I think this is something that grows on you. When I first saw Hostel, I hated it. But, after watching it a few times on TV, it's grown on me. Not the most twisted movie out there by far, but still worth watching, if only to form an opinion on it.
I've had a chance to watch this one again and have given it a higher rating than before. The only problem I had with this is that I wanted to SEE that guy cut those Achilles tendons or seen the toe being cut off with that bolt cutter. Other than that it was a good story. My favorite part is the toilet scene at the end. Right when the stall door is slammed open on that guy, HOLY SHIT that looked like it hurt.
Just the idea of two white Americans going to a foreign country and being the object of such creative and systematized torture allows me to defend this film. There's something very brilliant about that and I love watching guys get tortured - your turn, fellas! Of course Americans would be the most in demand nationality of people to be killed for profit. It's a business that I thought only Americans could think of...
Good script. Not scary whatsoever. Pace is too slow. The Tarantino influences were (to me) very clear, but that's not the problem with this movie. It's a good idea and a good execution (no pun intended).. IT JUST WASN'T SCARY
This movie ever be my favourite movie in the time when i love gory movies.But,now i don't like it anymore because this movie is FULL OF PORNOGRAPHY and VIOLENT.
u know,in the beginning of the movie,i felt like i'm watching a blue film.
As much as this movie was hyped, I sort of expected more than what I got. The whole thing makes sense, seeing as how these events really happen. But I expected a little more torture than boobs. I want to see the second part, but I just hope that its better than this one.
disturbing and unnecessary, consisting of perverted images that leave the viewer sick to their stomachs... from a slasher fan's perspective, another blood-spurting, mind-numbing flick brought to you by the master of perversion: Quentin Tarantino.
This is a film for horror fans, if you don't really, really like horror films(gore included), I mean really, than don't see it. The first half of the film before the characters arrive at their destination is all frat boyish American fantasy European road trip film, which is later mirrored and satirized in the events of horror that actually take place. Though the film is full of extreme gore and violence(and a pretty cool ode to "Suicide Club"), there was a lot more subtlety to the story than I expected, though I cant imagine too many people really looking at it for anything other than the violence. It was a lot better than I expected, but not "the scariest film ever" that it is claimed to be. I'm also sick of Quentin Tarintino sticking his name on everything, its just a trick to confuse people who aren't paying attention, and as always giving him way more credit than he deserves(see Hero). There are also subtle themes about globalization and exploitation here, a critical view of the American and westerner in general who feel they can "buy" anything, which also asks us as "horror" fans what "price" we are willing to pay to see our violent collective fantasies laid out.
Evidence of Eli Roth's steadily declining abilities as a filmmaker can be summed up best in his own words, "Are you ready for some fucked-up shit?", a phrase he brilliantly exclaimed while introducing this excrement at the NYC press screening.
I ask myself " why do people make these sort of films ? " .... and then i ask myself " why did i sit and watch it ? " .... ive no idea, this film is pretty sick - as is the second part - enough said.
Eli Roth's film is a lot more clever than the torture porn handle it receives, for one, the story flips itself over, what was sex became death in the latter half of the film. Hostel remains one of the better recent American horror films, and is great fun to watch.
Fantastic. The torture scenes are brutal, but nowhere near as disgusting as people say. But they are still very distubring.
This otherwise fantastic film is hampered by over-used, un-needed sex scenes. A few wouldn't have affected the film so much and should have left it at that.
The climax is great and the acting is top notch. Jay Hernandez stands out amongst the rest of the cast. Sadly we haven't seen a lot of him since this film, but he has got talent.
An overall great horror/thriller, but not a classsic of the two genres.
Ok, so i finally got around to watching this film after all the fuss... I have to question why there was any fuss at all. The ropy 'special' effects all the way through don't help and it's obviously meant to shock and nothing else. Very weak.
So vastly and incredibly overrated. There is NOTHING new or different about Eli Roth's films, and unlike, say, Rob Zombie, he doesn't even have a style, he just films the standard splatter flick mayhem he effects team creates for him.
now this movie is gonzo apesh-t nuts! brutal! if you're thinking of going to europe, this movie may change your mind! the most horrifying aspect of this movie? it could possibly happen. it is the depravity of humanity at its most insane!
[while in the torture chambers, Natalya laughs] Paxton: "You fucking whore. You fucking bitch, YOU FUCKING BITCH! Natalya: I get a lot of money for you, and that makes you MY bitch!"
Nudity, sex, drugs, gore and violence. If you're looking for a film that has all those elements and, for some reason, you still haven't seen Hostel, then look no further. Written and directed by Eli Roth, and given the stamp of approval from Quentin Tarantino, this film doesn't shy away from being seen as promoting a decadent lifestyle, and making fun of stereotypical Yanks who think every girl in Europe is a slut, the horny and the stoned, getting their just desserts.
The film tells the story of three backpackers - two Americans (Jay Hernandez and Derek Richardson) and an Icelandic (Eythor Gudjonsson) - going across Europe, living from hostel to hostel, indulging in sex and drugs. We meet them in Amsterdam (of course), and accompany them to coffee shops for that high from weed, as well as visiting its famed fish tanks. Anyway, our trio are getting bored with the *ahem* taste of Europe, and are seeking something different. They meet up with a pimp who recommends them a Slovakian city to indulge in, where the chicks (represented here by Barbara Nedeljakova and Jana Kaderabkova) will do anything, for the right amount of money. Tempted, the trio really made their way there (surely you've learnt enough not to trust strangers, but I guessed they thought with their other head instead), and checked into the Hostel, where it simply is gratuitous nudity galore, with beautiful easy chicks.
That's, I think, the main thing that separates Hostel from most torture-porn fests. There's a social/culture element at play. The aforementioned Dutch pimp, who recommends Slovakia to the trio by showing them pictures of girls who look like super-models, tells them they'll do anything - especially if you're an American. You might wonder if that's true... and I can help answering. I've been to Slovakia, I've made the famous European inter-rail. Yes, there are girls in the East who'll do pretty much anything (like anywhere else in the world), but your nationality has nothing to do with it. In fact, if you mention that you're an American your chances of falling in the hands of a secret 'torture club' will increase a lot.
While the first half of the film focused on them getting their rocks off, the gore and violence didn't arrive until the second half, where one by one, our friends disappear under mysterious circumstances. They get locked up in some strange cell, and get tortured. You begin to wonder exactly what is happening behind closed doors, but I won't spoil it for you. Suffice to say that while it might initially seem like Saw, with its enigmatic psychopath calling the shots, this film offered a more stripped down version to the madness. No elaborate games, just brutal simplicity, picking from available weapons of choice like the scissors, knives, hammers, pliers, scalpel, chainsaw, pistol, you get the drift.
Most of the violence happens off screen - your imagination is left to work what exactly is happening, given cues from the helpless screams, and the mechanics of the tools of death. The gore department isn't stinged upon, and there are enough blood spewing, dripping, flowing to keep the blood lust factor up. But there is one detectable cut in the film, which I thought didn't really match the sadistic enjoyment of the film. However, there is a reasonable logical explanation to all the happenings, and you'll share with the pain of the victims, and wonder in reality, if such an underground organization perhaps could exist. I mean, why not?
And finally, there's a satisfying ending to the film, too. There are no losers or winners, but the last 15 minutes are filled with so much gore, so much pain, that the squeamish will find it hard to tolerate. And without spoiling it for you, I particularly liked two scenes which involved vehicles. The first is one that is seldom seen in a film, while the second one is perhaps as close to the real thing as possible, without me being a witness to the event. Hostel is a sick film, it truly is. And the fact that I enjoyed it probably makes me a bit sick too, I know. But then, that's what this film is: satisfyingly sick. Anyone with any other intention shouldn't even be watching this, should it?
MCT:July 22, 2008
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