Turistas
Fox Atomic | Release Date: December 1, 2006 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
36
METASCORE
Generally unfavorable reviews based on 26 Critic Reviews
Positive:
5
Mixed:
10
Negative:
11
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
67
Austin ChronicleMarc Savlov
With Turistas, Stockwell dives head-first into a veritable riptide of churning, vicious exploitation cinema, and the result is surprisingly effective. Read full review
63
PremiereEthan Alter
Before it descends into dull sadism and general incoherence in its third act, Turistas is a mostly effective exploitation picture, the kind of movie that would have been proudly displayed on the marquee of a '70s-era grindhouse. Read full review
63
New York Daily NewsJack Mathews
As the latest in a never-ending chain of thrillers about young people lost and dying in a hostile land, John Stockwell's Turistas at least offers the visual benefits of exotic settings and a cast of barely clad hardbodies. Read full review
63
Philadelphia InquirerSteven Rea
Nasty stuff. It's xenophobic (message: Americans, steer clear of the Third World); it's photogenic (the Sports Illustrated-likeswimsuit issue beach scenes, the colorful villages, the lush landscapes); it's gruesome (operating table POV shots); and it's violent. Read full review
63
Boston GlobeWesley Morris
Turistas is not a slasher film -- not conventionally. Released by Fox's new teen division, it's the latest aquatic titillation from John Stockwell, the man who also brought us "Blue Crush" and the shockingly good "Into the Blue." Read full review
50
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
Starts out as an effective little horror movie before devolving into an incoherent mess during its final 30 minutes. Read full review
50
Los Angeles TimesDennis Lim
Turistas seeks to exploit the current craze for torture-porn, but it lacks the relentless sadism of the "Saw" franchise. More than half the movie is dull buildup. Read full review
50
Washington PostDesson Thomson
Horror fans will twitch impatiently at those long stretches between killings. And audiences anticipating a feature-length "Girls Gone Wild" video will suffer withdrawal from the lack of loosened bra straps. Read full review
50
TV Guide MagazineKen Fox
The cast is unusually good for this sort of film, which only makes the poor execution more regrettable. Read full review
50
Chicago ReaderJonathan Rosenbaum
Once the gore and suspense take over, this becomes mechanical and unpleasant. Read full review
42
Entertainment WeeklyOwen Gleiberman
The movie, with the exception of that lone squirmy surgery scene, is "Hostel" without sadism, thrills, or funky severed-limb F/X. It quickly turns into a very dull escape thriller. Read full review
42
The A.V. ClubScott Tobias
Once the torture finally commences, the film attempts to float a political point about the Third World taking back First World health-care privileges, but the chief torturers' sadistic humanitarianism is never seriously considered. Read full review
42
Seattle Post-IntelligencerSean Axmaker
The result of this blender mash of exotic horror isn't much of anything at all, neither suspenseful, terrifying or inventively gory: Turistas is dead on arrival. Read full review
40
The Hollywood ReporterMichael Rechtshaffen
It all begins to fall apart around the midway point, before completely unraveling into a confused, murky mess. Read full review
40
VarietyDennis Harvey
The "Hostel" similarities may strike some as too close for comfort, not only in plot outline but also in general mix of xenophobia, sexploitation, sadism and gore. Read full review
38
Chicago TribuneMichael Phillips
The stalwart American hero of Turistas comes off as a dislikable blank in the hands of Josh Duhamel, of the TV series "Las Vegas." More relaxed is Melissa George, who co-stars as the Aussie. Read full review
38
New York PostKyle Smith
Turistas has mastered the international language: stupidity. Read full review
30
Village VoiceNathan Lee
Turistas eventually bogs down in an underlit mess. Read full review
25
Miami HeraldConnie Ogle
The movie is less painful than having your kidneys removed, but Turistas doesn't offer a trip entertaining enough to take. Read full review
25
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalle
These people are so stupid that they make us think, well, wait a second: Maybe those livers and kidneys could be put to better use. Read full review
25
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Liam Lacey
There are a couple of minutes of unscheduled surgery to put this in the sadistic fantasy genre of "Saw" and "Hostel," but mostly the movie plays out like a cheap survivalist copy of the television series "Lost." Read full review
20
New York Magazine (Vulture)David Edelstein
There's only one surgery scene, but it's the heart (and kidneys) of Turistas. The rest -- especially the incoherent action -- falls well below the mark set by the last Americans Abroad torture-porn picture, "Hostel." Read full review
20
The New York TimesManohla Dargis
A grubby, lethally dull bid to cash in on the new extreme horror, the film turns on a conceit as frayed as Freddy Krueger’s shtick. Read full review
16
Baltimore SunChris Kaltenbach
Director John Stockwell ("Blue Crush") and screenwriter Michael Ross have only two things in mind: titillation and giving young audiences something gross to whisper about in school the next day. On that limited basis, Turistas may well succeed. But that's nothing to brag about. Read full review
16
Portland OregonianM. E. Russell
Endless and tedious. It's also written-in-crayon, smack-your-face dumb, and edited so that every other shot is a close-up of a flailing limb. Read full review
10
Film ThreatPete Vonder Haar
Turistas fails in almost every way a movie like this can. Read full review
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