Rooms for Tourists

Advertised as the first Argentinean shocker, this grisly black-and-white debut from 25-year-old Adrian Garcia Bogliano is a throwback to such American horror movies of the 1970s as The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and The Last House on the Left (although all ultimately trace their roots back to Hitchcock's Psycho—to which the script here specifically alludes). The simple plot finds five girls stranded overnight in a small town when their bus from Buenos Aires drops them off too late to catch a connecting train. Invited by a young man to spend the night at his hostel, the quintet discover a sinister blind woman, a hellfire preacher, and a masked killer who wields a mean meat cleaver and stalks them through labyrinthine halls and gloomy rooms. Most of Rooms for Tourists is simply devoted to screams, chases, and gory scenes of evisceration, but toward the close there's an explanation for all the grim goings-on—one that many viewers will think extraordinarily tasteless, but at least it provides closure and allows for the obligatory bloody twist at the end. One could hardly call this groundbreaking, but it's efficiently done, smartly employing lighting, editing, and sound effects to conceal its lack of budget. While this is sure to be appreciated by gross-out aficionados, others are advised to steer clear. Optional. (F. Swietek)