Horror that sends a message

Rating: 8/10 (9 January 2006)

When I first saw the preview for this film, I said to my guy "this looks like "Saw", and he agreed.
Plot: Three single men, two American and one Icelandic travel to Amsterdam, Netherlands to get their freak on. When they return to their hostel, the manager locks them out because he will not let anyone in after midnight. In need of a place to rest, they manage to bunk at some other guys place. He tells them if they want to get freaky with a lot girls, Slovakia is where they should go. However little do they know, they are in for a real deadly surprise.
A lot of horror films have either he same plot or the same feel so that is why the movie is a bit cliché. While writer/director Eli Roth takes bits and pieces from other films like the two American backpackers ("An American Werewolf in London", "Eurotrip"), the Hotel ("Psycho"), the wax museum ("Tourist Trap","House of Wax"), the body parts ("Body Shop"/"Dr. Gore"), he shows the viewer that the women are smarter than the men, and how some serial killers are sexually turned on by the murder and torture. In this film Slovakian businessmen decide that instead of selling woman for sex, they will sell humans for dismemberment. The males will be sold to the homosexual men, and the females to the heterosexual men.
The movie starts off very slow and sluggish to the point where it is just boring. Where is the horror and suspense? It is at the middle, close to the end of the film. What happened? I read an article that an "NC-17" rating was supposed to be given but there was a lot of editing done to make the film "R" rated. There seemed to be too much editing, but there was still plenty of blood and guts to go around. Moreover like in "An American Werewolf in London", there is some dark humor. However, If you are a real horror fan, then wait for the directors cut. Also if you are a new horror buff, check out any Alfred Hitchcok film and see where it all began.
If you decide to see it in the theater be warned that what ever you do, don't eat popcorn or anything during or before this film.