Turistas
Last night, I joined a group of friends for the opening night of Turistas. Although not entirely disappointing, it did leave a lot to be desired.
The movie follows a group of tourists who venture to Brazil for sun, fun and
relaxation. After a bus accident, their plans quickly change and vacation
turns nightmare.
Overall, Turistas wasn't bad. The premise was good, as it is very much
every persons private fear when travelling abroad that something 'bad' is
going to happen. But in general this movie played out like a hybrid between
The Hostel and The Decent. There were crazy, evil, dark sinister tourture
scenes followed by underwater cave-diving chase scenes. Not necessarily a
bad combination but it has to be done right. Unfortunately, I would have to
say Turistas was just shy of doing it right.
The movie felt a lot longer than it was because there was too much time
spent of lame character and plot development and not enough time spent on
torture and horror, like the trailers and ads suggested. Infact, there
really was only one torture scene. And that scene, while moderately
disturbing, was made less so by cut-scenes to inform the viewer of what the
other characters were up to and unnecessary monologue from the torturer
trying to get the audience to sympathize and better understand his actions.
Please. Can't we just have a nut case anymore? Can't the guy just like to
hurt, kill and torture just cause it is what he does? Hannibal Lecter,
though capable of explaining his actions I am sure, never really did. He
simply knew and admitted it was what he liked to do and did it proudly. The
murderous family from House of 1,000 Corpses and Devils Rejects also never
apologize or explained their actions. And never, EVER, did Leatherface
stand before his victim and explain that it was his insecurity with his own
personal appearance that lead him to kill and skin his victims in a
primitive attempt at plastic surgery.
I believe it is this lack of sympathy seeking behavior, overall pure brutality and unapologetic desire to torture and kill that makes those characters 'loveable' among horror fans. It felt like Turistas wanted us to have that fear and fascination with the torturer but instead all you felt was general dislike of the character. The victims
themselves didn't even evoke too much sympathy. They made a lot of very
poor travel and social decisions that almost made me feel like they got what
they asked for in the end. When that is the attitude the viewer has towards
the lead characters, no amount of plot development and character building
will change that sentiment. Including extra portions of both only make themovie feel a lot longer than it was and leave the viewer wanting to have a
home-editing device to 'fast forward through the slow bits and get on with
the killing.'
I would give Turistas an overall grade of C.
Turistas would receive a grade breakdown as follows:
Story: B. Not really original but some nice ideas all the same.
Acting: C. No one was horrible and almost everyone was pretty to look at -
two things that seem almost essential to any horror movie or horror movie
wannabe.
Visuals: B. The torture scene was pretty weak but the underwater shots were quite nice and eerie too.
Originality/Innovation: C-. The Decent meets The Hostel. Not original or
innovative and so transparently obvious it felt like a bad hack job at
times.
Enjoyability grade: C. If you advertise a movie with torture and horror
scenes that is what I expect. Not one with a lot of talking, walking,
swimming and SOME killing. I went in expecting loads of sinister brutality
and left feeling like I had set through an edited, PG-13, made-for-TV
version of The Hostel. Note to Hollywood and anyone else who cares: Less
talk, more horror please.
Overall grade: C. I would recommend it as a rental with a group of friends
and lots of food to keep you occupied during the 'dull' parts.
|
