Dull

Rating: 1/10 (6 January 2006)

I can't believe the amount of positive feedback this boring little yawn is getting. It amazes me that people think this is extreme or depraved or graphic or twisted. The first half plays like a toned down American Pie movie, and then the rest consists of people looking for their friends, giving gum to dirty street children, looking for their friends again, giving more gum to dirty street children then being subjected to unimaginative and laughable attempts at "extreme" and "hardcore" torture. Yes. Cringe as someone gets a drill in the leg. Gasp as fingers fall off. Scream in terror as a neck is cut. Sure, in real life this would be terrible, but in cinema, in a movie backed by Tarantino and Miike and Peter Jackson, it's just pathetic. If this is as sick as Mr. Roth can get, then he needs to start stealing from some other movies. I almost wonder if Miike cameoed in this flick just to make fun of poor little Roth and his sad attempts at being wild. Though I suppose one could say that Hostel is kind of cute for trying so hard to rip off better movies, like a child imitating Jack the ripper. This had the potential for greatness, but in the hands of Eli Roth and his inability to be creative in any possible way, it's just a dumb waste of time.