John Stockwell's "Turistas" mines territory recently visited by "Hostel", but it substitutes Brazil for Europe. A bunch of young tourists from Australia, the UK, and the US, are left high and dry when the bus they are traveling in is destroyed and their personal effects are stolen. There are no points for guessing what happens next. There are elements of "Dr. Butcher MD" in this beautifully shot horror pic that lavishes attention on the hot bodies of its female stars. It is not as violent or as gory as the recent "Texas Chainhsaw Massacre - The Beginning", but director Stockwell (who played Arnie's best friend in "Christine") does a great job of building the suspense. By intercutting the situation the turistas are facing with what the bad guys are up to, Stockwell creates an atmosphere of impending dread and hopelessness. There is a gory scene in which a stomach is cut open in graphic detail ("Men Behind The Sun"-style) and organs are removed, and there are also a couple of vicious assaults, but the name of the game here is tension. Some of the underwater material is gorgeous to look at, recalling the mood of Argento's "Inferno", and the jungle setting is unsettling. Although the film runs out of steam towards the end and spends a bit too much time underwater, it is, nevertheless, a very decent horror pic set in an exotic milieu and enhanced by some gruesome, realistic scenes of violence.
Review of Turistas
