Turistas / John Stockwell (2006)

December 4th, 2006 by Scott Marks

Turistas (2006)

Turistas (2006)

Directed by: John Stockwell

Written by: Michael Ross

Genres: Adventure, Drama, Horror, Mystery, Thriller

Cast: Josh Duhamel, Melissa George, Olivia Wilde, Desmond Askew, Beau Garrett, Max Brown, Agles Steib, Miguel Lunardi, Jorge Só, Cristiani Aparecida, Lucy Ramos, Andréa Leal, Diego Santiago, Marcao, Miguelito Acosta

Aspect Ratio: 2.35 : 1

Running Time: 89 min.

For its first half, Turistas is an entertaining, reasonably well made suspense film about a group of vacationers stranded in a remote Brazilian beach town after their reckless tour bus driver crashes his rig. The fun abruptly ended when the film took a Hostel turn and a Brazilian Dr. Mengele started plucking internal organs from the young attractive cast.

This wasn’t exactly a far stretch for actor-turned-director John Stockwell, son of Blue Velvet’s Dean Stockwell and star of John Carpenter’s Christine. A seasoned pro when it comes to babes-in-bikini surf films, Stockwell was the auteur behind such jiggle classics as Blue Crush and Into the Blue. Instead of drug smuggling, this time Stockwell substitutes kidneys, which will be sold on the black market, for heroin.

Alex (Josh Duhamel) escorts his sister Bea (Olivia Wilde) and her best friend Pru (Beau Garrett) on their first trip abroad. Former Guess! model Garrett is the only member of the cast to appear nude, and we all know what that means: she’ll be the first to die.

Fortunately, Pru (Melissa George), the most beautiful tourist on the bus is also the only one who speaks Portugese. Finn and Liam (Desmond Askew and Max Brown) are on board solely in hopes of getting laid by a future Victoria’s Secret model. From here on in, it’s strictly gore effects and death by billing.

According to the press notes, Turistas is the first American feature to shoot entirely in Brazil and what a glowing endorsement for tourism it is. Between this and Babel, I awaken each morning and immediately kiss the sacred American soil beneath my feet.

Rating: