Some torture with your room, sir?
 Jul 1st, 2009
Advantages:
Visually attractive in parts, a couple of good performances, torture scenes good
Disadvantages:
Could have been better
Recommendable:
Yes
Detailed rating:
Did you enjoy it?
Story
Characters / Performances
Special Effects
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  sunmeilan
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I've never been a big message leaver, but I would like to thank everyone that has read and rated my ...
Member since:05.05.2005
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Review rated by 46 Ciao members on average: very helpful 
Three backpackers, Americans Paxton and Josh, and Oli from Iceland, are travelling across Europe in search of sex and drugs, when they meet someone who tells them about an almost mythical hostel in Slovakia. There, they are told, they will be able to have anything that they can pay for. Like a shot, they get on the train and arrive, only to find that the hostel is even better than they were expecting - the room they are sharing comes complete with Eastern European beauties. The three have a great evening, full of alcohol, drugs and sex...but when Paxton and Josh wake up the next day, Oli has disappeared. The hostel staff claim he checked out, and they discover that a Japanese tourist has also gone missing. Confused, the two Americans try to forget their troubles, only to find that they are in a lot more trouble than they could ever imagine... My favourite character in the film giving, in my opinion, the best performance, is Josh, played by a relative unknown (at least in the UK), Derek Richardson. Josh is a bit of a geek, albeit a very sweet one. He is definitely the sensible one of the three. Quite how much Derek Richardson is actually acting is hard to tell - he seems so completely at home in the role that he may well just be playing himself. However, he is very good at what he does and I really enjoyed watching him. He also adds a lot of gentle humour to the first part of the film, particularly with regard to
his sexual experiences. My only problem with him is that he wasn't made the lead role - that 'honour' was left to Paxton - which I think was a great shame, because Josh was a far more intriguing character. He also gives a fabulous performance when being tortured - horribly realistic, only partly thanks to the make-up department.
Paxton is played by Jay Hernandez. It is easy to see why he was chosen to play the lead role; out of the three main actors, he is definitely the best looking. Yet I couldn't help but find him rather bland and as he plays a major role in the film, this does have quite a strong impact on the film overall. I wouldn't go as far as to say that I didn't care what happened to him, but I did care a lot more about Josh. Oli is played by Eythor Gudjonsson and does a more than adequate job; like Paxton though, he is a little bland and uninteresting. A couple of other actors merit a mention. Jan Vlasak is good as 'The Dutch Businessman'. He is supposed to be creepy and really is, although we are treated to his more humane side once or twice. Jennifer Lim is also good as the Japanese girl (although her name suggests she is actually Chinese). She really comes into her own towards the end of the film when she is forced to give a really blood-curdling performance. The two girls that Josh and Paxton pull, played by Barbara Nedeljakova and Jana Kaderabkova give reasonable performances, although apart from looking sexy and sullen, depending on the scene they're in, they aren't exactly stretched.
The one thing that everyone will know about this film, even if they haven't seen it, is that there is plenty of sex, nudity and gore. The film can basically be cut into two parts: the first part, where the boys have fun and have sex, and the second, which is a complete gore-fest. After all the hype, I was expecting to be a little bit shocked, at least by the sex, but actually it was fairly ordinary. There is a great deal of nudity, especially female, but although there is a lot of simulated sex, there is nothing in the slightest bit graphic - not even a male full-frontal. Then when the gore starts, the sex stops - so there is not even remotely a cross-over - something that I was slightly concerned about before I watched. The gore is very well-done. It was the little additions that caught my attention - the chopping off of fingers and toes, which has always made me feel a bit ill; the slashing of tendons and the gouging out of eyes. I won't say it was the scariest horror I've even seen, but it did made me flinch once or twice, and considering the amount of horrors I watch, that is no mean feat. The make-up was particularly creative - everything was made to look incredibly realistic and, coupled with the performances, I can quite imagine those not used to horrors being very scared. There is a UK rating of 18 on this film for a very good reason - it is most definitely not one for the kiddies.
I was quite surprised to find that the film was visually very attractive to watch. It begins quite slowly, but once the backpackers reach Slovakia after a rather long and grey trip, they find a beautiful old town with stunning architecture and red roofs. Roth plays on this very well, making it look inviting and fascinating. Then as the situation begins to change, the setting and the background colours begin to change as well, until finally, there is very little colour at all, apart from splashes of blood. It isn't the most creative piece of cinematography I've seen, but it was very attractive to watch and I liked the use of colour. There are a number of special features. Firstly, a string of audio commentaries, mainly with Eli Roth and others - the producer, actors and editor, for example. Then there are three features, which all merge into one anyway, which focuse on the 'behind the scenes' angle. Eli Roth introduces us to the crew and we hear the views of the actors. Best of all, we get to see some of the special effects, which I thought was fascinating; however, it may ruin the film for some who prefer not to know the ins and outs of how the film was made. Then there is a short multi-angle shot of a scene towards the end of the film when a car is smashed up by a gang of boys. I personally didn't see the point of this, but if smashing up cars is your thing, I'm sure you'll enjoy it. Finally there is a collection of trailers for films such as The Da Vinci Code and Freedomland.
I can't believe that this film came out in 2005 and I've only just now got around to watching it in 2009. Then again, the film was so hyped up, and everyone had their own views on it, so I am glad that I was able to wait and watch it with a fairly clear mind. Horror being one of my favourite genres, I knew pretty much what to expect. Plus I've seen Cabin Fever, also directed by Eli Roth - although to be honest, that wasn't much of an advertisement for Hostel. However, while I'm glad I've now seen the film and it does have its strongpoints, it isn't as good as I had hoped, even after removing myself from the hype after four years. It isn't a bad film, but it didn't quite meet my expectations, which is a shame, because it was almost there. If you like horror, it's definitely worth a watch; otherwise, wait until it's on TV. Three stars out of five. The DVD is available from play.com for £3.99.
Classification: 18 Running time: 94 minutes
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02.10.2009 21:44
Another of your finest reviews, an interesting read.
05.07.2009 00:40
I thought the same, as good as it is it doesn't live up to the hype.
03.07.2009 09:24
I've been to Slovakia on two or three occasions and the idea of a creapy hostel is amusing. However I'm afraid that this isn't a film for me - nothing against sex, just hate gore - even in Slovakia! Richard.