Fun in the sun turns bloody nasty in Paradise Lost, a backpackers in peril B-movie that should do for Brazil's tourist industry what Hostel did for Slovakia. When six tourists led by Alex (Josh Duhamel) find themselves stranded on a beach in the middle of nowhere, they think they've found a paradise of sun, sand and sex. But, after the locals drug their drinks, these good-looking but borderline-repulsive gringos are destined to lose more than just their travellers cheques...
If the sex-crazed, hard-partying folk at Club 18-30 made horror movies, Paradise Lost might be the result. It's a short, nasty and xenophobic shocker that plugs right into its target audience's desire to see bikini babes eviscerated in graphic, hospital operating theatre detail. An opening half hour sets up the under-developed, under-dressed gaggle of characters, then unleashes mayhem when the scheming Brazilian locals rob the kids of everything they own.
"AS SUBTLE AS A BREEZE BLOCK SANDWICH"
"Did you know, in America there is a seven year wait for a healthy kidney?" asks dodgy doc Zamora (Miguel Lunardi) as he goes about relieving a beach babe of hers. ER meets the charnel house, as bare breasts and open chest cavities share screen (or rather scream) time, head wounds meet staple guns and organs are involuntarily donated. Yes, the Third World revenge on First World imperialism is about as subtle as a breeze block sandwich, and yes, the third act payoff withers like offal in the tropical heat. Still, fans of hardgore horror should find their bloodthirsty appetites sated. Everyone else might want to consider taking a different trip.
Paradise Lost is released in UK cinemas on Friday 1st June 2007.