The Tourist (2010)
The Holiday: Frank is nursing himself a seriously broken heart, and decides a trip to Venice might help him put it back together again.
The Weird: No sooner has he set foot in Italy than Frank meets a mysterious woman by the name of Elise, who drags him into a world of gangsters and stolen money.
If It Had Been Set In Blighty: Frank meets a strange woman in a dark bar, only to find she's the target of MI5. Cue numerous chases through scenic London places - just not Hackney, nothing good comes from there.
Evil Dead (1981)
The Holiday: Ash and friends go to stay in a remote cabin, nestled in the Tennessee woods, for a weekend of fun.
The Weird: Fun isn’t really forthcoming, though, when the five friends discover a recording of a demonic incantation that revives terrifying demons. Soon, chaos is set free in the secluded woodlands.
If It Had Been Set In Blighty: The exact same thing would happen. Woods are creepy no matter where they are.
Home Alone 2: Lost In New York (1992)
The Holiday: A year after Kevin McCallister was left home alone, he’s going on a Christmas trip to Miami with his family.
The Weird: Except, he isn’t. Because an airport mix-up sees him getting on the wrong plane and winding up in New York. There, he uses his dad’s credit card to get a hotel room – only to have a run in with his former nemesis’, Harry and Marv. Weirder still, there’s a woman in Central Park who really likes pigeons…
If It Had Been Set In Blighty: Kevin finds himself stranded in London, but plays the city to his advantage by becoming a street mime in Covent Garden.
In Her Shoes (2005)
The Holiday: Maggie Feller decides she’s going to start afresh by getting out of her sister’s life and heads off to live with her grandmother.
The Weird: Except living with her grandmother means living in a retirement community, which Maggie treats as a holiday resort – and seriously helps out the community’s average age.
If It Had Been Set In Blighty: Maggie finds herself stuck in a Borstal retirement home where the only action is the limited gunfire taking place on Dad’s Army repeats. She quickly leaves.
Total Recall (1990)
The Holiday: Part pleasure, part business, freedom fighter Quaid travels to Mars in order to bring down corrupt forces who are seeking to kill him.
The Weird: The ‘holiday on Mars’ part itself is pretty weird, but Mars is also home to an entire community of deformed people – some of which are psychic. We haven’t even gotten on to the taxi driver who has a freaky arm, or the guy with a creepy baby attached to his abdomen…
If It Had Been Set In Blighty: Quaid's search for the truth brings him to London, where he discovers the government is being run by weird alien creatures. He's not surprised: "It's the best mindfuck yet."
Dont Look Now (1973)
The Holiday: Hoping to escape their grief after their young daughter tragically drowns, Laura and John Baxter hop on a plane for some time away in Venice.
The Weird: Unfortunately for them, they meet two old sisters there, one of whom claims to be clairvoyant, and has been in touch with the couple’s dead child. Then John catches sight of a red-hooded whippersnapper who is the spitting image of his daughter…
If It Had Been Set In Blighty: The ‘psychic’ old dear would have been written off as a typical small town English wench.
Sex And The City 2 (2010)
The Holiday: Carrie, Samantha, Miranda and Charlotte head off to Abu Dhabi on an all-expenses paid trip courtesy of one of Samantha’s swanky clients.
The Weird: The girls are completely oblivious to Middle Eastern culture, and completely flout the country’s laws despite the risky consequences. Then there’s that awful bit where Arab women throw off their veils to reveal designer labels. If that’s girl power, we’ll eat our Jimmy Choos.
If It Had Been Set In Blighty: The girls walk around in a daze, confused by the words ‘bloke’ and ‘tube’ while deciding it’s okay to knock over a man’s pint at the bar and not buy him another. The scandal.
Package Tour (Sllskapsresan 1980)
The Holiday: Dull as dishwater Swede Stig-Helmer Olsson decides that Christmas is going to be different this year, and signs up for a holiday in Gran Canaria.
The Weird: Stig should have known better than to shake up the routine, though – his trip is unwittingly disrupted when a fraudulent therapist gets him to smuggle money into the country.
If It Had Been Set In Blighty: They might wonder why they bothered – apart from the general lack of snow, it’s still ruddy cold in England. Also, we don’t have lussekatt here, which is a definite downside.
Funny Games (1997)
The Holiday: A wealthy German family head to their Austrian lake house for some time away from the hustle and bustle of everyday life.
The Weird: Weird and horrifying in equal measure. The family are visited by two teenage boys who at first seem friendly enough – but soon place them under house arrest, kill their dog and submit them to all kinds of torture.
If It Had Been Set In Blighty: A couple of chavs break into a Notting Hill address and toy with the rich family living there. Ending's the same, but plays out on the River Thames.
The Beach (2000)
The Holiday: American backpacker Richard heads off to Thailand in search of excitement and adventure.
The Weird: Which he finds in spades when he meets fellow travellers Françoise and Étienne, who accompany him on an excursion to a secret paradise island. Here, a beach community exists that isn’t exactly all that meets the eye.
If It Had Been Set In Blighty: The secret beach community that Richard discovers turns out to be populated by craggy old, sea-battered fishermen. Not exactly exotic...
The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956)
The Holiday: The McKenna family are on holiday in Morocco when they meet a friendly stranger on the bus from Casablanca to Marrakech.
The Weird: Soon after arriving in Marrakech, Mrs McKenna begins to wonder if this new friend is all that he seems, while noticing they seem to be the subject of much scrutiny in the city. When their new friend is killed in the marketplace, the McKenna’s young son is kidnapped…
If It Had Been Set In Blighty: The final section of the film is set in London - but if the entire film had been, you can bet the McKennas wouldn’t have befriended a stranger. People don’t even talk to each other on the tube, let alone make friends.
Muriels Wedding (1994)
The Holiday: Sick of being the ugly black sheep of the family, Muriel Heslop steals money from her father in order to fund a holiday in a tropical resort.
The Weird: There, Muriel just happens to bump into a girl who went to her high school, and the two embark on crazy adventures together – deciding to move to Sydney and setting up a house cleaning business.
If It Had Been Set In Blighty: Muriel would soon hot foot it back to Australia - damn it's cold here.
The Witches (1990)
The Holiday: Young newly-orphaned Luke and his grandmother decide to get away from the world by staying in a plush hotel in Cornwall.
The Weird: Which coincides with the annual gathering of a massive group of scaly, clawed witches who really, really hate children. Not only that, but the terrifying Grand High Witch is in attendance, and she’s got a dastardly plan for how to rid the world of kids.
If It Had Been Set In Blighty: Uh, it is. But if it had been set in America, you better believe that the Grand High Witch’s plan would have been to poison McDonalds chains.
127 Hours (2010)
The Holiday: Mountain climber Aron Ralston heads off into the canyon-filled landscape of Utah for a one-man exploration of all that nature has to offer.
The Weird: Frustratingly for him, Ralston gets his arm trapped when a boulder collapses on him, and has to spend five days pinned underneath it. Which is when the hallucinations start to happen…
If It Had Been Set In Blighty: Ralston gets stuck during a pot holing trip in Wales and starts seeing visions of Charlotte Church. Talk about motivation.
Y Tu Mam Tambin (2001)
The Holiday: Julio and Tenoch go on a road trip with married woman Luisa through the wilds of Mexico.
The Weird: Sexual boundaries are bucked and broken as Luisa frolics with both boys, before tempting them into a rather raunchy threesome. Then leaving them high and dry.
If It Had Been Set In Blighty: It’d be like Rita, Sue And Bob Too , only worse.
A Room With A View (1985)
The Holiday: In the early 19th century, well-to-do cousins Lucy and Charlotte go on a trip to Italy to soak up some warm rays.
The Weird: While there, Lucy does the unthinkable by falling under the spell of charming British gent George. Alright, that’s not massively weird - but it certainly is when Lucy returns to England, only to find that George is going to be her new neighbour.
If It Had Been Set In Blighty: Such spur of the moment passion would surely never have happened. It’d all have been transmitted with fan flicks and the way that the tea is drawn.
EuroTrip (2004)
The Holiday: Ohio native Scotty heads off on a trek across Europe with his three buddies in search of German pen pal Mieke.
The Weird: Where to begin? First Scotty bunks a ride to London by travelling as a courier, where he makes friends with members of a Man U football hooligan firm, led by Vinnie Jones. Then he parties in a BDSM club in Amsterdam before setting fire to the Papal Mitre in Vatican City. What a trip.
If It Had Been Set In Blighty: In BritTrip , Scotty finds himself auditioning for X Factor, mistaking a drag queen for a woman and having a very interesting evening, and causing chaos on a night bus home when he drops his Subway sandwich. Just a regular weekend in Blighty.
Death In Venice (1971)
The Holiday: Composer Gustav von Aschenbach takes a trip to Venice in the hope that it will help his ailing health, and becomes spellbound by a beautiful Polish boy who lives there.
The Weird: What Aschenbach didn’t know, is that Venice is currently in the grip of a cholera epidemic, something that holidaymakers are not being informed of. Most bizarrely, Aschenbach eventually does die – but only of the shock at seeing his unrequited lover being beaten up on the beach.
If It Had Been Set In Blighty: Death In Blighty doesn’t have quite the same romantic ring, does it?
The Parent Trap (1961)
The Holiday: Sharon and Susan both head off to summer camp...
The Weird: Pretty swiftly, the two girls realise that they are in fact twins separated at birth. What are the chances? Before you can whisper “switcher-oo!”, the girls decide to swap places so that each can finally meet the parent they never have.
If It Had Been Set In Blighty: There would have been none of that jolly switching – in England, children are to be seen, not heard.
Two For The Road (1967)
The Holiday: Unhappy married couple Joanna and Mark go on a road trip and contemplate what went wrong in their decade-spanning union.
The Weird: It’s not often that couples decide to sanction adultery in their relationship. But these two do just that after both have had adulterous affairs – not exactly a romantic getaway for two.
If It Had Been Set In Blighty: The damp weather completely eradicates the duo’s desire for new partners, meaning they’re content to snuggle in front of a radiator together in search of warmth.
