Movie Review

Hostel (R)

Brian Marder

Photos| Movie Info

Hollywood.com Says
Don’t be fooled by Hostel’s twentysomething characters and their vernacular—this film is downright nasty. And if you’re looking for that fail-safe post-holiday diet, you’ve come to the right theater… Vegetarianism makes a whole lotta sense after this one.

Story
When Paxton (Jay Hernandez), Josh (Derek Richardson) and Oli (Eythor Gudjonsson) go to Amsterdam, they find that marijuana alone will not quench their hedonistic thirst—there aren’t enough girls for them. At the suggestion of a local, they head to Slovakia, where, the local promises, girls will flow freely, tending to their every desire. The promise is fulfilled as sex-starved seductresses teem in the area hostel, but they give new meaning to the term femme fatale. The girls provide sex for cheap in this Slovakian hostel, but that’s only because sex isn’t how the girls make a living; they prefer instead to partake in the region’s burgeoning and lucrative trade industry. Was it a hostel of depravity? Sure, but not quite the brand the guys were seeking.

Acting
The only way a gruesome gore-fest like Hostel works is if the actors make it believable. Here, the actors’ performances are likely to go unnoticed, but not unappreciated for that reason. It can’t be stressed enough the range an actor needs to possess to be macho and frightened in the same movie. Hernandez (crazy/beautiful) possesses such range. He throws in “dude” and “bro” almost more than is healthy, but when in trouble, he abandons diction almost altogether and wears the fear on his face, and wears it credibly. Richardson, as Paxton’s shy friend, evokes the same level of imminent doom when it’s his turn. Rick Hoffman also turns in a stirring cameo as a fast-talking, uh, surgeon.

Direction
After the hit Cabin Fever and now Hostel, the cult status of director Eli Roth might grow into something big—and so will his wallet. Roth pays homage to a number of gore classics while also asserting his own style. He genuinely makes us feel like unwelcome guests in his house of horrors who can’t help but peeking at what lies behind each door, even at the risk of blind. The story is ultimately no different than what we’ve seen before but Roth’s scare tactics are currently second to none. The end result is the visual equivalent of nails on the chalkboard. Hostel “presenter” and executive producer Quentin Tarantino will definitely not be the last sadist to fall for this frightening film.

Reviews for Movies in Theaters

Everyone's a Critic

“Hostel may become something of a classic among Fangoria magazine's readership, acolytes of George Romero and audiences who thought Saw II was for babies."
John Anderson, Variety

“One of those horror flicks on a dual mission to offend what's left of our sensibilities and to creep deep into our collective unconscious. It doesn't succeed on either count."
Rick Groen, Globe and Mail

“It's grisly, gory and gross, but the haunting Hostel kills the horror competition by mixing actual concepts into its carnage."
Matt Pais, Chicago Tribune

“Highly en-gross-ing."
Michael Rechtshaffen, Hollywood Reporter

“Effectively made, although the moral premise—sex tourists deserve to die unspeakable deaths—is a bit much."
Jan Stuart, Newsday

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