Rooms for Tourists (2004) User Reviews

Lacking but interesting

[m0rg16 · 4/10 · 30 January 2007]

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.

Tourist Trap.

[morrison-dylan-fan · 6/10 · 28 October 2019]

Having heard about it for years,I went on Amazon UK to place a order for 36 pasos (2006-also reviewed) to finally view in the run-up to Halloween. After putting it in the basket, I was surprised when Amazon revealed in a sidebar that director Adrian Garcia Bogliano's debut was also on disc, which led to me joining the tourists.

View on the film:

Dropping the five women off in the middle of nowhere in the countryside, co-writer/(with Ramiro Garcia Bogliano) director Adrian Garcia Bogliano treats all the pals to a warm Southern Gothic hospitality greeting in thick black and white, giving the flick a rough dirt under the fingernails mood when catching lingering glances from the local, who soon hand out killings dripping in treacle blood.

Filmed over 4 years, the screenplay by the Bogliano's bares the marks of the stop/start filming, darting from suspicions of outsiders, to Slasher killing and a left-field twist ending, at a speed which leaves them all half-bake, due to each thread being just randomly dropped, instead of being built up to make rooms for tourists.

Very good horror movie

[ultra_tippergore · 19 January 2008]

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

Stay away from this piece of crap!

[sarning · 1/10 · 4 February 2007]

I recently watched this film at the 30'Th Gothenburg Film Festival, and to be honest it was on of the worst films I've ever had the misfortune to watch. Don't get me wrong, there are the funny and entertaining bad films (e.g "Manos – Hands of fate") and then there are the awful bad films. (This one falls into the latter category). The cinematography was unbelievable, and not in a good way. It felt like the cameraman deliberately kept everything out of focus (with the exception of a gratuitous nipple shot), the lighting was something between "one guy running around with a light bulb" and "non existing". The actors were as bad as soap actors but not as bad as porn actors, and gave the impression that every line came as a total surprise to them. The only redeeming feature was the look of the masked killer, a classic look a la Jason Vorhees from "Friday the 13'Th". The Plot was extremely poor, and the ending even worse. I would only recommend this movie to anyone needing an example of how a horror film is not supposed be look like, or maybe an insomniac needing sleep.

Great Little Film!

[denisealexisgarza · 7/10 · 5 July 2006]

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.

awful

[conielvis · 1/10 · 17 June 2010]

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.

Rooms for Tourists

[Scarecrow-88 · 7/10 · 24 November 2007]

Four females in search of an exit. Four young women, on route to Trinidad for an abortion, become confined within a creepy bed'n'breakfast in some small, hostile impoverished town of San Ramone where a preacher, Horacio(Oscar Ponce)has a religious hold over. His iron fisted fanaticism has the town in his grip. This might play into the ultimate plot where these girls find themselves closed within the dark of the hotel as they pursue an escape route as some psycho with a meat cleaver chases after them. The main protagonist is Theda(Elena Siritto), crippled with guilt..it seems she was plagued with premonitions they are now facing even before the train trip. The film follows these girls as they travel throughout a house where booby-traps and benevolent figures hide in the darkness ready to appear at any time.

The film uses the Hostel premise(poor souls away from home and stuck in a situation where no one of merit can hear them scream or know where they are)and ratchets up the suspense thanks to the brilliant idea of lensing this in B&W photography. Granted the film is shot micro-budget, but the idea of B&W photography brings an uncanny dread to the proceedings. You might ask:why shoot this in B&W? Simple..because the darkness for which the characters are caught engulfs the screen. Man, is it claustrophobic, also. There's an amazing scene where director Adrián García Bogliano pulls the camera back as three of the girls become merely a white circle completely overtaken by darkness around them..it's absolutely stunning. The director drains every ounce of terror he can from the simple plot and doesn't hold back on the grisly unpleasant violent attacks. He shows the killer slicing open the skin of several girls as the wound opens slowly. One poor girl gets her face blew apart by a shot-gun blast. The B&W photography might remove the red blood, but the violence certainly is potent enough to garner a reaction, that's for sure. The ending, when it is revealed why these girls are being slaughtered, has a dark sense of irony. Keep an eye out for this director..he's going places.

Small Town Horror

[ElijahCSkuggs · 8/10 · 9 August 2008]

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.

Shocking and disturbing with a smart twist

[jcsanchezperez · 9/10 · 24 May 2006]

This is not just the classic slasher film. It's something more. A lot more. Usually, you don't have the chance to watch an horror movie where the victims and the murderer(s) have real motivation to do what they do. This is not the case. In "Rooms for tourists" there's a twist, one of those twists that leaves you thinking: "Awesome". This is the reversal of the typical film from Argentina. It shows an Argentina where not too many tourists would like to go.

I had the chance to get this at one screening in Madrid and i was wondering how doesn't anybody comment this film before. Of course, it's low budget and even Black and white but i'm sure it'll blow your mind.

Brilliant!!

[treintayseispasos · 10/10 · 9 June 2006]

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".

Excellent!!!!

[realizacion4 · 10/10 · 9 June 2006]

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.

stunning micro-budget debut!

[carlocampanile · 10/10 · 9 June 2006]

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.