Turistas
Encyclopedia
Turistas is a 2006 American thriller film directed and produced by John Stockwell
. In some regions of the world, such as France, the Republic of Ireland, Malta and the UK, the film has been released under the alternative title Paradise Lost.
), his sister Bea (Olivia Wilde
) and a friend Amy (Beau Garrett
), backpacking
in Brazil
, decide to go by bus and sightsee portions of the country, instead of flying directly to the Northeastern beaches
they wish to visit. After a bus crash they are joined by two English men, Finn (Desmond Askew
) and Liam (Max Brown
) and the Australian Pru Stagler (Melissa George
) and head to the beach looking for a bar. There they get involved in a party with locals but are served drugged drinks
and pass out. The next morning, they awaken on the deserted beach, with only the clothes they had on, stripped of luggage, money, and documents. Looking for help in the nearby village, they encounter conflict with locals as they see some of their belongings worn or lying around. Offering help, Kiko (Agles Steib), a local who speaks some English, volunteers to take them to an isolated cabin in the forest, where they can wait for help. In a long walk through the wilderness, Kiko shows them a “secret place”, a cave beneath a waterfall, but, taking a bad dive into the river, Kiko hits the rocky bottom, and is rendered unconscious and begins bleeding profusely from a cut in his head. Proceeding to the cabin in the jungle, they find food, clothes, and prescription drugs in a number of different names and a drawer filled with other people’s passports. They manage to seal Kiko's wound and hesitantly spend the night at the cabin.
They are awakened in the middle of the night by a helicopter bringing Zamora (Miguel Lunardi), a physician, and a few associates. They are advised to flee, because Zamora has twisted plans for them, but they are beaten into compliance. Zamora proceeds to a makeshift operating room where he removes organs from Amy, who is sedated, while he explains to Finn, who is tied up, that organ theft
for transplant from Brazilians by rich gringo
s is part of a pattern of exploitation of Brazilian “resources”, and that it is time to “give back”. Victims' usable organs are being harvested and sent to the People’s Hospital in Rio de Janeiro
and used for the benefit of the poor.
Meanwhile, the rest of the group outside manage to break free of their cages, fighting and killing one of Zamora’s associates, with the aid of Kiko, who returned after being sent away by Zamora. Alex sends Bea and Pru to wait by the waterfall they passed on the way to the remote residence. Then, he, Kiko and Liam attempt to raid the cabin. They successfully rescue Finn, who is partially unable to walk because he has been sedated, but while they are running away from the cabin, Finn is shot in the head. Alex realizes they have to resume their escape, but Liam, incensed by the death of his friend, decides to stay behind and fight back, only to be shot and taken away to be "salvaged". By the waterfall, Alex, Bea and Pru try to hide inside the flooded cave Kiko showed them, eluding one of Zamora’s associates who is trailing close behind, armed with a bow and arrows, and Zamora’s party. For a time, they are able to put some distance between themselves and their pursuers. Diving and swimming to the cavern's secondary entrance, they find Zamora is already there, and he shoots them in the water, killing Kiko and injuring Alex.
The survivors are forced to backtrack into the water of the cave, where they can take air at only a few places. They split up, looking for breathing points, trying not to be noticed and fall prey to the archer. Bea and the archer meet at the same breathing spot, but Bea grabs an arrow from the man, stabbing him in the neck and killing him. Alex, Bea and Pru get out of the cave only to run into Zamora. Alex goes berserk
, jumps Zamora and repeatedly hits him in the head with a rock. Alex is interrupted by the arrival of one of Zamora’s associates, who is armed with a rifle
. Zamora instructs him to kill the foreigners. Seeing the trio of survivors, vulnerable and scared, and Zamora in agony, the man hesitates. This infuriates Zamora, who orders the gunman, to carry out the killing. Pru tries to convince the gunman to spare them, pointing out how Zamora speaks to him in derogatory terms, Zamora calls the gunman a coward, and is shot in the head by the gunman who turns and walks off. Soon after, the survivors, coming out of the jungle, meet local villagers who help them to recover.
Later, Alex and Bea stand in line, waiting to board an airplane, while a couple of tourists behind them argue over going by bus. Alex advises them; “Take the plane”.
. The New York Times
reported that the movie was "plain stupid", while The Hollywood Reporter
felt that an unsettling atmosphere was built at the start but that "the movie begins to fall apart around the halfway point". The film did, however, receive a positive review from Larry Ratliff, film critic for the San Antonio Express-News
, who said that the film was "shockingly brilliant". Fangoria Magazine, meanwhile, claimed that it was "a better and scarier film than Hostel".
apologized to the Brazilian government and to the Brazilian people during an appearance on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. He said that it was not the intention of the film to stop tourists from visiting Brazil.
March 29, 2007 and was released in a rated theatrical version
, with a running time of 89 minutes. An unrated version of Turistas was also released the same day with a running time of 98 minutes, and was advertised as being "Too Gruesome For Theaters".
sequel
titled Turistas 2: Jungle Fever, was filmed in Fall 2010, and released in May 2011.
John Stockwell (actor)
John Stockwell is an American actor, director, producer, writer and former model.Stockwell was born John Stockwell Samuels IV in Galveston, Texas, the son of an attorney. His first feature film as an actor came in 1981's So Fine...
. In some regions of the world, such as France, the Republic of Ireland, Malta and the UK, the film has been released under the alternative title Paradise Lost.
Plot
Three young American tourists, Alex (Josh DuhamelJosh Duhamel
Joshua David "Josh" Duhamel is an American actor and former fashion model. He first achieved acting success in 1999 as Leo du Pres on ABC's All My Children and later as the chief of security, Danny McCoy, on NBC's Las Vegas...
), his sister Bea (Olivia Wilde
Olivia Wilde
Olivia Wilde is an American actress and fashion model. She began acting in the early 2000s, and has since appeared in a number of film and television parts, including roles in the serial-drama The O.C. and The Black Donnellys. She portrayed Dr...
) and a friend Amy (Beau Garrett
Beau Garrett
Beau Jesse Garrett is an American actress and model.-Career:She was first hired by GUESS in the late 1990s. She is currently a spokesmodel for Revlon cosmetics, along with Halle Berry, Jessica Biel, Jennifer Connelly and Jessica Alba, and has also modeled for Double D Ranch and CosmoGirl...
), backpacking
Backpacking (travel)
Backpacking is a term that has historically been used to denote a form of low-cost, independent international travel. Terms such as independent travel and/or budget travel are often used...
in Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
, decide to go by bus and sightsee portions of the country, instead of flying directly to the Northeastern beaches
Northeast Region, Brazil
The Northeast Region of Brazil is composed of the following states: Maranhão, Piauí, Ceará, Rio Grande do Norte, Paraíba, Pernambuco, Alagoas, Sergipe and Bahia, and it represents 18.26% of the Brazilian territory....
they wish to visit. After a bus crash they are joined by two English men, Finn (Desmond Askew
Desmond Askew
Desmond Askew is an English actor of film and television. In 1983 he had the lead role of 'naughty schoolboy' in the promo video of the Wham single Bad Boys. He has appeared in films such as Go , Repli-Kate , The Hills Have Eyes and Turistas...
) and Liam (Max Brown
Max Brown
Max Brown is an English actor. Max was born in Ilkley, Yorkshire, England, but spent most of his childhood in the town of Shrewsbury, Shropshire, which he refers to as his home....
) and the Australian Pru Stagler (Melissa George
Melissa George
Melissa Suzanne George is an Australian film and television actress who has worked in Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States. Melissa is perhaps best known for her role as Angel Parrish on the Australian soap opera Home and Away...
) and head to the beach looking for a bar. There they get involved in a party with locals but are served drugged drinks
Mickey Finn (drugs)
A Mickey Finn, is a slang term for a drink laced with a drug given to someone without his knowledge in order to incapacitate him...
and pass out. The next morning, they awaken on the deserted beach, with only the clothes they had on, stripped of luggage, money, and documents. Looking for help in the nearby village, they encounter conflict with locals as they see some of their belongings worn or lying around. Offering help, Kiko (Agles Steib), a local who speaks some English, volunteers to take them to an isolated cabin in the forest, where they can wait for help. In a long walk through the wilderness, Kiko shows them a “secret place”, a cave beneath a waterfall, but, taking a bad dive into the river, Kiko hits the rocky bottom, and is rendered unconscious and begins bleeding profusely from a cut in his head. Proceeding to the cabin in the jungle, they find food, clothes, and prescription drugs in a number of different names and a drawer filled with other people’s passports. They manage to seal Kiko's wound and hesitantly spend the night at the cabin.
They are awakened in the middle of the night by a helicopter bringing Zamora (Miguel Lunardi), a physician, and a few associates. They are advised to flee, because Zamora has twisted plans for them, but they are beaten into compliance. Zamora proceeds to a makeshift operating room where he removes organs from Amy, who is sedated, while he explains to Finn, who is tied up, that organ theft
Organ theft
Organ harvesting refers to the removal, preservation and use of human organs and tissue from the bodies of the recently deceased to be used in surgical transplants on the living...
for transplant from Brazilians by rich gringo
Gringo
Gringo is a slang Spanish and Portuguese word used in Spanish-speaking and Portuguese-speaking countries in Latin America, to denote foreigners, often from the United States. The term can be applied to someone who is actually a foreigner, or it can denote a strong association or assimilation into...
s is part of a pattern of exploitation of Brazilian “resources”, and that it is time to “give back”. Victims' usable organs are being harvested and sent to the People’s Hospital in Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro , commonly referred to simply as Rio, is the capital city of the State of Rio de Janeiro, the second largest city of Brazil, and the third largest metropolitan area and agglomeration in South America, boasting approximately 6.3 million people within the city proper, making it the 6th...
and used for the benefit of the poor.
Meanwhile, the rest of the group outside manage to break free of their cages, fighting and killing one of Zamora’s associates, with the aid of Kiko, who returned after being sent away by Zamora. Alex sends Bea and Pru to wait by the waterfall they passed on the way to the remote residence. Then, he, Kiko and Liam attempt to raid the cabin. They successfully rescue Finn, who is partially unable to walk because he has been sedated, but while they are running away from the cabin, Finn is shot in the head. Alex realizes they have to resume their escape, but Liam, incensed by the death of his friend, decides to stay behind and fight back, only to be shot and taken away to be "salvaged". By the waterfall, Alex, Bea and Pru try to hide inside the flooded cave Kiko showed them, eluding one of Zamora’s associates who is trailing close behind, armed with a bow and arrows, and Zamora’s party. For a time, they are able to put some distance between themselves and their pursuers. Diving and swimming to the cavern's secondary entrance, they find Zamora is already there, and he shoots them in the water, killing Kiko and injuring Alex.
The survivors are forced to backtrack into the water of the cave, where they can take air at only a few places. They split up, looking for breathing points, trying not to be noticed and fall prey to the archer. Bea and the archer meet at the same breathing spot, but Bea grabs an arrow from the man, stabbing him in the neck and killing him. Alex, Bea and Pru get out of the cave only to run into Zamora. Alex goes berserk
Berserker
Berserkers were Norse warriors who are reported in the Old Norse literature to have fought in a nearly uncontrollable, trance-like fury, a characteristic which later gave rise to the English word berserk. Berserkers are attested in numerous Old Norse sources...
, jumps Zamora and repeatedly hits him in the head with a rock. Alex is interrupted by the arrival of one of Zamora’s associates, who is armed with a rifle
Rifle
A rifle is a firearm designed to be fired from the shoulder, with a barrel that has a helical groove or pattern of grooves cut into the barrel walls. The raised areas of the rifling are called "lands," which make contact with the projectile , imparting spin around an axis corresponding to the...
. Zamora instructs him to kill the foreigners. Seeing the trio of survivors, vulnerable and scared, and Zamora in agony, the man hesitates. This infuriates Zamora, who orders the gunman, to carry out the killing. Pru tries to convince the gunman to spare them, pointing out how Zamora speaks to him in derogatory terms, Zamora calls the gunman a coward, and is shot in the head by the gunman who turns and walks off. Soon after, the survivors, coming out of the jungle, meet local villagers who help them to recover.
Later, Alex and Bea stand in line, waiting to board an airplane, while a couple of tourists behind them argue over going by bus. Alex advises them; “Take the plane”.
Cast
- Josh DuhamelJosh DuhamelJoshua David "Josh" Duhamel is an American actor and former fashion model. He first achieved acting success in 1999 as Leo du Pres on ABC's All My Children and later as the chief of security, Danny McCoy, on NBC's Las Vegas...
as Alex - Melissa GeorgeMelissa GeorgeMelissa Suzanne George is an Australian film and television actress who has worked in Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States. Melissa is perhaps best known for her role as Angel Parrish on the Australian soap opera Home and Away...
as Prue - Olivia WildeOlivia WildeOlivia Wilde is an American actress and fashion model. She began acting in the early 2000s, and has since appeared in a number of film and television parts, including roles in the serial-drama The O.C. and The Black Donnellys. She portrayed Dr...
as Bea - Desmond AskewDesmond AskewDesmond Askew is an English actor of film and television. In 1983 he had the lead role of 'naughty schoolboy' in the promo video of the Wham single Bad Boys. He has appeared in films such as Go , Repli-Kate , The Hills Have Eyes and Turistas...
as Finn - Beau GarrettBeau GarrettBeau Jesse Garrett is an American actress and model.-Career:She was first hired by GUESS in the late 1990s. She is currently a spokesmodel for Revlon cosmetics, along with Halle Berry, Jessica Biel, Jennifer Connelly and Jessica Alba, and has also modeled for Double D Ranch and CosmoGirl...
as Amy - Max BrownMax BrownMax Brown is an English actor. Max was born in Ilkley, Yorkshire, England, but spent most of his childhood in the town of Shrewsbury, Shropshire, which he refers to as his home....
as Liam - Agles Steib as Kiko
- Miguel Lunardi as Zamora
- Jorge Só as Bus driver
- Cristiani Aparecida as Native beauty
- Lucy Ramos as Arolea
- Andréa Leal as Camila
- Diego Santiago as Jacaré
- Marcão as Ranan
- Miguelito Acosta as Jamoru
Reception
The film was poorly received by the critics, receiving a combined score of 16% from Rotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
. The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
reported that the movie was "plain stupid", while The Hollywood Reporter
The Hollywood Reporter
Formerly a daily trade magazine, The Hollywood Reporter re-launched in late 2010 as a unique hybrid publication serving the entertainment industry and a consumer audience...
felt that an unsettling atmosphere was built at the start but that "the movie begins to fall apart around the halfway point". The film did, however, receive a positive review from Larry Ratliff, film critic for the San Antonio Express-News
San Antonio Express-News
The San Antonio Express-News is the daily newspaper of San Antonio, Texas. It is ranked as the third-largest daily newspaper in the state of Texas in terms of circulation, and is one of the leading news sources of South Texas, with offices in Austin, Brownsville, Laredo, and Mexico City...
, who said that the film was "shockingly brilliant". Fangoria Magazine, meanwhile, claimed that it was "a better and scarier film than Hostel".
Brazilian reaction
The film caused some controversy in Brazil, because of the unrealistic and biased image of the country, and American actor Josh DuhamelJosh Duhamel
Joshua David "Josh" Duhamel is an American actor and former fashion model. He first achieved acting success in 1999 as Leo du Pres on ABC's All My Children and later as the chief of security, Danny McCoy, on NBC's Las Vegas...
apologized to the Brazilian government and to the Brazilian people during an appearance on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. He said that it was not the intention of the film to stop tourists from visiting Brazil.
Home media
In the United States, Turistas came out on DVDDVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
March 29, 2007 and was released in a rated theatrical version
Motion picture rating system
A motion picture rating system is designated to classify films with regard to suitability for audiences in terms of issues such as sex, violence, substance abuse, profanity, impudence or other types of mature content...
, with a running time of 89 minutes. An unrated version of Turistas was also released the same day with a running time of 98 minutes, and was advertised as being "Too Gruesome For Theaters".
Sequel
A direct-to-DVDDirect-to-video
Direct-to-video is a term used to describe a film that has been released to the public on home video formats without being released in film theaters or broadcast on television...
sequel
Sequel
A sequel is a narrative, documental, or other work of literature, film, theatre, or music that continues the story of or expands upon issues presented in some previous work...
titled Turistas 2: Jungle Fever, was filmed in Fall 2010, and released in May 2011.