Review of Turistas (2006) by Alex D — 01 Aug 2009

Yawn. If you're bored enough to feel like sitting through this lame piece of work, then be my guest. Just know that almost everything is second rate. The characters are annoying for the most part (with the loud British guy pissing me off with almost every word he speaks).

Positives? The setting is unique and there is some excellent cinematography to be seen here. A bunch of hot (but irritating) girls. Theres a powerful scene closer to the end involving the antagonist and an operation, but by the time something cool finally happened it was too late. And even then I felt like the director missed the mark.

I found myself wondering when/if something interesting was gonna happen throughout the movie. The long drawn out chase scene wasn't suspenseful, it was tiring and stupid. Some plot turns are laughably predictable. Oh look, they're all getting drunk! I wonder what will happen next.

In some instances, letting the audience know whats going to happen can be an effective way of building up tension and dread. Unfortunately, I don't think the film makers intended that here, so we're just left frustatingly bored while waiting for the inevitable kidnapping to take place. And then you realize that you've seen it before in Hostel and it was much more effective there.

After everything is said in done, you'll probably either be thinking "Thats it?" or "Finally this piece of crap is over.".

Here's a suggestion. If you're looking for a suspensful, unpredictable horror movie thats set in a lush and unique area then go watch The Ruins. If you're looking for a a truly scary movie where people get operated on and its actually effective then go watch Autopsy.