American tourists traveling through the wilds of Brazil find that there’s a thriving black market and they’re an unwilling commodity in it. This film should do wonders for the Brazilian tourism industry!
Alex (Josh Duhamel), his sister Bea (Olivia Wilde), and her friend Amy (Beau Garrett) are traveling cross country via bus through Brazil. Alex wanted to take the plane and the frenzied driving of the bus driver only convinces him that he was right in his first thought. The bus breaks down, most literally since it careens off a cliff and the occupants barely escape.
Some beautiful scenery, but what could hide beneath?
Our three Americans make fast friends with two Englishmen named Finn (Desmond Askew) and Liam (Max Brown) and an Australian girl named Pru (Melissa George). Tiring of waiting the possible ten hours for the next bus, they find a beachside bar and proceed to party and drink the time away. They meet a friendly English speaking local called Kiko (Agles Steib). They awaken the next morning to find that the reason they slept so well is that they were drugged and now find that they’ve also been robbed of all of their possessions.
They go into the village and see Alex’s hat on a local village boy and the ensuing chase leaves the boy injured and the foreigners looking very bad. Kiko comes to their aid and promises to lead them to safety. They find that safety may be hard to come by in the jungles of Brazil.
I suppose that Turistas and Hostel both did wonders for the Brazilian and European tourism industries. Both movies are comparable in that tourists go vacationing and end up victims of the seamy underbelly of the countries that they travel to. What Turistas might have over Hostel is that our tourists are a tad more likeable than those in Hostel. Whereas Hostel had only one likeable frat boy, Turistas tourists are very likeable and you feel for them when they find themselves in an unhealthy situation.
Hostel dealt with the underground torture trade and this film deals with the underground organ trade. There’s a reason that lots of tourists are disappearing in the jungles of Brazil and if you find the bodies more than likely they’ll be missing their kidneys, livers, etc. The gruesome harvesting scene is the gory set piece of Turistas, it actually starts the movie but you really don’t get a look at what’s going on until much later in the movie.
You'd much rather have dysentery than have your innerds taken from you
The film does offer some lovely scenery of the Brazilian countryside, beaches, and clear ocean but the thought of ending up on an operating table in the jungle will no doubt give you second thoughts about traveling there.
The DVD presents two cuts of the film with one side having the theatrical R-rated cut and the other having and unrated cut of the film. The running times differ by about 2 minutes and you’ll only be getting a sliver more gore and sexuality.
Turistas is presented in anamorphic widescreen (2.35:1) and enhanced for 16x9 televisions. The special features are also divvied up by side. The R-rated side features a commentary by director John Stockwell and producer Kent Kubena. You may recognize that name or the face (he has a cameo at the end of the film playing a turista) as he starred in the film adaptation of Stephen King’s Christine.
Next are 18 minutes of deleted scenes and an alternative ending. The unrated side features a 10 minute featurette entitled “The Bloody Truth: Behind the Special Makeup Effects” that show how they did the gruesome set piece of the film and some trailers.
Though Hostel provided more grue, Turistas provides somewhat more likeable characters that you may care about what happens to them. Turistas seems more believable to me as a scenario than Hostel but still provides some suspense and chills.
Pru, Alex, Bea, and Amy
Turistas (Unrated Edition) is now available at Amazon . As of yet, there is not a release date for the UK. Visit the DVD database for more information.
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