Rooms for Tourists

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.

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.

This foreign movie is a great example of a good horror movie without the millions of dollars that Hollywood use in their horrible flicks. First a Warning, this movie is in Spanish with English subs, and its in Black and white (looks like DV, not film but i don't know that for sure). If you cant stand subtitles or B&W, stay away from this. If you want to see a very good horror movie, get this from netflix now! A group of young girls are in a town in the middle of nowhere were all the inhabitants are religion-freaks. The massacre begins quickly. There are some Dario Argento inspired moments, like the nightmare sequences, that are really good and creepy. Also, there is a cool amount of blood and gore. 8/10

Just wanted to give you a quick heads up on a movie I saw a while back. This film is "Rooms for Tourists" (A.K.A. "Habitaciones para turistas"). It's from Argentina and was made in 2004. It's just now finding its way to DVD and, boy, is this film a real treat.

The movie is about these five teenage girls stranded in a small village who decide to take spend the night at the local bed and breakfast. As night falls, things turn horrific when the girls discover that they are trapped inside the structure and there is this maniac (or maniacs…) stalking the girls.

This movie is pretty gruesome. Even more so taking into account that the movie is in black and white. The bloodletting looks more horrific! They don't make movies like this anymore. This movie delivers the thrills and chills, while keeping you glued to the seat, anxious to find out what the hell is going on. The truth is ghastly and surprising, even taught we've seen the twist in other movies. Regardless, in "Rooms for Tourists", the ending seems very fresh. One of the reasons for this is that the film is very well directed. In fact, the directing is very aggressive and violent, often shaking the viewer. Some of the camera shots and movements even imply and / or transmit information about what the characters are feeling.

The lighting and use of shadows is superb in some scenes. In others, it's just too dark, but it helps to create tension, especially when you see the girls being stalked.

Adrián García Bogliano, the director, is one to watch, especially in the horror movie scene. Currently, he has another horror movie out called "Grite una noche" (A.K.A. "I Screamed One Night"). Now that's a title to scream about! Hahaha For more information on this really cool movie, you can check out the films web site here.

The movie is currently out on DVD, even taught I can't seen to find it on Amazon.com. I watched this movie on Netflix. Not sure where else you can find it, but it's worth seeking out.

Being as this argentinean slasher was just released on DVD, I maybe should have posted in the DVD forum. However i wanted a slightly bigger forum to praise this hidden gem.

I'm not sure how many of you have heard of "rooms for tourists" but it's basically a very low budget argentiean version of "hostel" with 5 girls trapped in a hostel while waiting for a bus. I don't want to give anything away but Naturally there are some psychos around to do some bloody work here.

This is surprisingly well done for the obviously small budget the picture was alloted. With very good gore effects that won't let any gore hound down.Filmed in black and white helps hide the low budget feel. But I have to say, director Adrian Bogliano could teach Eli Roth a few things about suspense and style. This is everything "hostel" should have been. While not completely original and hit and miss on scares, you can't help but appreciate a slasher that has style and actually contains characters you like and care about what happens to them.

I hope Bogliano stays with the genre and can get some better funds for his next movie. This is definitely a movie any slasher fans should check out especially those who felt burned or even slightly disappointed with "hostel".