"Hostel" could substitute as an I.Q. test with results proportional to enjoyment.

Rating: 1/10 (1 April 2008)

I cannot say enough how shocked I am that Eli Roth is receiving such acclaim as "the future of horror." Roth manages to deceive his audience in the worst kind of way. This film barely gets by as a bad softcore porn for the first hour or so, but then, "oh wait, look, it is horror," as the viewer is "held in suspense" over the fate of characters we don't give a crap about anyway. Poor gross out effects then pass off as thrills, carrying us through to the end of a film whose target audience is most likely operating with a lowered attention span. Go see "Texas Chainsaw Massacre," old or new, or any of the "Saw" films, as titles from either of these series exponentially outclass the miserable attempt "Hostel" makes at sadistic terror and gore.