Turistas
Give “Turistas,” the edgy, unnerving, graphically violent South American vacation movie full of sex-hungry young adults and horror, credit for knowing full well not only what kind of entertainment it is, but for delivering the goods.
Even before our international clan of backpackers winds up stranded on a Brazilian beach robbed of money and passports, one of the American gals has misplaced half of her bikini. “I left my top in Rio,” she says in justifying her decision to suddenly go topless.
Hmm. Let’s see. An R-rated horror film that promises “disturbing content” (i.e. blood-and-guts disembowelments), and this shapely blonde’s already letting her twins out. …
Looks like we’ve got a potential box-office moneymaker.
Like we said, “Turistas” does deliver. It has sex, drugs, violence, Swedes, machete chops, girls, a great beach, excessive drinking and some poor dude who winds up with a skewer through his eyeball.
The plot is inane — a combination of cutlery, ripe bodies and a particularly angry and deranged individual. But “Turistas” is fashioned with directorial skill by filmmakers who obviously appreciate technically proficient movies such as “Requiem for a Dream” and “Pi.” There’s plenty of quick-cut editing and anxiety stoked by a long swimming chase through underwater caves with few spots available to catch a breath.
One of the main pluses of “Turistas”: Unlike most insipid Hollywood horror fare, there’s not a single clichýd boo-scare in the film. No errant black cat appearance. No incessant quick swell of music to startle moviegoers.
Make no mistake, while “Turistas” is bloody, it’s not as overtly grotesque as “Hostel,” the horror film released early this year that sent unsuspecting travelers into the bowels of Europe to be sliced and diced by sicko millionaires.
Here, most of a moviegoer’s uneasiness is churned by that claustrophobic chase through underwater caves. It will make you think of last summer’s dark and deadly cave movie, “The Descent.” And that’s a good thing.
The actors (aka potential mincemeat) in “Turistas” are barely memorable. Josh Duhamel is the most recognizable, playing the older brother of his good-looking sister who’s traveling with her equally good-looking friend (she of the lost bikini top). They’re joined by two male Brits, an Aussie lass and, of course, a pair of sure-to-die-first Swedes.
Their trip to hell starts on a rickety Brazilian bus rushing down a jungle road. The local driver, at different points, picks his nose and spits out the window.
That’s not exactly the stuff of an inviting travel brochure. But it sets the perfect tone for the horror to come.
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