Review of Turistas (2006) by Jenna G — 28 Feb 2011

With Turistas, Stockwell dives head-first into a veritable riptide of churning, vicious exploitation cinema, and the result is surprisingly effective. Nasty stuff. It gallops along with a suspenseful, dead-on sense of dread. It's xenophobic (message: Americans, steer clear of the Third World); it's photogenic, it's gruesome, and it's violent. Consider it a modern spin on Deliverance, with no squealing like a pig -- just squeals of frightful excitement. As the latest in a never-ending chain of thrillers about young people lost and dying in a hostile land, John Stockwell's Turistas at least offers the visual benefits of exotic settings and a cast of barely clad hardbodies.

VERDICT: "Rental" - (Negative to Mixed reaction). These films are only worth renting because of certain good things that are worth seeing, but are not worth paying at a theater to see due to bad things that overcome anything good.