AKA: Turistas
Cinema review
Directed by John Stockwell
Starring Josh Duhamel, Melissa George, Olivia Wilde, Desmond Askew
Release date 1 June 2007

Six backpackers are stranded at an isolated Brazilian beach after a bus crash. It seems as if they have stumbled across the perfect spot to soak up some rays and party at the nearby bar. But not all of the locals are as friendly as they first appear…

Ah yes, Paradise Lost. John Milton’s epic poem on Predestination and the Fall of Man and unquestionably one of the greatest works of English Literature. Of course, John Stockwell’s Paradise Lost is rather less impressive. Hastily re-titled from Turistas in case anyone should mistake it for a subtitled movie, the plot has nothing whatsoever to do with Milton’s poem – and you'd be hard-pushed to describe this as a “great work”.

The story turns out to be a variation on the increasingly popular Hostel formula, whereby the first half establishes its fun-loving backpackers in a foreign clime before they are chased, tortured and killed in the second. The first three-quarters-of-an-hour actually isn’t too bad, with an enjoyable (if vacuous) depiction of culturally ignorant travellers in ‘paradise’. Stockwell does reasonably well in establishing our sympathy for these young whelps, and he’s helped by a capable cast that includes Desmond Askew from Go and Grange Hill. If it doesn’t have the lurking sense of fear and dread of Wolf Creek, it does at least give a half-convincing impression of holiday hi-jinks spiralling out of control.

Yet, as with the recent French horror Sheitan, the movie fails to delivers when it comes down to getting nasty. Sure, there’s one horrible operation scene (though you’ve probably seen worse on BBC1’s City Hospital), but Stockwell is more concerned with stuffing the screen with dramatic scenery and attractive young adults. This is particularly true as the movie grinds towards its conclusion. Instead of cranking the tension up to a crescendo, Stockwell decides to treat viewers to an interminable underwater sequence that suggests he’d much rather be making a sequel to his previous waterlogged efforts Blue Crush or Into the Deep. It all ends in a feeble showdown with the villain.

Potentially, the jungles of South America are a great setting for a contemporary horror - few movies have used the location since the glut of cheap shockers like Cannibal Ferox and Snuff that were pumped out in the 1970s and early 1980s. But Paradise Lost isn’t grimy or disturbing enough to be compared to those messy endeavours. Instead, Stockwell attempts to bring his movie up to date by tacking social issues on to the horror (baddie Dr Zamora is enraged by the Western exploitation of the Brazilian health system and needs organs for sick locals). But even this revelation is fudged, with the exposition ludicrously wheeled out by Zamora mid-operation!

Predictably the film hasn’t gone down too well in Brazil, prompting lead actor Josh Duhamel to issue an apologise to the country on The Tonight Show. Yet take away the scattered scenes of violence, and the Brazilian tourist board could have been behind it. It’s well-made and pretty to look at – but who wants their horror to be pretty? Matt McAllister

VERDICT: 4/10
Paradise Lost has its moments, but for the most part this is a mix of the pleasant and the stupid.