Turistas Starts with Elements
of Hostel and Mixes them with a Popular Urban Legend.
Turistas takes the urban legend
about stolen organs for sale on the black market, adds young tourists
in a foreign country with some killer gore - the result is a disturbing
ride.
Release:
2006 Directed by: John Stockwell Written by: Michael Ross
Starring:
Josh Duhamel as Alex Melissa George as Pru Olivia Wilde as Bea
When I first watched Hostel
I was not
prepared for the disturbing subject matter and the realistic images of
torture and bodily dismemberment. In fact, I
didn’t know what
to think when I left the theater…I was a bit stunned really.
It took me a while to recover and decide if I really liked the movie or
not.
I had a similar feeling after watching Turistas, but it was different
this time. Sure, the gore was shocking and realistic. Yes, the villains
were inhumanly evil treating human beings like mindless objects with no
inherent value. But I liked Turistas. Maybe it is
because the whole “torture gore evil violence”
genre of horror started by Hostel paved the way for
me to become a bit desensitized. I think I will call it
“Shock-Horror”.
Turistas is a story about a group of young people on
vacation in Brazil. Through a series of unavoidable events along with
some very bad choices they find themselves in the clutches of a
Brazilian man and his henchmen who capture
“gringos” and harvest their organs for sale to the
rich.
Lots
of violence, suspense, tension and swimming later…Turistas
is over. The chase through the underground caves will stay with me for
a long time.
Prior to going to the theater my first thought was that Turistas
was a rip-off of the Hostel concept. After watching
the movie, however, it became clear to me that although there are
unmistakable similarities (American tourists in a
foreign country being
victimized, over-the-top gore, evil locals) the
basis for the story has more to do with adding life to a popular urban
legend than copying another successful movie. Perhaps Hostel
just opened the door to this type of gore…this type of
suspense and victimization of the innocent. Let’s face it,
the innocent being victimized is a long-standing horror (and other
movie genre) norm.
In fact, saying that Turistas is a copy of Hostel
because tourists are tortured is much like saying that Friday
the 13th
is a copy of The
Evil Dead because a young lovely
falls down in the woods. The influences are there, but evidence of
influence does not a copy make.
At the time of this writing Turistas is still in
the theaters. It is not doing well, and I am not entirely sure why.
From my perspective Turistas is a disturbing flick
with gut-wrenching gore and squirm-in-your-seat
suspense and action,
leading to cheering for the hero and hoping that somebody will escape the
clutches of the evil villain alive. In fact, I think I was sweating
afterward.
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evil locals) the
basis for the story has more to do with adding life to a popular urban
legend than copying another successful movie. Perhaps Hostel
just opened the door to this type of gore…this type of
suspense and victimization of the innocent. Let’s face it,
the innocent being victimized is a long-standing horror (and other
movie genre) norm.
In fact, saying that Turistas is a copy of Hostel
because tourists are tortured is much like saying that 
somebody will escape the
clutches of the evil villain alive. In fact, I think I was sweating
afterward.
