Excellent premise, and excellent failure

Rating: 3/10 (6 January 2006)

Wow, what potential this film had! Billed as "the most terrifying American movie in a decade," "Hostel" had all the marketing savvy to lead me to believe I was in for one helluva ride. Alas, this was not to be the case; sorry to say, considering the interesting premise. Incidentally, the pseudo-retro "it's only a movie" campaign is nothing more than a con job.
From the seemingly endless beginning leading up to "the action," to the failure to make me give a damn about any of the leading characters, to the MILDLY satisfying ending, "Hostel" left me secure in the knowledge that once again, I'd allowed myself to get suckered out of $10 and 1 hour and 50minutes of my life. I should have known right from the credits - "Quentin Tarantino presents..." (when there are, indeed, TWO additional producers) - that this whole project was your typical Hollywood bait-and-switch. And incidentally, even if Roth had been allowed to retain every frame of violence shot, his inability to build suspense renders this footage, and this film, completely ineffective.
What makes the failure of this film all the more tragic is that Roth does succeed in two or three oh-so-fleeting moments to genuinely terrify. Without citing spoilers, allow me to say that these brief moments demonstrate that he's paid attention at some point to an important lesson or two.
I just have to throw this in....I didn't know precisely what would happen during the course of this film. I knew the general premise, and that pretty much interested me in seeing this, no matter WHAT the marketing campaign had to say. As hard as I tried, I simply could NOT care about the characters, sympathize with their fear and plight, let go of the plot holes or suspend disbelief.
Now on the other hand, Marcus Nispel's remake of "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" had the completely opposite effect on me. Going in, I knew exactly what would happen - almost frame-by-frame. So much so, that I was all but convinced I was wasting my time. However (and what a pleasant however this is), Marcus succeeded in scaring that daylights out of me, and without nearly the gore Roth felt compelled to use. The secret? Suspense and artistry. "Chainsaw" had me completely hooked on every level - visually, aurally & viscerally. I remember walking out of that picture, and calling everyone I knew to just say "hi!".
Now THAT was a horror movie. "Hostel," unfortunately, pales in comparison.