another view

Rating: 8/10 (1 February 2006)

I think Hostel is a bit more subtle than some have given it credit for.
***spoiler First, it can't be a coincidence that the whole torture Americans thread appears in the context of our current political climate. Also, it seems fitting that the character some are calling a "hero" in the movie gets away partly because he knows a foreign language and is able to kindle the additional sympathy of his torturer. I don't think we're necessarily supposed to feel any more sympathetic toward him than we do toward his friends--it just happens that his slightly wider world knowledge helps save him.
***spoiler Next, I think the scene in which the American businessman preparing to torture a victim talks to the "hero" is far and away the best part of the movie. The guy is just creepy. But believable. I consider this in some ways a Tarantino touch, evoking the great rants some of his famous characters go on in other films. It also reminds me (a comparison I have not seen elsewhere) of American Psycho. In this case, the theme of the psychotic American businessman driven to murder by the emptiness of his existence is drastically downplayed, but it IS there. It would not have taken much for Roth, should he have wanted to, to turn this film into a more explicitly powerful social/political/economic commentary. Whether it was Tarantino or Roth who is ultimately responsible for this touch (the businessman) I am not sure.
***spoiler (kind of) Finally, there has been a lot of debate about whether it is worse to actually see violence (drills going into legs, etc.) or to be left to imagine the worst. This film basically takes the latter approach. Personally I am divided about the issue. In the end, though, I think this one would have been a bit more effective had the torture been more directly shown.
This can't compare to some of the TRULY sick films that have been made (Sado, Cannibal Holocaust), but I think it's as disturbing in its way as the re-make of Texas Chainsaw or either of the Saw films.