Dark Tourist
| Dark Tourist | |
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Movie poster
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| Directed by | Suri Krishnamma |
| Produced by | |
| Written by | Frank John Hughes |
| Starring | |
| Music by | Austin Wintory |
| Cinematography | Ricardo Jacques Gale |
| Edited by | Justin Guerrieri |
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Production
company |
Vision Entertainment Group
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| Distributed by | Phase 4 Films |
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Release date
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Running time
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80 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Dark Tourist (also known as The Grief Tourist) is a 2012 American psychological thriller film directed by Suri Krishnamma, written by Frank John Hughes, and starring Michael Cudlitz, Melanie Griffith, and Pruitt Taylor Vince. Cudlitz plays a bigoted security guard who engages in dark tourism. It premiered at Filmfest München on July 3, 2012, and Phase 4 Films released it theatrically on August 23, 2013.
Jim Tahna, a quiet and solitary man, explains in voice-over narration his hatred of society and his employers, though he enjoys his work as security guard, as it allows him long periods of solitude. On his vacation time, he engages in dark tourism, the visitation of murder sites. His current subject is Carl Marznap, a mass murderer and arsonist. He leaves Yonkers, New York, to visit Carl's home in California. His neighbor at the cheap motel in which he stays, Iris, turns out to be a prostitute. Nervous, Jim fumbles in conversation with her, then states in voice-over how much he hates prostitutes. At a local restaurant, he meets Betsy, a friendly waitress. Jim introduces himself to her as Carl and falsely claims that his sister has been diagnosed with cancer. Betsy and Jim draw closer over their difficult lives, and she invites him to an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting.
On his tour of Marznap's home and crime scenes, Jim becomes increasingly disturbed by hallucinations and vague flashbacks. Eventually, Jim hallucinates Marznap himself, who urges him to teach the world what it feels like to be a victim. Once tortured and gang-raped in juvenile detention, Marznap explains that he sought revenge by burning down a church, as he blamed those people for doing nothing to help him while his father abused him. After the Alcoholics Anonymous meeting, Jim and Betsy bond further, and Betsy invites him to dinner at her house. Betsy offers him marijuana, and he reluctantly accepts. When she tries to kiss him, he becomes agitated and demands that they have sex without any affection. When she asks him to slow down, he berates her and leaves. Marznap encourages him to visit Iris. A trans woman, Iris has anal sex with Jim, and he flashbacks to a childhood gang rape.
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