2 Americans and one Islandic backpacker are in Amsterdam and get locked out from the hostel they're staying at. They are invited to a guys house who tells them about a hostel in Slovakia where the women are beyond beautiful, and that they are specially into American men. So of course these three horny guys set out to find the hostel, but when they do, it's not exactly what they first thought it would be like.
Hostel is one of those movies that you got to hear a lot about before it actually came out, same with director Eli Roth's previous movie Cabin Fever. There has been a lot of talk about how gruesome and gory this flick would be etc, so of course the expectations when finally getting to see the movie were, not through the roof, but still pretty high. Having high expectations is always a negative thing and has once again proven to be. This does of course not mean that the movie is bad, but to be honest, I was definitely expecting a hell of a lot more.
So these 3 guys go backpacking through a stereotype Europe, and the first half hour or so mostly deals with girls, sex and these guys hormones. This is kind of a drag to watch and is just completely braindead, but you know things are not gonna stay that way for long, and they don't either. Even if the first half hour or so is a part of the story and definitely needs to be there, it still feels like a filler. The dialogue is nonsense, and so is the little humour that it has as well. But hang in there, because things are about to change.
Then it takes a turn for the better or the worse (depending on how you see it), and the movie finally takes off and gives you something that makes you wanna keep watching. The boys end up at a hostel in Slovakia, hook up with some girls, and suddenly the first guy goes missing. Soon the second guy goes missing as well, and the third guy is the only one of the 3 that we get to follow the movie throughout. They came there to meet girls, but there was another reason for why they were told of the place.
The story sounds very simple, and while it is, it still has a bit more to it than what you first would think. I can't tell you what though since that would ruin the whole movie experience for you if you have not yet seen Hostel.
So what about the gore? I expected Hostel to have tons of utterly gory scenes, but ended up feeling kinda cheated and disappointed at the same time. The gore and blood is definitely there, combined with terror and intensity, but it's not nearly as much as I first had thought it would be. There are a few scenes which are a bit gruesome, but if you're a horror fan and have seen tons of horror flicks, it's really nothing new or sensational, even though it's quite cool. Why I felt a bit cheated was simply because you had to sit through all the pointless crap in the beginning of the movie, and when the nasty stuff finally began, it wasn't as nasty as one would've hoped for. But I also definitely have myself to blame, since I read and listened a lot to what other people said about the movie, and that raised my expectations way too much.
Even though Hostel has a running time of 95 minutes, it still felt a bit too short. I was actually surprised over the fact how soon it was over, and it felt like another half hour wouldn't have done any harm. Maybe this was because it actually takes a while before something really happens, and when it does, it's over a bit too quickly. Still, it's very intense for a while and during that time, the movie is just great.
Last but not least, the acting is totally ok, not great, but can't really complain either. There are a lot of unknown East European actors who do a pretty good job as well. Also, Hostel has a quick cameo by Takashi Miike, who we get to see for a few seconds, it's nothing special but still somewhat cool.
Sorry to say, but Hostel was not nearly as good as I had hoped for. I really wanted to like this movie, but the horrible first half hour was just a drag and the gore was somewhat of a let-down. Still, it was entertaining and featured some really good stuff as well. Even if it wasn't that great, I'm still actually glad I got to see it since, among the bad, it also has many great things to offer. One thing I will do though, is that I'm gonna re-watch Hostel later on because, just like with Cabin Fever, I think this is a movie that'll grow on you, and that keeps getting better the more you watch it. If you're a horror fan, Hostel is a definite must see, but don't read up too much on it before viewing it.
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ALTERNATIVE TITLE:
MOVIE YEAR: 2005
DIRECTOR: Eli Roth
WRITING CREDITS: Eli Roth
GENRE: Horror
CAST: Jay Hernandez, Derek Richardson, Barbara Nedeljakova
COUNTRY: USA
RUNTIME: 95 min
RATING: 7/10
Hostel Website/IMDB Click here
Hostel Trailer Click here
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