Review Revisted: Hostel
I posted this review quite a while ago, but since the movie is FINALLY coming out, I thought it’d be good to post it again. Here you go!
Hostel is the second effort from Eli Roth of Cabin Fever fame. Reviews for Cabin Fever were all over the board, raging from outright hate to lusty love. I was somewhere in the middle; I was entertained—mostly—but I felt it wasted the excellent potential of the premise.
Roth moves from the backwoods to the seedy spots of Europe here. Two pals, Josh and Paxton, have just graduated college and want to have one last fling before they have to get jobs and other sucky stuff like that. Off they go to have some fun..a huge part of the movie is devoted to this fun…and meet Oli, a dude from Iceland (do people really live in Iceland?) who knows where to find all the good drugs and boobies. Our American heroes are all over that, of course, so off they go to find adventure, and little do they know, tortuous pain and misery. I hope they at least got to use frequent flier points!
The movie is sort of…Eurotrip meets True Romace. There were quite a few scenes that reminded me of the gleeful violence in True Romance, actually. Then I saw Quentin Tarantino has a producer credit…aha!
If Cabin Fever was Roth at eight years old, grossing out the girls with dead bugs and flicking his boogers at his friends for amusement, then Hostel is Roth in his rebellious teenage years, wearing black and drawing inverted pentagrams to freak out his parents and teachers.
Is it better than Cabin Fever? Yes. In what ways? Several. First of all, the older characters are more believable. Yes, I know that technically, they are in the same stage of life as the CF kids, but something seems older. Not more mature, necessarily. But older enough to have some view of the world beyond smoking pot around a campfire. Also, Roth does a better job with humor here; a teen’s sense of humor is better developed than an 8-year old’s. The humor is better integrated into the violence here, where in CF it always stuck out awkwardly. There is less sense of groan-worthy silliness (the karate sequence, anyone?) Unfortunately, Roth can’t resist another ‘humorous’ ending, but it’s an improvement. Maybe by his next film, he’ll have moved into his young adult years.
So anyway, the guys are partying it up and hear about a hostel in Slovakia (do people actually live in Slovakia?) where boobies and booty reign supreme. Off they go, to find the hostel (with a spa!) is everything they dreamed of and more. Boobies as far as the eye can see…comfy beds…and here I thought hostels were all about sagging cots and the lingering stench of B.O.
All seems great, until one of the main characters goes missing. And then another one. And then the last guy is left to fend for himself in almost unbelievably hellish ways. All those boobies don’t come free, you know.
At least the trip starts out fun…
That’s all the plot I want to discuss, so the experience won’t be spoiled for you. Of course, if you’ve seen the trailer, it’s already been spoiled. If you haven’t, close your eyes and cover your ears if it comes on next time you’re at the movies.
…but by the end, not so much.
The violence and gore is unflinching here; the camera does not pull away. Unfortunately, that is going to be ruined as soon as the MPAA butchers it, the bastards. Roth has two choices: accept a sub-par version to get an R-rating, or go balls out and release it in full NC-17 glory. Of course, we’ll know which he’ll choose, so you may want to wait for the uncut DVD.
Amid the extreme scenes of violence, one moment was the most squirm-inducing for me: a cut Achilles’ tendon (shades of Pet Semetary). That gets me every time! Blown-off heads. Neat-o. Innards oozing out? Coool. But a cut Achilles’? Aaa!
Would I recommend seeing it? Sure, if red stuff and grueling intensity in flicks is your thing. But the uncut DVD version will undoubtedly be better.
Hostel is doing the ‘based on a true story which makes this even more terrifying’ thing, but I have my doubts.
What did I like? The premise. The location. The homage to my beloved 1980s slasher flicks. The unusual-for-the-genre order of dispatching certain characters. One particularly heart-breaking scene where a character’s attempt to appeal to a monster’s humanity is for naught. The always successful theme of decent people being forced into becoming monsters in order to survive at the hands of monsters. Hostel also does an excellent job at portraying one of our deepest fears: being stuck in an unfamiliar place, completely at the mercy of others, out of reach of those who love us or could help us.
What could I do without? The overabundance of silliness, especially at the end. C.mon, Roth: have the courage to play it straight!
Enjoy it…though you may want to cancel those plane reservations to Europe.
(Hmm…I need to think up some sort of rating system. For now, we’ll say 2.5 out of 4…somethings.)
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POSTED IN: Movie Reviews, Movies
22 opinions for Review Revisted: Hostel
vilo
Jan 5, 2006 at 8:01 am
I am not sure about the Iceland, but I know couple of people living in Slovakia :)
Vilo,
Bratislava,
Slovakia
Rhys
Jan 5, 2006 at 6:39 pm
Hi Vilo! Welcome! :) Slovakia sounds like a neat place to live.
vilo
Jan 7, 2006 at 5:19 pm
sure, rhys,
if you don´t expect all hostels here possess a 150×80 foot pool.
vilo
Rhys
Jan 9, 2006 at 1:08 am
Oh sure…but there are spas with naked beautiful women, right? :)
filer
Jan 14, 2006 at 2:43 pm
I live at student’s dorm in Bratislava. Hm, but I can’t see naked women here. Slovakian women are beautiful, it’s true.
Cano
Jan 14, 2006 at 2:44 pm
Slovakia sucks.
filer
Jan 14, 2006 at 3:03 pm
As I said you before, Cano: You don’t have to live here. You can move wherever you want. For example to the Iceland. :-)
And, I disagree with you. Slovakia is great!
yarik
Jan 15, 2006 at 3:09 am
No vy ste ale buzeranti … by sme im to tu mohli pekne zaplavit slovencinou ..nech si to ti skurveni amici uziju:)
PS: (for non slovak) : Slovakia is great. slovak women beautifull and very fuckable, and Cano is kokot:)
ready
Jan 15, 2006 at 7:24 am
Slovakia is something between Eurotrip and Hostel - but only in american movies.
Otherwise it’s quite nice country in central Europe.
Siggi
Jan 17, 2006 at 4:45 pm
Yes, I live in Iceland.
Zuzi
Jan 19, 2006 at 12:31 pm
Hej ja som za.Nech sa poseru Amici a nech si vy-googluju slovensky slovnik.Mozno sa zacnu ucit slovencinu.Hehe.
An information for the Americans:You can find Slovakia in Africa on the crossroad to South Amerika.And the population is mostly Aziatic.Good luck boys.
vilo
Jan 20, 2006 at 5:04 pm
Rhys, maybe it´s not that important for you but what I found out about your blog and the Hostel movie is /as follows/:
- it´s (your blog) mostly read by inhabitants of Slovakia and Iceland (both produce trully massive traffic that will drive whole B5M towards it´s budgeted revenues in the future, we can bet):)… no, seriously, it´s good, it only needs some time to accelerate, I like your horror enthusiasm, I posses the same;
- movies (Hostel) which story was sizuated somewhere to the 80´s in CSSR (still socialist regime here), shall not make laugh 2 billions of former (or present, if China and Cuba are still socialist, three question marks follow)inhabitants of the pre-communist countries (even if tarantino is an co-…);
As it´s about to come to our cinemas in March, I cannot judge myself. But here are some “discrepancies” I have just heard of:
- though at that time Slovakia was part of Czecho-Slovakia, people in Bratislava didn´t speak all czech (there´s a slight difference between these two languages, something like between English and German);
- the idea of a sex-tourism and Slovakia in 80´s… hmmm… I would say an American student would have approx. 0.0001% chance to get here just to enjoy our country´s beauties;
- the idea of having a mobile phone in 80´s that can be hidden in a pocket is just silly, not regarding our regime that time. In 80´s all mobile phones were as huge as current laptops (plus the battery needing to be re-charged each 3 hours almost as large as the xxl-phone).
- I do aplogize for all upset SK inhabitants writing here in Slovak their real reality-based critics.
Milan
Jan 22, 2006 at 5:08 am
I havent’s seen the movie myself but was able to pick its plot from countless reviews and pictures on the net. It portrays Slovakia as a war-torn country with gangs of roaming children who would willingly murder any stranger for a pack chewing gum. As a Slovak citizen living here in “old deserted city” of Bratislava (according to one review) I must say the movie is an eye opener for me. Boy, I must have been in coma or living in a fantasy world when I didn’t notice that a war was raging around me. That all changed after the Hostel movie got released and I learned a bitter truth about my country from a movie director who seems to know it better than I do even though he never set foot down here and I’ve been living here for over 30 years.
NOW SERIOUSLY!!!
The movie is completely out of touch with reality. Not only because such hostel has never existed here (nor in any other country) but also the scenery lacks authenticity. You won’t find any gangs of roaming children here neither the countless relics of the communist past depicted in the movie as these are now a distant memory. In other words the movie portrays a non-existent country that was given a very real name: Slovakia. And that deeply upsets me as it leads viewers to believe that Bratislava is a terrifying hole to be avoided at all costs.
Now what does remain of the movie once it’s stripped of the authenticity claim? Only nudity and unspeakable violence that was to satisfy director’s sick fantasies and that of their viewers. The director added the authenticity claim in order to attract more viewers other than weird sickos for whom it would be normaly targeted. I’m outraged to find out just how desperate some untalented movie makers are in order to make a few bucks that they wouldn’t stop at shamelessly insulting my country and I hope a legal action will soon follow although the director admits the story is made up.
Slovakia seems to have become a juicy subject for untalented hollywood producers following a disastrous portrayal of my country in EUROTRIP movie and with the Hostel movie it gets progressively worse. Who knows maybe we’ll hear of another movie that will depict us living in caves and practising cannibalism. I only hope that no sane person takes this movie seriously.
Rhys
Jan 23, 2006 at 8:37 pm
Thank you Vilo!! That is wonderful information! :)
Rhys
Jan 23, 2006 at 8:39 pm
Oh,also, Vilo: do you have a horror blog or site?
Your business site is very nicely designed! If you have a horror site, let me know so I can link to it. :)
Rhys
Jan 23, 2006 at 8:45 pm
Thank you Milan, for those wonderful insights! You make excellent points, and write excellent reviews. Maybe you should write reviews for a living! :)
vilo
Jan 25, 2006 at 1:44 am
Thanks, Rhys, no, I don´t have a horror website, I am just a horror fan.
Milan, be cautious, people just awaken after 30 years in coma shouldn´t get upset(-:!
kristina
Jan 30, 2006 at 12:04 pm
Hi everybody!
I have to say that I was really disgusted and as a Slovak citizen also humiliated when hearing and reading about the movie hostel. I have lived all my life, which is 19 years by now, in Bratislava, and in my opinion, it is a beautiful city. Last year I spent in the US as a high school student and I found it really sad that most of the people I met only knew that Slovakia is that “rat hole” as portrayed in Eurotrip. Now at least a few people in Minnesota know that Slovakia is a fast developing country with great people!
Zly Pedro
Feb 22, 2006 at 4:30 pm
As I live in Slovakia I feel it is my responsibility to confirm that everything you can see in “Hostel” is an unshakeable truth. We, people of Slovakia, simply love to torture people and especially Americans are most welcomed. It makes our day, really. It is even a necessary part of our folklore. For a pack of bublegums we slice and dice anybody (and then use as igredients in our famous slovak kitchen). And we usually live in caves (but some still prefers trees, mainly during summer), sell our women to anybody (especially to Americans - it is a great honor), majority of men died in the war (there have been at least 7 wars for last 3 years) and although we are Slovaks we all only speak Czech.
Welcome in Slovakia and bring your realatives too!
You sure want to have some special experiences (and I need to test my new chaisaw).
:-)
Sejo
Apr 17, 2006 at 4:50 pm
I just dont get this everyone on this board seems to speak perfect english and yet all of you say Bratislava is great and that this story is not true, but why would a movie maker make this up???? he knows it will be demanded to be pulled.
Jason
Apr 28, 2006 at 8:17 am
Yeah Sejo, i’m a little skeptical too, “Milan” claims to be a Slovak, yet, he speaks much better english than i do, an american of 27 years, with a college degree from a prestigous univerisy. I think this is all a ploy to lure us “dumb americans” back there so we can fend for ourselves.
And no, i dont think this is completely outlandish. It very well COULD happen, not sure that it did, not sure that it would, but travelers could easily go missing. Not to mention the police and maffia types are all in everything together……..i mean really it could happen……thats why i’ll never go there.
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