Barbara Nedeljakova, Derek Richardson, Eythor Gudjonsson

Two adventurous American college buddies, Paxton and Josh, backpack through Europe eager to make quintessentially hazy travel memories with new friend Oli, an Icelander they've met along the way. Paxt...( read more  read more... )on and Josh are eventually lured by a fellow traveler to what's described as a nirvana for American backpackers -- a particular hostel in an out-of-the-way Slovakian town stocked with Eastern European women as desperate as they are gorgeous. The two friends arrive and soon easily pair off with exotic beauties Natalya and Svetlana. In fact, too easily. Initially distracted by the good time they're having, the two Americans quickly find themselves trapped in an increasingly sinister situation that they will discover is as wide and as deep as the darkest, sickest recess of human nature itself -- if they survive.

Flixster Users

59% liked it

443,360 ratings

Critics

59% liked it

97 critics

R, 1 hr. 35 min.

Directed by: Eli Roth

Release Date: January 6, 2006

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DVD Release Date: April 18, 2006

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Flixster Reviews (29,521)


  • September 29, 2009
    I liked it a lot, it is probably one of the best and most original horrors of the last 10 years. Only watch if you like your horror to be dark though as this isn?t your run of the mill highschool slasher movie!
  • June 21, 2009
    There are two aspects to analyzing film: what the viewer gets from the film, and what the filmmaker intended the viewer to get from the film.
    Eli Roth's Hostel is a four star satire on the American horror film. It criticizes, especially in its first half the viewer's obsession w...( read more)ith sex and female nudity, so much that it shows T & A almost every few minutes. Then it gives you heaping amounts of gore, stereotypical villains, idiotic, unlikeable main characters, and a climax that is completely ridiculous but strangely cathartic. You could look at every scene as being self referential and self deprecating.
    However, that is an analysis of the film. It is not what the filmmaker intended. Go search any article about writer/director Eli Roth's intentions for Hostel and you will find a douche bad bragging about how much he loves filmmaking breasts, and how he wanted to make a movie that was simply as gory as a film can get. He genuinely thinks that the film he is making is a landmark horror film and is not in any way a satire on the genre.
    The film is actually a zero star horror movie. It is predictable, exploitive, boring, and ugly. Thus, I'm pulling the same card Roger Ebert did for his review on The Hudsucker Proxy and finding a middle ground: 2 stars.
  • June 20, 2009
    "Welcome To Your Worst Nightmare"

    Three backpackers head to a Slovakian city that promises to meet their hedonistic expectations, with no idea of the hell that awaits them.

    REVIEW

    Half sil...( read more)ly sex farce and half gore-fest, Hostel is unworthy of the hype and controversy it received upon release. It starts excellently, mysteriously and impressively, before descending into clichéd American's in Amsterdam, looking for sex and drugs. Sure, this does provide us with plenty of boob action, but it does little to develop this characters beyond mere caricature. This first section drags, and it's only when the gruesome moments start coming that Hostel springs to life. Sliced ankles, severed fingers and pus-oozing eyeballs are just some of the lovely images you can feast on. Eli Roth intended to push audiences to their limit with this film, "torture-porn", but there's not nearly enough gory or inventive moments to make Hostel overly memorable, nor was I ever truly on the edge of my seat with my hands over my eyes. That being said, it is a great idea for a film and it does have it moments, but I just wish Roth had pushed it even further. Your better off watching the first couple of Saw films, for a more inventive take on the "torture-porn" sub-genre.
  • February 7, 2009
    Seems like Eli Roth is a protege for Quentin Tarantino. His first feature, "Cabin Fever" was a total fuck-up, a perfect example of a film that has nothing original in it. Tarantino's sin every now and then... But Tarantino is a good filmmaker and especially a writer.

    The duo tea...( read more)m up for "Hostel", Big T as a producer and Roth behind the camera. After 15 minutes I lost it for a first time when the characters discussed about the war in Slovakia. What war? Get the facts straight if your writing a screenplay.

    The screenplay is in fact very mediocre, weak at times. The film only lives of the torture scenes, nothing more. Ok, those scenes were made in a decent way, I'll give credit to that.

    The main characters are lousy, the Slovakian females are beautiful. What more can I say. Only for the avid horror fans.
  • September 14, 2008
    Awesome 70's inspired horror. Simple story, some sick killings, and a cameo from Takashi Miike. Couldn't ask for more in a horror.
  • November 20, 2009
    recomend , sick movie
  • November 19, 2009
    An original movie that shows how Eli Roth is one of the best upcoming horror directors. This movie will please anyone who loves gore
  • November 17, 2009
    Brutal and seductive. scary but the story needs a little work
  • November 17, 2009
    Another example that Eli Roth is exactly what the horror genre needs right now. Directors are too afraid to have fun in their movies, it's all about shock and awe. This film is such a brilliant piece in that it allows the audience to have fun at the movies again. It makes you lau...( read more)gh and creeped out at the same time. There's so much charm and energy that you can't help but fall in love with this. The characters are scarily accurate and do exactly what they would in the given circumstances.
  • November 16, 2009
    Scary but not the kind I like. I prefer creepy to gory.

Critic Reviews


February 7, 2006
Kurt Loder, MTV

Hostel is more artfully horrific than the usual gore flick, and
more truly scary. It's a small classic of its awful kind. full review

January 11, 2006
Nick Schager, Lessons of Darkness

Wants to be preeminent shock cinema, but doesn't have the [courage] to fully follow through on its promise of unbridled carnage. full review

January 6, 2006
Kyle Smith, New York Post

Hostel is a screaming good time, marred only by a lazy ending. full review

View more Hostel reviews at RottenTomatoes.com

Comments


  • s2pid21
    April 9, 2009
    for me this movie is very horor movie...
  • bon21jovi
    February 16, 2009
    Wake up everybody!"Hostel" is the most innovative horror movie of the last decade,it stands alone as a whole horror-genre and Eli Roth is the king!!!Love it or hate it,one thing is sure:"Hostel" will live for ever!If you don't like gore,go watch "El orfanato","The others" or any of these gay craps...
  • kerrystrauch
    September 19, 2008
    What a waste of film and money!!!!!! The first half of the movie is like a porno and the rest graphic murder - it's pointless, not to mention grotesque!!!! The people who made this junk need help!!!
  • perfectgentlemn
    July 20, 2008
    Best horror movie I've seen in awhile. Totally mind bending & insane nail biter. Especially if you think that maybe, just maybe that "could" actually happen? lol. I dread to think it might... Yikes...lol ;) Enjoy.
  • QueenNacho
    May 23, 2008
    This movie almost bored me to sleep. All it was for the first like hour was nothing but naked chicks and sex and boobs. This is not supposed to be a porn flick!! And once it did get to the "real" point of the movie, it barely lasted long enough to even make a point. Plotless, long, boring, and pretty much soft core porn. Don't waste your time. The second one is better, although i think it scarred me for life....
  • ChimiChanga21
    February 8, 2008
    Although the people say it's an horror movie, I disagree. The first torture scene of the movie happens in it's middle and lasts for 5min. The rest of the supposed scenes of horror only began at the end. The rest of the movie is spended with crap scenes with nothing interesting (unless you like porn movies).
    The true horror movie is someone forcing you to see it.
  • lilvella101
    December 7, 2007
    i do agree some of the voilence in this film is pretty graphic and don't get me wrong i (L) that shit!
    BUT this movie realli didn't a plot to it, was practical soft core porn for the first half of it and nothing realli to 'make' u want to watch it. the acting was pretty good and i guess they got there point across that people can do horrible things to each other...i just dont understand why they felt they needed to make a movie about?
  • Alejoss
    December 2, 2007
    BAD MOVIE.. PLEASE WATCH "TESIS"!!!
  • Aritosgold
    October 25, 2007
    Awesome Movie;;
  • 1JazzKat
    October 23, 2007
    Gruesome, pointless gore used to scare young, care-free, male American tourists from backbacking across Europe. A mix of softcore porn and sadism. Old guys torturing stupid tourists for kicks...not my idea of entertaiment. Moral of the story: Don't sleep with slutty strangers you just met...they might just be baiting you for serial killers. (Messed up stuff!)

Critic ratings and reviews powered by RottenTomatoes.com

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Hostel Trivia


  • Horror Movie 'Hostel' was written and directed by which director ?  Answer »
  • what film did Quentin Tarantino not direct  Answer »
  • In Eli Roth's Hostel,when the first main character disappears, a message from his phone is sent to his friends.what does it say?  Answer »
  • who plays paxton in 2006 hostel?   Answer »

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