"Hostel"
Reviewed by Chris Cappola
Starring Jay Hernandez, Derek Richardson and Rick Hoffman. Directed by Eli Roth. (2006, Screen Gems/Lions Gate)

'Hostel' is quite the experience. Here is a horror film that admirably doesn't want to follow generic boundaries and doesn't let go trying to shock, scare and repulse the viewer. It's weird because although there is a great level of curiosity and intrigue to the story, it's also equally repellent. Just when you think the director Eli Roth has done as much as he possibly can, he comes up with something even more gruesome and at its core, this is really what the film is all about - making it as violent, as nasty and as screwed up as it could possibly be.

The set up is an interesting one: Two friends Paxton (Jay Hernandez) and Josh (Derek Richardson) are back packing through Europe and are lured to a Slovakian city where their lives are jeopardised from a sadistic group of locals. Both men along with some other tourists become prey to the locals who capture, torture and kill their victims for fun. Quite simply, the torture scenes are visually horrific and some of it is sickening and very twisted. The execution is good, but one wonders how anyone can come up with such vulgar and disturbing ideas? The issue of torture is an interesting one and has been used lately from 'The Texas Chainsaw Massacre', 'House of Wax' and 'Wolf Creek' just to name some recent examples but 'Hostel' sometimes goes too far. Sure, it's a film but there is something very disturbing about some of it and its sick for the sake of being sick - it's as if the director is doing this to be noticed because some of these scenes are truly unforgettable but disturbing moments. It's as if he is hoping to have a horror film remembered in years to come and is ensuring its death scenes are so brutal that it's hard to ever forget them. Sure, it's achieving its aim to be remembered but as a film, it's not a great one. A lot of it seems like it's done for showmanship more than anything else.

Although it's not a generic horror film, it does have a fairly pedestrian and predictable script, which is very easy to assume. Most of it is way too easy to predict and there's no real surprises to the script, which is a little disappointing for a film like this. There is also no real development behind any of the characters and the one that gets the most story support has an abrupt ending leaving behind a character that is vague. The director is Eli Roth and as already mentioned, he clearly has a sadistic mind. To his credit, he is having fun with the horror genre but he goes too far at times and it's a little violent and repellent. Some of his motivations in his choices with the film are a cross between inspired and baffling. The use of the music score and some good visual work are very admirable and at times, it's obvious that Quentin Tarantino's visual style has rubbed off on the actor. As a director, he has a lot of talent but he needs to tone down the need to shock and ease the intensity factor. The torture scenes in 'Hostel' are good but they went too far and he spent way too much time on those and could have reworked the script a little better. 'Hostel' is a lot like 'Wolf Creek', also a recent horror film exploring tourists trapped in an isolated, foreign environment. Just like 'Wolf Creek', this film has two sides to it. The opening half hour sets up the characters in their foreign location and then takes a complete detour with the characters' doomed states. The first half here is very weak but it picks up in the second half considerably. But, it's also overly violent like 'Wolf Creek' and feels more like it's deliberately trying to be this repulsive to be remembered. It does work because nobody can forget some of the torture scenes from either movie but that doesn't make it a good film. 'Hostel' too doesn't paint its location setting very glowingly and Slovakia is not seen in a very positive way. It is a determent to travel. As for the performances, they are average at best and Jay Hernandez and Derek Richardson struggle with the opening scenes but become more convincing as their impending doom near and Hernandez in particular has some very tough scenes to get through and does it well.

'Hostel' was a little disappointing because it never really lived up to its good idea. It really had a lot of potential to be something very strong. Sure, it's got some memorable scenes though not all are voluntarily, but it just seems that this was an exhibition for the director. This will be a remembered movie but not for the right reasons and Roth couldn't make a film work without shocking the viewer. Ultimately, do horror movies need to get this nasty? It's a very tough, intense and gruesome movie and probably one of the toughest in recent years but does it have to be like this? At least with films like 'House of Wax' and even the dull 'The Fog', it's not going out of its way to be sick and disgusting and you get what you expect from the genre. 'Hostel' feels at times like a clone of 'Saw' that is trying to imitate its look, feel and style and decided to try and be nastier, colder and more sadistic. Ultimately, there is no real payoff, no satisfying conclusion, no real insights into any of these characters, no explanations, nothing. It's a very intriguing movie and well, it's an experience but it's probably not an experience that everyone will be able to endure.
out of 10
- Chris Cappola's Reviews

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