Fear Friday ~ I'll Never Go Swimming Again!

It is Friday and time for another Fear Friday review here at Laughing Vixen Lounge. Summer is here and that means it is vacation time. All of July the Fear Friday movies will have a tourist on vacation theme. We'll start it off with a great little example of why you should not be so trusting, drunk or just plain stupid while in a foreign country. So think twice before trusting the locals and enjoy this week's pick.

Every Friday at the Laughing Vixen Lounge Blog is Fear Friday. Fear Fridays are a celebration of all films spooky. Horror is a very broad genre and the Lounge loves it all. Each Friday you will find a review of a different film. These can range from Classic Horror (black and white and cheesy),  Thrillers (suspense, jumps and a good mystery), outright Horror (chop chop, slash slash, die die) and anything else in between.

So pop some popcorn, kill the lights and enjoy tonight's selection. And please, share your comments on the film. Bad or good let me now what you thought of it. And now, my little ghouls and dolls, the Laughing Vixen Lounge Blog is proud to present this week's film.


July - Vacation Nightmares

Fear Friday - Turistas

Tag Line ~ There are some places tourists should never go.
                 You'll be dying to stay


Directed by John Stockwell (Blue Crush, Crazy Beautiful and Into the Blue) and released on December 1, 2006 by Fox Atomic (Rated R). When their bus breaks down in Brazil, a group of tourists find themselves at the mercy of the locals. Trust me, it won't end well!!!

After the local bus has a wicked accident a group of tourists are stranded in rural Brazil. They decide to go enjoy the local beach and it's bar while they wait for the next bus to come along... in two days. My, those locals are awful friendly and quick with the booze! Our group of stupid American, British and Australian tourists are not too overly concerned by anything. They are there to have a great time. That is until they wake up the next morning realizing that their drinks were drugged and all of their belonging have been stolen.

That alone is a great scary story, because it could easily happen, but it is only the beginning of this story. The choices these people make from here on out seem hard to believe that anyone would be that trusting. But if you put it in the context of being in a panic situation in an unfamiliar place, that works very differently than what you know, it makes their choices a bit less questionable.

After a horribly stupid move by one of the group, they find themselves not only receiving no help from the locals in town but in serious trouble. One very nice young man offers to help them by letting them stay at his uncle's house while they wait for the next bus. This is where is becomes a little unbelievable that they would go through as much as they do to get to this house. But let's just go with the thinking that once your in the middle of it you do not have much choice.

Of course what awaits them at the house is not pleasant and the film has actually been letting the viewer in on what it is from pretty much the start. I would rather my reviews entice a person to watch the film, instead of ruin it for those who have not seen it yet, so I chose to leave this part out. But the trek to the house and back has plenty of horror film fun. If you watch the full film, not on TV, there is a lot of blood and violence. If you are claustrophobic at all (and I am) there is a panic inducing scene involving underwater caves that should make for a truly uncomfortable experience.

No, it is not the best horror film ever made but I find it to be a good watch. With the likes of Josh Duhamel, Olivia Wilde and Melissa George there is no shortage of good looking people to watch. A special treat here is that it is directed by John Stockwell. A personal favorite of mine from his acting days in movies like Christine, North and South and Losin' It. He now mostly directs but does appear from time to time in his movies. Watch closely in this one and you will see him as the man at the very end that is warned to not take the bus.

You should be able to find Turistas on most DVD and steaming services.


Take a look at the original trailer.




Some trivia about the movie.
1. The people seen in the passport photos in the opening credits montage are all employees of the film company 2929.
2. The crashing of the bus was done in one take.
3. The extras in the soccer game scene were local kids from Brazil. In fact, many Brazilian locals were cast as extras in the movie.
4. The story was originally set in Guatemala in an earlier draft of the script.
5. The entire film was shot on location in Brazil.