybe it is. They usually go to Canada for dreck like this. Or Romania.
This is a professional-enough looking film. Nice photography, especially in the underwater cave sequences.
But it's just so...the usual. Slasher/Torture Porn. And not a lot of that, really. The bloodthirsty generation of psychos who eat this kind of sadism up will be disappointed. The kind of gore they crave is pretty much limited to one scene. And that scene provides the only real nudity too (except for a couple of flashes during the beach scenes), so that part of the audience--the kind that used to like these movies for its cheap thrills and titillations--will be put off that the only real exposed beauty is having her organs removed while she's revealed. I know that's Joe Bob Briggs bottom line reviewing...but what else is there?
Characters aren't that interesting. Moments of uniqueness are quickly discarded for the torture porn formula.
Eh.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
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Turistas
Added 11/20/2009
This movie is rather typical of its genre, college age kids go to an exotic locale with the intent of drinking and debauchery, but then find themselves in a struggle for survival. In this instance a group is lured to a secret hideaway of a mad doctor who is in the black market organ donation business. He bills himself as a patriotic sort who wishes to make available to locals the organs that otherwise would go to big city American hospitals for wealthy clients.
So the scenes unfold in the Amazonian jungles. There is suspense and the usual cast of attractive yet stupid characters. As you watch this there is the dual question of which girl will undress and which of the group will be killed next. But there is a fair amount of suspense as the chase moves through the jungle and into a river with underwater caves. The problem here is these kids seem to know which direction to swim even though they have never been here before. But it does have its entertainment value as the scenes are well acted and well filmed.
In the end there is really nothing remarkable about this film. There are some survivors of the group, and it can pretty well be predicted which individuals do survive, but the film has somewhat of a pleasant ending. However, we really don't know how they were able to fly without their passports and money, which had been stolen earlier. I guess dad found a way to bail them out.
1 out of 1 people found this helpful.
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I Almost don't want to visit Brazil now...almost
Added 10/20/2009
3.5 stars. This movie was much better than I expected it to be. Most of what needs to be said has already been said but I felt that I should write up a my own review considering that I did not care for the movie Hostel as most people here have yet still enjoyed Turistas quite a bit. It has taken me about 3 years to finally get around to seeing this movie, when I originally saw previews for it I wrote it off as just another "me too" torture porn which would be forever concealed in the shadow of 'Saw', 'The Hills have Eyes' and 'Hostel'. I've been burned by plenty of other movies which took gore and torture to the extreme and once the shock value wore off I found myself in agonizing boredom. 'Wolf Creek' immediately comes to mind but Hostel is probably the personal letdown with the highest profile, other than every Saw sequel after the second installment.
Hostel bombards you with raw sexuality from the start then slaps that smile off your face with some of the most cringe worthy torture scenes I've ever seen in a movie. It is no wonder the term "Torture Porn" was coined by a reviewer after having seen Hostel because that is essentially what it is; I wouldn't be surprised if some sicko actually got his jollies off watching the torture over the sex. Hostel went from sex comedy to snuff film in the blink of an eye and though it was moderately entertaining, the movie loses it's steam pretty quickly once the shock value is gone. Like 'The Devil's Rejects', it just became boring and gross once I got used to it. It is hard for me to enjoy movies like this when superior horror flicks such as '28 Days Later' are being released at the same time and with plenty of gore of their own. The first two Saw movies have clever plot twists underneath all the bloodshed but other than those two flicks the genre is incredibly shallow and relies on spilled guts as much as the abysmal 'Star Wars' prequels relied on CGI; all style and no substance. I still have yet to see the sequel to Hostel, I'll get around to it at some point.
Now you know my background and my wariness when it comes to Saw/Hostel copycats. Too many of these flicks were just plain boring for me to watch because I had seen it all before. Turistas is a pleasant surprise! It is just as shallow in terms of character development, acting and plot as other flicks in the genre but it relies more on suspense than actual gore. For starters there is an awesome bus accident right in the beginning of the movie to get things going and the movie moves along pretty smoothly from there. You know something is going to happen and that it won't be pretty but the movie teases you and plays with you until whatever blood lust you may have had is forgotten and you stop looking forward to the inevitable carnage and start to dread it. Instead of gasping in horror, I found myself holding my breath. Those familiar with the genre may be disappointed it isn't nearly as bloody as one might expect but I personally welcomed the reliance on suspense and uncertainty as if it were an old Slasher flick from the '70s and '80s.
*** possible but very minor spoilers below ***
There is a very well done underwater chase scene as well which only added to the suspenseful nature of the film.
I seriously considered giving the movie 4 stars but stopped short because of an anticlimactic ending. I felt the movie just gave up on me instead of ending properly but this is my personal opinion. I also don't feel a great urge to watch the movie again while a true 4 star movie would have me going back to certain scenes just to catch them one more time. The girls and setting are gorgeous (it's Brazil - look out for Dark Skinned Brazillian beauty Lucy Ramos and Australian cutie Melissa George) while the sex and gore are somewhat muted in favor of suspense. I also felt that the director could have done a better job juxtaposing the violence on screen with the beautiful Brazillian scenery. One thing I definitely felt was missing from the film was a real intense one on one fight scene.
*** Spoilers done ***
I would definitely recommend this to friends and would love to watch it with a girl, it won't gross her out and might actually hold her interest as she clasps on to my arm.
1 out of 1 people found this helpful.
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Could Really Happen
Added 6/24/2009
A lot of people have compared this to Hostel, but this is a much better movie than Hostel. First of all, this movie has more of a plausible plot. Young people on vacation in Brazil are lured away from their hotel to become unwilling organ donors. Josh Dumal, Fergie's hubby and former Vegas star, is one of the actors. I think organ stealing is possible and maybe even probable when certain groups of people (can you say drug cartels?) have unlimited money. I have definitely seen some weird situations in Brazil and in other places in South America. Thank God that none of the things I have seen compare to this movie. Very scary. The acting is good, the tension and thriller elements are good and even the scenery is good. It is very gory though, so if you cannot stand the blood, get out of the jungle operating room.
2 out of 2 people found this helpful.
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a Brazilian vacation gone to hell . . .
Added 1/12/2010
Turistas (2006) is a tropical variation of the backwoods killer thriller, with a group of tourists running into horrific circumstances while vacationing in Brazil. The film has a very organic, and realistic look and feel, as much of the movie was actually shot on location in Brazil, providing a variety of looks, from beautiful beaches, waterfalls, and underwater caverns, to the mostly dank, damp, and muddy conditions in the jungle.
Passengers aboard a bus travelling along a rural road, are unexpectedly stranded, when the driver loses control, and the bus tumbles down the side of hill. Josh Duhamel (Las Vegas) is Alex, travelling with his sister Bea (Olivia Wilde, House), and her best friend Amy (Beau Garrett). After the crash they form a group with Pru (Melissa George, Alias, Grey's Anatomy), an Australian, and friends Finn (Desmond Askew) and Liam (Max Brown) who hail from London. Finding a beach with a bar nearby, the group decide hang out and party, instead of leaving on the next bus out. It is all great fun, until after a night of heavy drinking, the group is robbed with left with nothing but the clothes on their backs.
Seeking help in a nearby village, the group nearly cause a riot, when Liam injures a boy. A local boy name Kiko (Agles Steib) who they met earlier at the beach, comes to their rescue, and leads them on a trek into the jungle to escape the agitated villagers. On the way to his uncle's house, Kiko shows the tourists his 'secret place', a waterfall with water filled caverns behind, and a large pool beyond. Some of the group venture into the caverns, but their fun is interrupted when Kiko injures his head taking a plunge. The group manages to find the uncle's house. They are safe for the moment, but the group is uneasy.
Later that night, Kiko's uncle Zamora (Miguel Lunardi), and men with weapons arrive via helicopter, and things suddenly take a deadly turn. Zamora is a doctor, but one with a twisted view of humanitarianism. He begins operating on his captives, intending to harvest their vital organs. Zamora explains that the 'contribution', will be a way for the gringo to give back to his people. Tied up in animal pens, some of the group manage to escape with Kiko's help. An attempt to save their friends, has disastrous results. Strangely, the survivors head back into the underwater caverns. It is not a good idea, as Zamora is waiting with a gun, at the large pool. The survivors are forced back into the caverns. Eventually they find a way out, and again Zamora is there. Unfortunately for him, his bad management skills finally catch up with him.
The entire cast does a good job, under difficult conditions. The authentic locations, and the casting of many locals, helps create an atmosphere of realism, and Turistas hangs together pretty well, up until near the end. The caves are a cool location, and the underwater scenes were no doubt challenging to shoot, but perhaps a bit too much time is spent there. The logic and geography of the caverns is something of a mystery. Why Kiko leads the survivors into the underwater caverns, when there is apparently a faster way to the large open pool travelling by foot, is a mystery. Being under falls, the caverns should be close to pitch black, and indeed when the swimmers pop up for air in the caves, it is dark, with the only light coming from a flashlight. This makes sense, but what does not is that instead of being pitch black, the underwater environment is lighted well enough so the action can be filmed. This is understandable from a practical standpoint, but it subtracts from the realism.
The DVD contains both the rated and unrated, widescreen versions of the film. Two of the movie's most shocking scenes, involve Dr. Zamora. In one, he kills a man by casually shoving a wooden skewer through his eye. The second is an operation, where he cuts open the abdomen, and removes the liver and kidneys from one of the tourists. These scenes may be too much for some to sit through, and they appear in both versions of the film. The featurette, The Bloody Truth, shows how some of the film's more graphic scenes were accomplished. Another bonus is an informative commentary track, by director John Stockwell, and producer Ken Kubena. There was some controversy regarding the film, because of the negative aspects related to tourists. However according to Stockwell and Kubena, they received a great deal of cooperation while in Brazil, and employed many locals in the making of the film.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
|
Just Another Lame Exercise
Added 11/20/2009
Remember when horror movies, I mean cheap, drive-in knock-offs, used to be fun?
I don't know where they went to shoot this one. It's supposed to be Brazil. Maybe it is. They usually go to Canada for dreck like this. Or Romania.
This is a professional-enough looking film. Nice photography, especially in the underwater cave sequences.
But it's just so...the usual. Slasher/Torture Porn. And not a lot of that, really. The bloodthirsty generation of psychos who eat this kind of sadism up will be disappointed. The kind of gore they crave is pretty much limited to one scene. And that scene provides the only real nudity too (except for a couple of flashes during the beach scenes), so that part of the audience--the kind that used to like these movies for its cheap thrills and titillations--will be put off that the only real exposed beauty is having her organs removed while she's revealed. I know that's Joe Bob Briggs bottom line reviewing...but what else is there?
Characters aren't that interesting. Moments of uniqueness are quickly discarded for the torture porn formula.
Eh.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
|
Turistas
Added 11/20/2009
This movie is rather typical of its genre, college age kids go to an exotic locale with the intent of drinking and debauchery, but then find themselves in a struggle for survival. In this instance a group is lured to a secret hideaway of a mad doctor who is in the black market organ donation business. He bills himself as a patriotic sort who wishes to make available to locals the organs that otherwise would go to big city American hospitals for wealthy clients.
So the scenes unfold in the Amazonian jungles. There is suspense and the usual cast of attractive yet stupid characters. As you watch this there is the dual question of which girl will undress and which of the group will be killed next. But there is a fair amount of suspense as the chase moves through the jungle and into a river with underwater caves. The problem here is these kids seem to know which direction to swim even though they have never been here before. But it does have its entertainment value as the scenes are well acted and well filmed.
In the end there is really nothing remarkable about this film. There are some survivors of the group, and it can pretty well be predicted which individuals do survive, but the film has somewhat of a pleasant ending. However, we really don't know how they were able to fly without their passports and money, which had been stolen earlier. I guess dad found a way to bail them out.
1 out of 1 people found this helpful.
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