Desmond Askew, Beau Garrett, Olivia Wilde and Josh Duhamel in Fox Atomic's Turistas
© Fox Atomic

Mania Grade: B-
Reviewed Format: Theatrical Release
Rated: R
Stars: Josh Duhamel, Melissa George, Olivia Wilde, Desmond Askew, Beau Garrett, Max Brown, Agles Steib, Miguel Lunardi
Writer: Michael Arlen Ross
Director: John Stockwell
Distributor: Fox Atomic

Related Links

0

"Turistas"

It’s interesting that Brazil welcomed TURISTAS as the first U.S.-financed film production shot entirely in that country, as – despite some stunning scenery – the entire movie seems to be aimed at keeping viewers the hell out of Brazil, or indeed anywhere else where anything may be slightly unfamiliar. TURISTAS actually pulls together several urban legends to propel its plot, so perhaps the most surprising thing about the film is that, despite its themes and its publicity campaign, it’s far less horror than thriller. 

The title characters in TURISTAS are American Bea (Olivia Wilde), her protective big brother Alex (Josh Duhamel) and their friend Amy (Beau Garrett), who bond after a bus crash with adventurous Austalian Pru (Melissa George) and working-class English party boys Finn (Desmond Askew) and Liam (Max Brown). There’s a great, isolated bar and an inviting beach near the site of the crash, so our heroes decide to stay for a few days instead of catching the replacement bus. It doesn’t take long for them to get drugged and robbed, at which point, all six decide it’s time to seek civilization again, but one of the locals has other plans for them … 

TURISTAS plays with paranoia about anti-Americanism, along with some other, more horror-friendly fears, but these elements tend to clash. Give a villain an explicit political agenda and he at once starts seeming like a figure in a debate rather than in a nightmare. There are a few scenes of explicit torture and gore that will keep out horror haters, but the film’s spirit seems to be in a chase through exotic terrain rather than inducing fear. Director John Stockwell definitely makes the most of some incredible scenery – kudos are owed to the great underwater photography in several cave-diving sequences – and the people look great, too, but Michael Arlen Ross’ screenplay is riding herd on so many characters that we don’t have time to build up a true rooting interest in any one of them. In horror, this is less of a problem than in an action thriller. 

TURISTAS as a film is not analogous to its storyline – it doesn’t leave you in the middle of nowhere so that you have a terrible experience – but it doesn’t quite seem to wind up where it’s trying to go in terms of either genre or effect.