Turistas

TURISTAS is the latest in an ongoing series of horror films that depicts young people going off in search of the adventure of a lifetime which consists mostly of getting drunk and getting laid. This was a familiar staple of the late 1970's and the early 1980's as the horror films of that era all copied HALLOWEEN with twenty-something actors and actresses portraying high school or early college-aged sex-crazed young adults who had apparently never seen HALLOWEEN and were all subsequently offed by some maniac whose face usually remained a mystery to the audience. TURISTAS differs in the respect that we learn who the killer is, and no attempt is made to hide his identity. For these young men and women, who all look as though they stepped off the covers of "Men's Health" and "FHM", their vacation goes in a direction that they had not anticipated, as they all end up finding themselves fighting for their very lives at the hands of locals who are frightened into submission by a deranged surgeon who needs the precious organs of Americans so he can implant them into the unfortunate and poverty-stricken Brazilians who live in the favelas, or slums. Over the last couple of years, films as diverse as Greg McLean's WOLF CREEK and Eli Roth's HOSTEL have been successful here in the United States as a result of the curiosity of a new generation of horror film fans who expect more gore than the average moviegoer is probably willing to tolerate. But whereas those films are extraordinarily violent and bloody, TURISTAS differs in the respect that it is actually light on the gore but when it does happen, it tries to shock us into the frenzy we felt when the baby alien burst out of John Hurt's chest in ALIEN because it is so graphic.

If one were to trace back the origin of such films, a case can certainly be made for David Schmoeller's TOURIST TRAP as being the potential jumping off point. In 1979, TOURIST TRAP told the story of the likable but extremely disturbed off-the-beaten-path museum owner by the name of Mr. Slausen, played wonderfully by Chuck Connors. Several young people whose cars mysteriously break down are "rescued" by Slausen who turns out to be a crackpot with a split personality and an affinity for telekinesis who lures young people into his lair so he can turn them into figures for his museum. But Mr. Slausen was a lonely hermit who wanted companionship after he killed his wife and brother after he caught them "whoring behind my back." WOLF CREEK's Mick Taylor is a sadistic son of a bitch who wants to kill with no rhyme or reason, and inexorably hunts people down like Quint chasing the shark in JAWS. The victims in HOSTEL were tortured by sick people who paid thousands of dollars to see what it feels like to kill someone.

TURISTAS begins in Brazil as a group of Americans and Britons are on a bus ride that turns tragic when the driver swerves to avoid running over several pedestrians. All aboard make it out in time just before the bus plunges down the mountain. Now in need of some rest and relaxation, the group is lured to a local beach which is populated by booze, music, and beautiful Brazilian women. The main cast consists of Alex (Josh Duhamel of TV's LAS VEGAS), Pru (Melissa George of TV's ALIAS) who conveniently speaks the native language of Portuguese, Bea (Olivia Wilde of TV's THE O.C., virtually unrecognizable with dark hair; like Nicole Rayburn, another stunning Hollywood blonde who foolishly dyed her hair black, Wilde's choice of hair coloring has severely reduced her sex appeal), Amy (the ridiculously hot Fiona of TV's ENTOURAGE), Liam (Max Brown of TV's CROSSROADS) and Finn (Desmond Askew, who played Simon Baines in GO). The locals are nice to them, and Kiko (Agles Steib) goes out of his way to make them feel welcome by practicing speaking English with them. If you've seen HOSTEL, you should be suspicious of this character as the protagonists will later regret having spoken with him.

As the talking, laughing, and schmoozing continues the inhibitions are inevitably cast aside and sexual promiscuity ensues, but not to any graphic extent. One by one the group succumbs to a drug secretly placed in their drinks and they all fall fast asleep only to awaken the next morning robbed of all their belongings. With nowhere to turn, they run from house to house pleading for help, only to be turned away by everyone they meet. Naturally, Kiko comes back into the picture and says that he'll take them to his uncle's house, which requires walking barefoot through rugged terrain for what seems like miles. This should be the tip-off that he's not on the up-and-up. At one point they must all swim underwater to get to a hidden paradise of rocks and waterfalls, but suddenly Kiko looks as though he's about to have a change of heart about betraying his new-found friends and when he splits his head open on a rock after a high dive they rush him into what they presume to be his uncle's house, which is inexplicably filled with surgical instruments (not to mention is hidden deeply within the jungle). They staple Kiko's headwound closed with a staple gun. Later, when the real inhabitants show up (i.e. the deranged surgeon), they are all captured and locked up. Amy is the first one to go under the knife as the "doctor" explains why he's doing what he's doing. He appears to have a Robin Hood organ complex as he removes her liver and kidneys while she's still awake.

The rest of the film is standard fare. After the guys and gals escape, they make a run for the waterfalls. Kiko suddenly regains his previous energy, and leads them on the escape route. Why a group of adults would follow a guy who tried to have them all killed, and how a guy who just hit his head on a rock is now suddenly okay, are two questions I would have liked to have seen answered. The film's ending calls to mind the superior THE DESCENT as they make their way through the waterfalls and caves. The underwater sequences reminded me of similar set pieces from Dario Argento's INFERNO and PHENOMENA. John Stockwell directed, and you may remember him as Dennis Guilder in John Carpenter's CHRISTINE.

Not all of them make it out alive, and the deranged doctor meets his much-deserved demise. I found WOLF CREEK and HOSTEL far more disturbing, but what probably is most disturbing is Brazil's almost "biting the hand that feeds it" compliance in aiding a film that can clearly diminish the amount of much-needed tourist dollars that pour into Rio de Janeiro annually. The film is definitely worth seeing for all the American and Brazilian bikini-clad beauties that populate the first two reels. Worth a DVD look.