Hey, everyone. ”Moriarty” here.

Somehow, I didn’t realize John Stockwell directed this. That actually makes me want to see the film. He’s not one of those guys who seems to do no wrong, but he brings an integrity to even the most ridiculous of the films he’s made so far, and I’m hoping that’s the case here as well.

Was able to see Turistas about a month ago at a free screening at the Dobie Theater here in Austin. I meant to write a review for it then, but it slipped my mind so now that the film opens in a couple days I thought I'd chime in on my two cents on the flick. I wrote a review of Elf a couple of years ago so if you use this call me Flawless Fanboy.

Turistas essentially looks like the same Saw/Hostel rip-offs we've been seeing lately, but when you get past some of the surface issues you have what is a surprisingly taut thriller with beautiful locales/women and a couple of amazingly violent/cool moments.

If you've seen the numerous advertisements they're running for this flick then you probably know the gist of the picture: attractive Americans get stranded in Brazil, get robbed, and then kidnapped by some crazy dudes with sinister plans. I don't want to go into too much detail because there are some interesting plot twists that I don't want to ruin.

First off let's get it out of the way. Turistas is a good movie. Why is it good? Because it does exactly what it intends to do: keep you on the edge of your seat for the entire duration. From the moment the film starts there is a tense atmosphere that really doesn't let up until the end. But it also features one of the more disturbing moments I've ever seen in a film (trust me once you see it you'll know what I'm talking about) and a surprisingly cool underwater chase scene. Now I for one haven't seen a decent underwater chase scene since Alien Resurrection (which is not that bad when watched intoxicated), so I'm glad to see they've made a strong showing in this film.

The acting is pretty standard for this type of film, but in all honesty with these type of films you're not after in depth character examinations. Josh Duhamel proves he can play a realistic leading man (with dynamite abs I might add) and Melissa George proves she's amazingly hot.

It'll be interesting to see how the film is accepted because it's kind of being advertised like Saw and Hostel, but it's really not. It is its own film.

So to sum things up Turistas is definitely an above average entry into the horror/thriller film genre. It's grisly, violent and to the point. Definitely a must see for fans of the genre.