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Hostel

 Review by Mordum

Elite Hunting


After Eli Roth's pretty poor debut offering, "Cabin Fever", my expectations were low for his next film "Hostel", however leading up to its release it managed to create a bit of a buzz, so naturally I had to see it for myself.

Two American frat boys, Paxton and Josh, are backpacking across Europe with their Icelandic pal Oli. After sampling the usual delights of drugs and girls that Amsterdam has to offer, they get a tip to head off to the Slovakian capitol of Bratislava if they want some proper hot looking women. Naturally not everything is as it first seems, and they soon find themselves the prey for an international snuff ring.

Obviously it's a good plot for a horror film and a good setup for some potential nastiness, but ultimately it turns out to be a missed opportunity. I'd got the impression going in to this film that it was going to offer up a violently graphic horror experience, but although the effects were very good during the moments of gore, they were very few and far between, leaving me with a sense of unfulfillment by the time the credits rolled. I also found it hard to connect to the three main characters, who I found rather irritating and at times obnoxious, meaning that any danger they found themselves in caused no emotional response on my part, which lessened the impact of the film greatly.

Sure, the idea of a snuff ring abducting people simply so that big spenders can live out their vicious fantasies, as well as the warehouse where the killings occur being suitably dark, dank and secluded, adds to the atmosphere of the film, and indeed works rather well for the second half of the film at least. But the first 45 minutes feel rather empty with nothing but the typical drink, drugs and sex the trio indulge in, which becomes rather tedious pretty quick. The attempts in fleshing out the characters doesn't really work, they aren't exactly likeable and I had no interest in finding out more about their personalities, meaning the first part of the film felt like a total waste of time, although at least the acting from the cast throughout the film is actually quite solid.

It's hard to decide who this film is aimed at, it seems to believe that it's offering up a more intense experience than it actually is. The first half of the film is non-eventful, then when we arrive at the real meat of the film it offers us nothing we haven't seen before, even feeling a tad restrained to me. It's a shame, as the setup was there for a really disturbing horror experience. If only they had cut 20 minutes or so from the frankly boring first half, and used that time fleshing out the warehouse location and the acts that take place within its walls instead, maybe then the film could have matched the hype that had been built around it.

Unfortunately what we're left with is a rather average film, and one that leaves me confused as to why Eli Roth has such a positive reputation as a horror film-maker, when his films have been such forgettable experiences.

Simply put, this is not the goriest, sickest film you'll ever see... it's not even close!
In this day and age a sequel is to be expected, and hopefully next time around they can make the most of an admittedly interesting premise. Until then, this may pass the time during an evenings TV viewing, but it's not a film I would recommend spending money on a purchase.

Viewing Details
The UK Region 2, 'Unseen Edition' DVD was used for this review. Bonus features include, Commentary from Eli Roth, Commentary from Eli Roth and Quentin Tarantino, 'Hotel Dissected' behind the scenes featurette, 'Kill The Car' interactive feature, etc.