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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
1 out of 1 people found this helpful.
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Hot women and freaky moments
Added 5/27/2009
I don't get why this movie isn't more popular. It's got a good cast, many hot women in little to nothing, and a slasher plot that's entertaining. I mean it's not a 5 star worthy movie, but what horror movie is? Stephen King's IT, maybe?
0 out of 1 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.
|
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.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
|
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.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
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