Paxton: Jay Hernandez
Josh: Derek Richardson
Oli: Eythor Gudjonsson
Natalya: Barbara Nedeljakova
The Dutch Businessman: Jan Vlasak
Svetlana: Jana Kaderabkova
Kana: Jennifer Lim
Yuki: Keiko Seiko
Alex: Lubomir Bukovy
Vala: Jana Havlickova
The American Client: Rick Hoffman
The German Surgeon: Petr Janis
Three hedonistic backpackers travel to Bratislava and
become victims of a sinister international trade in human torture...
Writer-director Eli Roth has been quick to proclaim himself horror's
saving grace -- the Wes Craven for the '00s. Roth's confidence stems from the
success of his low-budget debut Cabin Fever, an effective throwback to
'80s shlock. Since then, Roth has been taken under the wing of Quentin
Tarantino and snubbed post-Fever studio offers to get Hostel off the ground
based on a spec script.
Hostel is apparently based on an unsubstantiated Thai website,
discovered by Harry Knowles of
Ain't It Cool News,
that offered the chance to torture and kill people for $10,000. Roth supplants
the idea to Eastern Europe and stretches this thin idea into a workable
script that's laborious with set-up and snappy with the pay-off.
The movie begins in Amsterdam, where three backpackers, Hispanic Yank Paxton
(Hernandez), shy aspiring writer Josh (Richardson) and Icelandic party animal
Oli (Gudjonsson), are busy frequenting ganja bars and the notorious Red Light
District. After getting locked out of their hostel, the trio are advised by a
Russian samaritan to head for Bratislava, where all their sexual dreams will
come true.
Arriving in the crumbling Slovakian town (the tourist board must hate Roth),
the friends find refuge in a hostel and are taken under the voluptuous wings
of sexy goodtime girls Natalya (Nedeljakova) and Svetlana (Kaderabkova). It
appears all their fantasies are indeed being fulfilled, but they're unaware
the girls are being paid to deliver them to businessmen who want to torture
and kill for kicks.
Hostel desperately wants to be a gruelling and nightmarish benchmark in
sadistic horror cinema, but ultimately it fails to achieve these lofty aims.
The idea is simple and should spark interest in audiences minds, but the
execution (no pun intended) is too haphazard to be effective...
The build up to the film's raison d'etre is long, but nevertheless interesting
and involving thanks to the lead actors' chemistry. But after such a slow burn
the film's torture sequences aren't particularly worthwhile. As with all
horror, nothing can beat your imagination, so despite a few in-your-face
glimpses at drills in flesh and sliced ankles, it's all more distasteful than
horrific.
The first torture is the most successful, as the situation is so bewildering
and performed with relish by victim Richardson and torturor Jan Vlasak as a
creepy Dutch Businessman.
By the time the film's other tortures take place, the movie is beginning to
lose its chilly mystique, but manages to work by focusing on survival and
revenge. Roth's script isn't very good, particularly in Act III when the
number of contrivances for Hernandez to exact his escape and revenge is almost
comical. A scene where three villains neatly gather together just asking to
be run over is particularly unlikely, as is Vlasak's eventual comeuppance.
Roth's ability as a writer is definitely in question, but his directorial
skills are much better. For the most part Roth knows how to build tension and
how often to show graphic shots. Hostel works best when events are left to
the imagination, best exemplified by decapitated head sitting on a table and
some mutilations done off-camera.
Eventually, Roth gives in and shows a burned-out eyeball and chain saw
dismemberment, but for the most part the balance between seen and unseen is
good. Of course, those actually hoping for an orgy of no-holds-barred violence
will be disappointed.
The subtext to the film isn't too bad: the fact three horny college kids spend
their vacation treating women as sex objects, only to become objectified
themselves as meat to be slaughtered, isn't too shabby. But Hostel doesn't
do anything within its genre to become anything more than a gory oddity. The
best thing about the film is its ugly premise, but while Roth occassionally
hits the right note and delivers some chills, it's all a bit underwhelming,
disappointing and very contrived.
Only three sequences are worth your time: the first torture scene because of
its performances and directorial skill, a moment when Herndandez pleads for
his life in a German torturor's native tongue and a brash US businessman
debating how best to kill his victim.
The rest? Entertaining but forgettable nonsense that struggles to achieve the
shock-horror verve of Japanese director Takashi Miike (who even cameos), but
provides enough tits, blood and violence to please horror fans for the
short-term. Also nice to spot the injokes: Pulp Fiction on TV as homage to
producer Tarantino, while a sex scene takes place to the song "How Do" from
The Wicker Man, Room 237 from The Shining appears, and the search for
orange-jacketed Oli reminds of a similar pursuit for Don't Look Now's
red-coated ghost...
Eli Roth may think he's the saviour of horror cinema, but he's not on the
evidence of this. The fact he's already stuck filming an unnecessary sequel
seems to prove this...
This Unseen Edition contains 27 seconds of extra "eye goo" which is disappointing
for those expecting a more gruelling DVD experience than in the theatre, but
there you go.
The 2.35:1 widescreen image is very good, with crisp exterior daylight scenes
and smooth blacks.
The Dolby Digital 5.1 mix is effective, particularly when people or vehicles
make noises from the rear speakers. There's plenty of opportunity for
atmospheric screams, rattling and water dripping, and it all helps to place
you in the film's nihilistic mindspace. English and French subtitles.
The extras are as follows:
Commentary Track 1:
Director Eli Roth is joined by executive producer Quentin Tarantino, Boza
Yakin and Scott Spiegel. Great fun, as you'd expect with movie-junkie
Tarantino's involvement.
Commentary Track 2:
Eli Roth is joined by actors Barbara Nedeljakova and Eyethor Gudjonsson,
editor George Folsey Jr and web critic Harry Knowles. This is a patchwork
track, with commentators dropping in for short intervals, sometimes via phone.
Roth does well interviewing his colleagues.
Commentary Track 3:
Roth is joined by producer Chris Briggs and documentarian brother Gabriel
Roth. A more relaxed commentary that focuses on production. Good stuff.
Commentary Track 4:
Roth's own commentary that gives advice to aspiring filmmakers, anecdotes,
pre-production inspirations and other goodness. Despite being the fouth
yack-track, it's amazing to find Roth still has things to talk about!
Hostel Dissected Documentary:
An excellent feature split into three parts, recounting the making of the
film in Prague -- full of special effects, interviews and a cheeky vibe
throughout.
Kill The Car! Multi-Angle:
A strange extra that allows you to watch a gang of Czech kids destroy a car,
from three alternative angles. Okay, but pointless.
Rounding out the disc are theatrical trailers for When A Stranger Calls,
Silent Hill, The Cave, Underworld: Evolution, The Exorcism Of Emily Rose,
Boogeyman, The Fog and Ring Around The Rosie.
A great disc for filmmakers interested in horror, primarily via the
entertaining commentary tracks and the documentary. For everyone else, a solid
disc that should provide some additional entertainment. Most importantly, the
video and audio transfer is excellent. Recommended.
As of April 2009, Blu-rays and DVDs reviewed by the editor are watched on a Panasonic TH-37PX80B
37" Plasma TV with a Sony BDP-1500 Blu-ray player and played through a Yamaha DSP-AX820 amplifier.
PC games reviewed by the editor are on:
Since Jan 2011: Intel Quad Core Dell XPS 8100, i7 CPU 860 @ 2.80Ghz, 8Gb RAM, nVidia GeForce GTS 240, Windows 7
Since Nov 2005: Intel Pentium D 830 3.0Ghz, 1Gb RAM, 128Mb nVidia GeForce 6700XL, Windows XP
Since Aug 2003: Intel Pentium 4 2.66Ghz, 512Mb RAM, 128Mb GeForce4 MX440 graphics, Windows XP
Since May 2003: Intel Pentium 4 2.6Ghz, 512Mb RAM, 128Mb ATI Radeon 9600TX graphics, Windows XP
Since Jun 2002: Intel Pentium III 600Mhz, 384Mb RAM, Windows 98 SE, 64Mb ATI Radeon 8500LE
Since May 2000: Intel Pentium III 600Mhz, 384Mb RAM, Windows 98 SE, Voodoo 3 3000 AGP
Unseen Edition: 
