Sun, sand, kidnap and organ removal. If you believe the latest horror movie to come out of Hollywood, this is what to expect from a holiday in Brazil.
After US film executives launched Turistas -- billed as a tropical Blair Witch Project -- Brazilian tourist chiefs are weeping into their caipirinhas a Brazilian cocktail, fearful that it will scare off visitors.
The film, by a Fox Films subsidiary, follows a group of American backpackers whose holiday at a Brazilian resort turns into a nightmare when they are drugged with caipirinha, kidnapped and set upon by a gang of organ traffickers.
`Sabotage'
Brazilians accuse the filmmakers of sensationalism and of trying to sabotage their already fragile overseas reputation. Particularly irksome has been the publicity drive, which includes a spoof online travel guide describing itself as "a cautionary expose of Brazil."
Mixing historical facts and a heavy dose of fiction, the guide offers a spine-chilling portrait of Brazil -- a place where "organ harvesting," sadistic sex rituals, kidnapping and murder lurk around each corner.
The site carries grisly photographs of organ transplants set against a backdrop of palm-dotted beaches and includes the catchphrase: "In a country where you can do anything, anything is possible."
Fighting back
Tourist chiefs, who say they have invested some US$39.6 million promoting Brazil this year, have hired a US public relations firm to counter the gory interpretation.
"The film is horrible," said Jeanine Pires, the president of Brazil's tourist board. "The things it says are terrible. But it is a work of fiction ... one hopes that cinemagoers will be able to differentiate between what is fiction and what is real."
Fox has incurred the wrath of Brazilians before.
In 2002 Brazil's president, Fernando Henrique Cardoso, demanded an apology after The Simpsons satirized Rio as a city of monkey attacks, bisexual men and women who dance the penetrada.
Stephanie Dennison, a specialist in Latin American cinema from the University of Leeds, said Turistas was a consequence of Brazil opening its doors to more foreign film crews.
"Brazil is promoting itself as a place to film, and this is what happens," Dennison said.
Pires said the government blundered; it could have stopped the production of "this tasteless film" in Brazil.
She said she had "no knowledge" of recent cases of caipirinha poisonings.
Josh Duhamel, one of the lead actors, told a US chat show last week: "I guess there's a bit of a stink about the way the movie portrays Brazil, but our intention was not to deter people to go to Brazil ... It's a beautiful country."
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