Hostel, DVD

After wondering over to the cinema in the freezing cold and pouring rain, my friend and I were forced to accept that there simply was not a single film on at a decent time that we were likely to really enjoy. Neither of us had seen many trailers recently and we did not want to risk forking out £7 for a film we might not even like. Instead we decided to head home and just watch a DVD at her place. She has plenty of films that she enjoys watching again ...
...DVDs and was in the mood for some sort of horror. She recommended this film, and since I had been wondering what the weird trailers were about and why it was the subject of jokes on one of my favourite TV shows recently, I was keen to see it. I used to be quite a fan of the horror genre, but these days it is more just something I occasionally feel like watching, to see whether anything still surprises me. Generally I am disappointed, sometimes I ... more

After wondering over to the cinema in the freezing cold and pouring rain, my friend and I were forced to accept that there simply was not a single film on at a decent time that we were likely to really enjoy. Neither of us had seen many trailers recently and we did not want to risk forking out £7 for a film we might not even like. Instead we decided to head home and just watch a DVD at her place. She has plenty of films that she enjoys watching again and again, and I have seen very few of those DVDs and was in the mood for some sort of horror. She recommended this film, and since I had been wondering what the weird trailers were about and why it was the subject of jokes on one of my favourite TV shows recently, I was keen to see it. I used to be quite a fan of the horror genre, but these days it is more just something I occasionally feel like watching, to see whether anything still surprises me. Generally I am disappointed, sometimes I even feel guilty for watching films about extreme cruelty to people. But that is not really why I watch them, and I don't think most people who watched this film did so because they enjoy seeing people being tortured, but rather because they were curious.

Story

Two rather perverted young men and a shy-guy who seems uncomfortable around women are off back-packing around Europe. Sounds exciting? Well, for men, I guess. They start out in Amsterdam, staying in cheap hostels and going out for late nights of clubbing and sex. Or at least for two of them, anyway. Then they meet a man who knows of a Hostel in Slovakia, in a place where the women adore Americans and will do anything for them, absolutely anything. After showing some pictures on his mobile phone, he has convinced them that the place is a must-see on their tour, so they head straight out on a train heading East.

They are stunned by what looks to them more like a five star hotel, with the sexiest women on Earth, who really do like them. It all seems far too good to be true. One guy even comments "we'll never leave this place," but sadly he has no idea how true that actually may be. After the shy-guy finally comes out of his shell, he and his fellow American friend spend a night in the room with two of the Slovakian women, whilst their Icelandic friend is still out having fun with a Japanese girl, supposedly. The next day they awaken to find that their friend has checked out early and apparently left town with the girl, leaving no message or explanation. An angry friend of the Japanese is also left puzzled by their sudden disappearance. They want to stay on, but something is just not right, and the behaviour of some of the locals becomes very strange., especially when they spot someone wearing a jacket exactly the same as their friend's.

Perhaps it would have been wiser to get out of that place, but perhaps they would not have had any choice, but as you can doubtlessly predict, the film takes a horrific turn when the trio find themselves imprisoned in a torture site. Why have they been taken? Why are these people trying to make them suffer and kill them and what is it that they want? All these questions and more must be running through their heads, but it looks like there are no answers and no escape.

Below I will explain why this film had some very disappointing points. However I do think for a horror movie, this ticked some of the boxes for my preferences. It does actually end up leaving you asking questions, even wondering why you were actually attracted to watch it in the first place. Strange as it may sound, that impressed me. Whatever genre, I like a film that makes me think. While this film had yet another tacky appeal that I picture greasy teenagers with apple pies on their laps getting excited watching, it also turned out to have some interesting twists. I had already made up my mind what I thought was going to happen, and I was wrong. I like that. But more so, I realised at the end of the film that (I am not moved easily by horrors) the only thing that really disturbed me, and may leave you with some less-than comfortable thoughts when watching was how I felt after seeing the ending.

Acting/Characters

Generally I felt that the acting was up to the standard I would expect from this kind of film. At times the characters were a little irritating but I think this is intentional. The one thing we do not want from a horror film is to like the characters too much. I have to admit I am not familiar with any of the cast, or at least if I have seen any of the actors in other films I have failed to recognise them. In a way, this is sometimes quite refreshing as I do get tired of seeing the same people playing the same kinds of characters in slightly different films. In this sense, the film is quite unique. However, it also means it took me a little longer than usual to get into the film and pick up on which character is which, or to work out what they are about.

The three main characters, our backpacking group, are Paxton (Jay Hernandez), Josh (Derek Richardson) and Oli (Eythor Gudjonsson). One of the girls they meet in Slovakia is called Natalya (Barbara Nedeljakova) and she plays quite a significant role. I also felt that she was the better actress and was more memorable than some of the others. Her character also seemed a little more consistent. Often in horror films, characters will suddenly reveal their true personalities in order to shock the audience, but eventually this starts to look a bit too far-fetched. I did think that the backpackers on the other hand did change quite suddenly and this made the film a little confusing. They seem to grow rather rapidly through the film.

There appeared to be quite a few things in the film that could have been of some significance but then amounted to nothing. Admittedly I have not seen the sequel and this may explain them, but I like to believe that I should only have to watch the one film without remembering things that make no sense and wondering why they were put in the movie. So for instance, the backpackers meet a man on a train who shows them a photo of his daughter, then one of the guys also talks about his own family. I had thought this would become a clue to something important later, but actually it did not seem to lead to anything. Then one of the backpackers talks about a tragedy that has left him feeling full of guilt for years, but again this does not seem to come up again. These scenes were also weird because it was like a lame attempt to give the characters a bit more of a human touch - they like to go out, do drugs and have sex with lots of women but hey, they still have feelings, somewhere in another life. It was simply not convincing.

Sex/Nudity

These days I am not so easily offended, nor easily surprised. I started to feel a little ashamed actually, when I realised a few minutes in, that I had sat there watching what to me is just soft porn without even feeling embarrassed, uncomfortable or the need to quickly strike up conversation. Perhaps because my mind was preoccupied with why my socks have become itchy - was it washing powder? I do apologise for drifting, but my point is that basically I was a bit bored, switched off and just watched as though it were the start of a long-running soap. This is what did really disappointment me, and make me think perhaps this film was not going to be one I'd enjoy at all. I will always insist that this kind of crap should be reserved for films claiming to be porn, so that people who WANT to watch it can and the rest of us don't have to. It really annoys me that people can't seem to make anything these days without thinking they need to 'spice it up' with a bit of nudity. Especially if that's all there is to it. For the first part of the film, there was absolutely nothing worth watching. I half wish we'd skipped to the middle of the film just to save those thirty minutes, or whatever, of my life.

Then comes the violence…

This is a horror film, and frankly it would be rather naïve to think that it could go without the odd bloody, violent or gruesome scene. I'm afraid it comes with the package. However, I can understand that some people are more uncomfortable with certain types of violence. If that is so, this most probably is not the film for you. It is not so much that the violence is not relevant or necessary in the film, because as I say, this is a horror movie, so it most certainly is. It's just that by the very nature of the film, it has scenes of full blown torture, picking the sorts of things people would look at and say, "damn, that must really hurt." There are also scenes that might put you off your dinner, or leave you feeling quite queasy. This is definitely not a film for the faint-hearted.

Soundtrack

To be honest the music was nothing memorable - just your typical teeny-bop film type rock music. There are lots of club scenes where clubbing music takes over, except that this was mostly mixed in with Eastern European style music. I didn't feel it did the film any favours and much of it sounded quite outdated and apart from songs in different language, nothing special. If it was the kind of music playing in a club whilst I was on holiday, I would have walked out, because it was, frankly, lousy pop music.

Silence seems much more effective in the torture scenes, especially when the room is completely dark, and then all you can hear are the terrified sobs coming from the guy that is about to be killed. I'm not giving away much here, because this is the scene that was used in the trailers I saw. Although I have to admit it was more effective within the film than on the advertisements. Sometimes suspense-style music makes a film seem scarier, and I usually find that quite irritating. In this film, however, it is used more sparingly and therefore has less of an impact. I don't think this film is really meant to be a hide-behind-the-sofa type scary film, but rather one that makes you sympathise with its victims.

Graphics

The film has avoided the cosmetic appearances of most American films, at least in one way. The scenery generally looks more how you might expect it to in reality, at least from my point of view. I've been to Amsterdam - I don't remember it like this but I did not see the types of areas this film showed and I would expect a late night in a dodgy side of town to be like it was in this film, whatever the country. As for Slovakia, I've never been there. I have been only to the Czech Republic and that I am told is quite a different place - although I noted some similarity in the brightly coloured rooftops if the buildings shown in Slovakia (not saying this is where it was actually filmed as I do not know - feel free to comment if you do as I'd be interested to know). I've been also to Bulgaria, which may be further out but also bears some similarity to this film.

One of the things that annoys me about films of this type usually, is that the picture is so dark for so long, you start to wonder what exactly is going on, and end up feeling quite frustrated that you can barely see a thing. Alright, I appreciate there may be some artistic effectiveness where the characters are not meant to be able to see fully what is going on, and the intention is to put us in their shoes. But I think this effect should be used minimally. There were a few scenes like this, but everything is revealed to you quite quickly after, so you are not completely 'left in the dark.' Actually the thing I did find frustrating is that I take things in a little slower than most people, and most of the crucial scenes are quite fast moving, so several times I was tempted to ask my friend to pause and rewind back a step or two.

Classification

This film is rated 18, and rightly so. All the sex scenes in the first part of the film warrant this alone. There are also scenes of taking drugs, although very brief. But I think this film could also prove harmful to younger audiences. Someone said on the news a while back that these days young people don't seem to realise how much harm is actually done by stabbing someone, however small the wound may seem. This film is yet another that I think seems to reinforce this idea. I must also point out that one character sustains a very serious injury to his hand, yet this seems to be forgotten once hidden and I find myself yet again wondering how someone who ought to be losing blood rapidly and going into shock can be walking around quite normally. Even the healthiest of people surely have limits? I suppose the film is not meant to be completely realistic, but that in itself worries me, because the younger generations are beginning to believe it.

Conclusion

My opinion on horror films generally is that they are never worth watching twice, and this one for me definitely fits that rule. Having been very disappointed with the beginning of the film, I was not sure this would be one I would have been glad to pay to see at the cinema at the time of its release. Contrary to my comments earlier and something I said to my friend about never wanting to watch a film until I've at least seen something about it to give me an idea of whether I like it or not, from what I remember of the trailer, the film could have disappointed me had I watched it back then. It is neither a great film, nor an insult to the industry. It is not particularly original but does have some interesting twists that are quite new to me. It is not a deep or meaningful film but you will remember it. I actually can't help but think that some of the jokes made about the film may even have been inspired by what people thought after seeing the whole film and taking in its message. 

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