Nerve-grinding HORROR!

Rating: 10/10 (6 January 2006)

Director Eli Roth returns to the horror scene with this horrifically shocking and daring film that makes Roth's earlier film, the outrageous Cabin Fever (2003), look like a light-weight thriller!
Two American students traveling across Europe fall into the clutches of a sadistic madman and his colleagues who make a business out of violently torturing people.
Completely merciless in its brutality and tension, Hostel is Roth's most mature film thus far. Roth's story is well-written with a great set-up and a plot that builds suspense and spirals into madness and extreme violence. To say it's a film that's gripping and edgy is a real understatement! The gore FX are as bloody as can be, producing plenty of truly disturbing (if not downright sickening) images. I couldn't imagine what would have been cut from this film to get an R rating. This is what we horror fans have come to expect from Eli Roth though, and he more than delivers the horrific goods in this film, he pushes the envelope plenty. Roth also adds a strong sense of the erotic, adding lots of nudity. All the while, Roth does excellent direction with great locations, atmosphere, and well-done intensity. Kudos also go to the great soundtrack of European rock songs.
The cast is perfectly good, and often rather bold. The best of them are Jay Hernandez and Derek Richardson as the ill-fated American youths.
Once again Eli Roth has delivered excellent old-school horror that pulls out all the stops and gives us horror fans the strong stuff that we need! For the hard-core horror fans only.
*** 1/2 out of ****