This is a documentary series about bizarre tourism locations around the world. Well, perhaps that is a bit unfair because if you or I decided we wanted to do some of the things that he does it woudn't be available to us. He primarily visits places that are shrouded in mystery and death and also tours some spots where the local tribes-people have odd rituals that normally involve the killing of something.
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I have to admit that the skull drew me in when i was perusing the menu on Netflix. Also, since I was once an avid backpacker who also tried to seek out the macabre when traveling I felt as though this show would really appeal to me.
Host David Farrier is the star and narrator of the film and the places he visits normally have something to do with a serial killer, violence, the supernatural, or a bloodletting of some sort.
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One particular episode found David in Cambodia where it is very well known that tourists can go and shoot military weapons for a fee, including exceptionally dangerous ones like RPG's. There has been a rumor for a very long time that if you are willing to pay for it, you can shoot rockets at cows or throw grenades at chickens or basically whatever else you are willing to pay for but of course, no killing of humans is allowed.
David confirms that he is in fact able to purchase a cow to kill with a machine gun for $400. Of course he doesn't go through with it but it is nice to know that the rumor can be confirmed (let me rephrase that: I am not happy you can kill a cow with a machine guy, i am happy the actuality of the rumor can now be confirmed.)
He then travels to a village in Myanmar where people are dug up from their graves after a certain amount of time to "hang out" with their families for a day or two.
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This is all very strange for anyone outside of these cultures but this last example is definitely NOT a tourist attraction and David had to travel a long way and also likely pay a lot of people in order to be included in this. Did I find it interesting? I mean, i guess a little.
Overall, i was really excited when I saw this program because I AM one of those people that will go out of his way to find unusual and bizarre attractions of any part of the world I find myself in. The problem I have with this show is that i don't think that David Farrier is the correct choice for the host. He is a bit squeamish and dare I say, timid, for the head journalist on this venture and to me he is the main problem with this show. Also, I don't feel as though they really have enough material for each episode and a lot of it is quite boring. For me this show would be fine to have on in the background if you were say, doing something else as your primary objective. It would be good background entertainment but a feature presentation it is not.
On a scale of "Urgh!" to "Wowsers!" I give Dark Tourist a score of......
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