Rooms for Tourists

Story revolving around a gaggle of girls who are individually heading to Trinidad, Argentina. They all end up missing the train and are stuck in this little, weirdo, ultra religious town called San Ramon. Luck be true, a nice guy comes along and offers them a place to stay for the night until the next morning's train. And this is where sh!t hits the fan.

I was told that Rooms for Tourists was a very scary film. One of the scariest in the past couple years. Not sure that's the case, because human villains don't scare me in the slightest, but I would agree to it being one of the best independent horror flicks in the past couple years.

The film delivers some really nice gore effects, some nice atmosphere and camera-work. The camera-work especially when in the house is very well-done. They like to use lighting to only capture the girls, but everything around them is pitch black. It gives the film a nice feeling of that an unknown presence could be anywhere.

The film didn't begin so hot, it was pretty amateurish with it's acting, but fortunately when the action began the girls became somewhat believable. My only problem with the girls later on was the screaming, sometimes too much is too much. Nevertheless the movie became pretty damn good in the final act and I really enjoyed the ending. One other minor fault is the predictability of the death order of girls. I had it all pegged out from the very beginning.

Minus any faults, this film was a nice little (independent) treat of horror and I suggest any fan of foreign horror/slashers to give Rooms for Tourists a go.

It's interesting to see what the director tried to do with this film. But the problem is that it's not very good. There was nothing really original in the film and while the plot was well presented, the main characters were all a bit to shallow and you didn't bother for any of them.

Rather bland (and sometimes downright bad) photo leaves a bit to be desired but I guess you can't expect to much from people who are just doing a low budget film for the heck of it. It's unfair to review the film and compare it to other high-budget films. But alas, that is what one must do. On its own, it's not very good. And compared to others, it's still not very good. But it is not without its good points! I liked the plot. It was built up rather nicely and tied together well at the end. Sometimes in the really dark scenes, it managed to build up a creepy feeling as well.

However in the end the film fails to impress. The characters are pretty much non-existent and we don't care for any of them. Any of them might die, but it's possible to pinpoint the final "survivor" from very early on.

Director Adrian Garcia Bogliano does terrific work here on a shoestring budget. Finely crafted screenplay. I liked the editing, score, performances; just a nice job all around.

Bogliano is probably better than most filmmakers working in the genre today.

The only minus, and I hate to even bring this up, because it's obvious they had next to no money, it seems it was shot on Hi-8 (or something). It's also B&W. Now, mind you, I don't mind Black & White at all, but the picture is not as sharp as it ought to be, etc. Like I said, though, this is a very minor complaint.

RE: Extras. Don't expect much. No commentary, no behind the scenes--and it's too bad. Would have been interesting to hear what the filmmakers had to say.

Bottom line: one of the better scare flicks in some time.

I got the chance to met Adrián García Bogliano while he was presenting Habitaciones Para Turistas at the 2005 Cine Las Americas International Film Festival in Austin, TX. I had heard a lot of buzz about the film and I didn't know what to expect. I even told Adrián before the screening that I hated slasher films.

Then I saw Habitaciones Para Turistas at a late night screening. I was glued to my seat! Everyone I spoke to after the film was shocked and surprised at how much they enjoyed the film. During the Q & A Adrián charmed the audience as well. Habitaciones Para Turistas was one of the most talked about films at the festival. No one is surprised that this film is getting distributed.

I thought he did a great job! The film is certainly not perfect. You can definitely see the Argento influence, but the story was certainly new and different. I tell all my friends to see this film. Adrián García Bogliano is the future of the horror genre. I can't wait to see more of Adrián's work in the future.

I can assure you that all these good reviews were made by relatives of the director or by the same filmmakers.

I'm not looking to be poetic or flowery in this review. I have seen some REALLY bad film and this by far is the worst. The only thing it had plenty was plot holes. The only thing deadly was the pace, this movie is not scary, it is a joke. The super fake scenes are even that gory. My girlfriend and I were very let down. I can't believe the director made such a horrible movie. The first 45 minutes of the movie are a waste of time, take way to long to get to any kind of action. Stay away of this crap, this film is a waste product from an animal's digestive tract expelled through the anus.