Mike Benner: Umm, No.

Umm, No.

Jul 12 by Michael Benner

Michael Gingold,

You said, in reference to Turistas, "A better and scarier film than Hostel."

Not even close. Did you even see the same movie I did?

I just wasted a perfectly good 2 hours hoping for genius. I can vividly remember the first time I watched Hostel. I was on a plane on my way to Phoenix using my PSP and it scared the daylights out of me. I then proceeded to watch it 3 more times before I made it back home.

There are a few things that stand out. One Josh Duhamel can't act. He sucks in Las Vegas and he sucks in this. Acting aside, the story line is in Turistas is very predictable and is given away almost immediately. It is also no where near as sinister as what is happening in Hostel. In both movies you know bad things are happening (heck, you just paid for a horror film) and you aren't sure what they are, but when you find out in Turistas you are not nearly as horrified as you are in Hostel.

That is what made Hostel so brilliant to me. Yes both situations are possible, although I find Hostel to be more plausible. Maybe because Hostel involves a smaller group of people, maybe Hostel has better build up and anticipation, I am not sure. Maybe I am just biased having seen Hostel first. But something just makes it better.

Turistas is not bad, but it is by no means great. It is your run of the mill thriller that is made scarier but the reality that it "could" happen.

If you like horror/thiller films then you need to see both, but watched Turistas first, Hostel ruins all others for a long time to come.