Film

Turistas

Name: Turistas
Genre: Horror, Thriller
Released: 2006
Cast: Josh Duhamel, Melissa George, Olivia Wilde, Desmond Askew, Beau Garrett

A plane crash strands young tourists in rural Brazil, where a remote village harbours a sinister secret. It's a high-concept body-horror thriller with genuine ingenuity in its premise. Taut, gory, and occasionally brilliant at building dread—for viewers who like their horror to think as well as shock.

TMDb rating

2.8

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you like lean, nasty survival thrillers where a bad situation keeps getting worse one practical step at a time, and you don't need the characters to be likeable.

Skip it if its characters are thinly sketched and the holiday banter grates, so the grim stretches can feel more mean than meaningful.

What it asks of you: Runs ninety-three minutes and takes its time getting to the danger, so expect a slow simmer before anything boils over.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

If you liked this

Hostel2006

Eli Roth's definitive backpacker-nightmare film. Builds unbearable tension from familiar tourist anxiety into something far darker and more inventive. A proper shocker with real craft.

But The gore is extreme and sustained. If torture-forward horror makes you shut down rather than engage, this will too.

The Descent2005

Claustrophobic cave horror with a premise as strong as Turistas—trapped with something hungry. Escalates brilliantly and never wastes a moment. Brutally effective.

But The darkness of the setting makes it hard to follow visually at times. Some find that frustrating rather than atmospheric.

Ready or Not2019

Hunted-for-sport thriller with dark humour and genuine stakes. Moves fast, has personality, and knows exactly what kind of film it is. Perfect balance of fun and tension.

But The tone shifts between horror and comedy—if you want pure dread, the levity might jar you.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Turistas

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

The Wailing2016

Both build dread from outsider-arrival: a community with secrets, strangers trapped in its logic, and a slowly dawning realization that escape might be impossible.

A South Korean village is gripped by illness and paranoia when a mysterious outsider arrives. It's a mystery-horror-thriller that operates on pure atmosphere and ambiguity. Masterfully layered, genuinely unsettling, with depths that keep revealing themselves.

But Nearly three hours long, with no clear answers and a narrative that trusts you to find your own meaning. Demands active viewing and rewards it, but not everyone wants that from horror.

A Dark Song2016

Supernatural horror about grief and desperation, filmed with remarkable patience. Slow-burn, visually stunning, emotionally devastating. For viewers who want horror with a beating heart.

But Almost aggressively slow. If you need momentum and incident, you'll feel every minute of its two-hour runtime.

The Ritual2017

Friends on a hiking trip stumble into something ancient and wrong in a German forest. Atmospheric, character-driven, with a creature design that actually unsettles. Smartly made.

But Relies on jump scares more than some want. The third act leans into action-horror rather than pure dread.

Eden Lake2008

Couple terrorized by locals at an isolated lake house. Brutal and unflinching, with a premise that feels genuinely dangerous. No easy answers, no comfort.

But Bleakly violent and nihilistic. Not cathartic—it's the kind of film that leaves you heavy rather than satisfied.

The Ruins2008

Tourists trapped on an ancient Mayan pyramid with something alive and hungry. Body horror meets survival puzzle. Genuinely creative in how it torments its characters.

But The premise relies on characters making consistently dumb choices. That repetition can wear on patience.

Martyrs2008

Visceral French horror about revenge and suffering. Provocative, unsettling, visually fearless. For viewers unafraid of challenging material that refuses easy morality.

But The violence is graphic and philosophical—it's asking difficult questions at maximum volume. Not entertainment, and it knows it.

A Perfect Getaway2009

Honeymooners on a Hawaiian hiking trail encounter a killer. Twisty, playful, with real invention in how it unfolds. A fun horror-thriller that doesn't take itself too seriously.

But Relies on plot tricks that some will see coming. The tonal whimsy won't land for viewers wanting grounded scares.

Midsommar2019

Same DNA: tourists in unfamiliar terrain discovering that locals have their own logic, and that empathy itself becomes a trap.

A group travels to a Swedish festival that turns into a daylight nightmare. Ari Aster's film subverts backpacker-horror by making the terror bright, communal, and deeply human. Visually gorgeous and genuinely disorienting.

But The slow-burn pacing and lack of jump scares frustrate viewers wanting conventional thrills. Some find the self-conscious style more admirable than affecting.

Anaconda1997

Both are streamlined, high-concept creature-horror set in South American wilderness with tourists-in-over-their-heads energy. Turistas plays it straight; this embraces the absurdity. Worth watching them back-to-back for the contrast.

A documentary crew on an Amazonian river encounters something enormous and hungry. It's high-concept creature-feature nonsense, but genuinely entertaining—Jon Voight chewing scenery, real tension between creatures and crew, pacing that never quits.

But The creature effects are visibly dated CGI. If you need modern spectacle, this feels like a relic. It's pulp, deliberately so.