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List Price: $14.98 | | Label: 20th Century Fox
Salesrank: 12552
Released: March 27, 2007 |
| Our Price: $6.00 |
| Used Price: $1.86 |
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MPAA Rating: R (Restricted)
Media: DVD |
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Editorial Review:
Rising star Josh Duhamel (TV's Las Vegas) leads a group of young backpackers who find themselves stranded on a remote Brazilian beach; an exotic paradise, with warm sunshine, cool ocean breezes, and plenty of hot bodies. But, after a night of partying, the wayward turistas are drugged and robbed, and their dream vacation becomes a gruesome nightmare. Trapped and desperate, the vulnerable travelers are lured deep into the menacing jungle and beyond, where a dark and twisted fate too terrifying to imagine awaits.
Description of Turistas (Unrated Edition):
If not for Hostel, we'd never have been treated to the gory, horrific delights so lovingly captured with sadistic detail in Turistas. Together, these movies could be spawning a radical new Hollywood-pedigreed sub-genre of extreme horror. Like Hostel, Turistas concerns a group of American hardbodied kids on an exotic foreign vacation--this time in Brazil. After a suspense-filled opening sequence of a speeding bus careening off a dangerous mountain (it's also tinged with just the right kind of humor), the kids wander into the seeming paradise of a secluded beachfront resort where they think nothing of locals who lure them one by one to their gruesome and shocking deaths. Hey, they're here to party! These excruciatingly graphic scenes unfold in the lair of a madman doctor named Zamora, who harvests organs of the still-living as a way of exacting revenge on American turistas to "give back" to the locals they exploit with their capitalist dollars. One such scene has the donor undergoing surgery without the help of anesthesia wherein the lovely young "patient" has the chance to see her still thriving innards pulsing warmly on her well-formed chest to the tune of her own screams. This stuff is not for the faint of heart (or liver, or kidney, or lungs, for that matter). But there is a fair amount of nicely staged tension, especially a "foot" chase scene in a water-filled cave that will give claustrophobics a whole new way to experience nightmares. The two most familiar faces are Melissa George and Josh Duhamel, from TV's Alias and Vegas respectively. Fans of this new world of extreme gross-out horror should be thankful that TV has plenty of cute young bodies waiting for their big screen break, no matter how many organs they have to donate to get there. --Ted Fry
Turistas (Unrated Edition) Reviews:
I Almost don't want to visit Brazil now...almost 
2009-10-20 - 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.
Could Really Happen 
2009-06-24 - 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.
Hot women and freaky moments
2009-05-27 - 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?
Loved it ! 
2009-05-16 - I loved this movie . It's nice to watch their vacation , what is going to happen with them . I was thrilled the whole movie , hoping nothing would happen to them . The scenes of diving in the cave are wonderful . Besides running from the kidnappers , they have to find a way out by swimming in deep and dangerous cave. Nice to see them having fun in the beginning , nice landscape , nice cast , some horror and suspense . Everything well balanced . I don't understand what more people expect . They complain there is not a lot of horror , but that doesn't make the movide bad . People don't know how to appreciate a movie . People are so demanding . Never pleased . I loved this movie . It's a first time I have to watch a movie again just to hear the comentary .
I Left My Heart In San Francisco And My Kidneys In Brazil
2009-05-06 - "Turistas" is a shocking, gory little gem. Don't watch it before you go on vacation to a South American country. You may change your plans.
The film begins with a heart pounding bus accident on the cliffs of Brazil, which leaves a group of American and European tourists stranded. After their brush with death, they all become friends and decide to party at a nearby bar on the beach. Their drinks are drugged and they awaken the next morning to discover all their possessions have been stolen. There are no police and the locals have conspired not to help them. One young man deceives them into following him to a remote house where a ghoulish nightmare ensues.
Rife with suspense and gore, this film has a high body count. Chase scenes abound, taking place in rain forests and flooded caverns. The later scenes were very claustrophobic; I felt myself suffocating. The acting from the young leads was very good and the photography was excellent. It was hard to imagine that such gruesome horror could take place in the tropical beauty of this primitive paradise. But the environment, as well as its people, are extremely deceptive.
"Turistas" is highly recommended for those who prefer their horror taking place in the beautiful outdoors. It should be watched as a double feature with "The Ruins," which I have also reviewed. Both movies involve innocent tourists fighting for their lives.
