Enjoyable, but Eli Roth could have pushed it further.

Rating: 7/10 (28 October 2008)

Half silly sex farce and half gore-fest, Hostel is unworthy of the hype and controversy it received upon release. It starts excellently, mysteriously and impressively, before descending into clichéd American's in Amsterdam, looking for sex and drugs. Sure, this does provide us with plenty of boob action, but it does little to develop this characters beyond mere caricature. This first section drags, and it's only when the gruesome moments start coming that Hostel springs to life. Sliced ankles, severed fingers and pus-oozing eyeballs are just some of the lovely images you can feast on. Eli Roth intended to push audiences to their limit with this film, "torture-porn", but there's not nearly enough gory or inventive moments to make Hostel overly memorable, nor was I ever truly on the edge of my seat with my hands over my eyes. That being said, it is a great idea for a film and it does have it moments, but I just wish Roth had pushed it even further. Perhaps the sequel will impress me more. Your better off watching the first couple of Saw films, for a more inventive take on the "torture-porn" sub-genre.