HOSTEL 
Starring:
Jay Hernandez, Derek Richardson, Eythor Gudjonsson, Barbara Nedeljakova, Jana
Kaderabkova, Jennifer Lim and Jan Vlasák
Writer/Director:
Eli Roth
Running Time:
95 mins
Out to 07/08/06
"Why are you doing this to me?"
Backpacking across Europe, Paxton (Hernandez), Josh (Richardson) and Oli (Gudjonsson) arrive in Amsterdam where they think that things can't get any wilder, that is until they here about what they can get up into in Slovakia. They head for a hostel in a small town outside of Bratislava and discover that girls, drugs and clubs are better and more extreme than they could have ever imaged. When Oli disappears after their first night out, Paxton and Josh realise that they might actually have risked far too much.
Hailed as the next big thing in horror, Eli Roth has a lot to live up to but can his second foray into the most chilling of genres fill you with fear?
Eli Roth is been touted as Hollywood's big hope for horror with many comparing him to legends like John Carpenter, Wes Craven, Sam Raimi or Tobe Hooper but even though 'Cabin Fever' was a low budget success story, it didn't mean to say that it was any good. The film was a complete mess with no real structure and just an excuse for excessive gore. Were the legends of the genre he was compared to also started from humble, low budget beginnings but their films had one thing that was distinctly missing from Roth's first effort, a story.
The writer/director's second attempt suffers from the same shortcomings. While the actual premise is good, much to the annoyance of the Slovakian tourist board, but it is executed in just an average and disappointedly bad way. The idea of the wealthy paying to perform surgery or torture on a kidnapped victim is an intriguing one but Roth just produces a run of the mill horror film that brings absolutely nothing to the genre.
The first two thirds of the movie are typically clichéd, with American backpackers having fun in Europe by taking drugs and sleeping with the extremely sexy European women. After a stereotypical view of Amsterdam, the trio are told that they can have an even better time in Slovakia, so they pack there bags and catch a train. When they get there the clubs are amazing, the drink and drugs are flowing and the women are some of the most amazing they have ever seen. Everything is to excess and all is amazing until people from the hostel they are staying in start to disappear.
From here on in the gore takes over but those of you expecting to be shocked and disgusted by scenes of extreme torture will be very disappointed. When you discover that Quentin Tarantino is the executive producer of the film, you realise who Eli Roth has been influenced by. The major problem with movie is that most of the torture is suggested, much like Tarantino's infamous sequence from 'Reservoir Dogs'. Every time pain is inflected on a victim, Roth moves the camera away from the area to show either the person's face or another part of the torture room. This is extremely frustrating for horror fans and those expecting to be covered in bucket loads of blood.
If Eli Roth is Hollywood's big horror hope then they are backing the wrong man. They would be better looking at a director working with a similar budget and has also produced the horror films 'Dog Soldiers' and 'The Descent', Neil Marshall because he knows the importance of character and story. 'Hostel' is just as bad as 'Cabin Fever', proving that Eli Roth hasn't improved at all.
PICTURE & SOUND
Presented in Anamorphic Widescreen 1.85:1 with Dolby Digital 5.1, the movie is presented well.
BONUS FEATURES
Commentaries
Four commentary tracks all with or presented by director Eli Roth. For the
first track he is joined by executive producers Quentin Tarantino, Boaz
Yakin and Scott Spiegel and this is a chatty and fun track with Quentin
having fun as always. The second tracks see the director joined by actors
Barbara Nedeljaknova and Eythor Gudjonsson, editor George Folsey Jr. and
web author Harry Knowles with the track been mainly an interview with the
famous editor and phone ins from the other contributors. The third track
has the director joined by producer Chris Briggs and documentarian Gabriel
Roth for a very chatty and informative commentary. Finally the director
provides a solo track. Each of these tracks is very good and offers an insight
into low budget horror movies.
Hostel Dissection (56.37 mins)
Director Eli Roth, producers Chris Briggs and Daniel S. Frisch, director
of photography Milan Chadima, production designer Franco-Giacomo Carbone,
makeup artist Howard Berger and stars Jay Hernandez, Derek Richardson, Barbara
Nedeljaknova, Rick Hoffman and Eythor Gudjonsson take you through the production
of 'Hostel'. Covering pre-production, production and post production, this
behind the scenes documentary shows everything from storyboards to location
scouting, through filming the torture scenes to creating the night club
and onto the editing and the premiere, this offers a good insight into the
making of a Hollywood horror movie.
Kill the Car (Multi Angle) (2.27 mins)
Watch the scene where the Slovakian town kids smash up the car and have
a lot of fun doing it.
Trailers
Previews of 'The Da Vinci Code', 'Fear Itself: Dark Memories', 'Freedomland',
'London', 'Ultraviolet' and 'When a Stranger Calls'
OVERALL
With four commentary tracks and almost a behind the scenes documentary that runs for almost an hour, this is a DVD package that is far better than the movie deserves. Fans of the film should be extremely pleased.
DVD
