Film Reviews

Paradise Lost

• Rating:
• Director: John Stockwell.
• Starring: Melissa George, Josh Duhamel, Olivia Wilde, Desmond Askew.
• Details: US / 96mins (18).

After surviving a freak bus accident deep in the jungles of Brazil, a group of backpackers - including Americans Alex (Duhamel) and Bea (Wilde), Australian Pru (George) and Brits Finn (Askew) and Liam (Max Brown) - happen across an idyllic beach with its own bar and friendly locals. They party the night away but wake up the next morning to find themselves robbed of everything but their clothes. Trusting local boy Kiko (Alges Steib), who promises them a way to safety, the group are led straight to the house of macabre doctor Zamora (Miguel Lunardi), who specialises in the selling of organs plucked from his unsuspecting victims. Paradise Lost is another horror film that exploits Americans distrust of foreigners post 911. As in Hostel, the victims are mainly wholesome American kids who only want to have some fun but come afoul of ghoulish locals who hate 'el gringos'. As grindhouse flicks go, Paradise Lost is rather tame. Director Stockwell takes his time building the tension but, like his previous Into The Blue, seems more interested in showing bikinis, bums and breasts than focusing on the plot. So as the story is stretched out to breaking point, it - unfortunately for everyone - lacks a payoff worth waiting for. He does inject an air of realism, nails the you're-a-long-way-from-home-chico atmosphere and his underwater battle is original, but this won't appease any gore-hungry fans.

Review by Gavin Burke