A Good Horror Movie - But A Disappointment

Rating: Null/10 (29 June 2006)

Eli Roth has joined forces with Quentin Tarantino for the follow up to his rather awesome debut, "Cabin Fever". If the Tarantino involvement was not warning enough that the film would be crap, the internet buzz surrounding Hostel has been almost deafening, with 12 year olds across America loudly claiming it to be the most gory horror film they have ever seen. To cut to the chase - Hostel is not particularly gory or disturbing. It is, however, a decent mainstream American horror film that showcases Roth's obvious ability and potential.
Roth's debut was one of the most humorous and ironic horror films to be released in the past few years. I'm usually not a fan of comedic horror but "Cabin Fever" is funny in such a subversive manner that it almost created its own sub-genre. One of the first things that becomes apparent on viewing Hostel is that Roth has ditched the humour for a more straightforward approach. This seems to be in line with the film's obvious aim of returning to the aesthetics of the genre and exploitation classics of the 1970s, where the violence is sadistic and often interspersed with gratuitous sex and nudity. This lofty goal is noble indeed, however, despite a promising beginning, the film never quite achieves what it sets out to.
The premise of Hostel is inspired. The idea of an organisation which sells rich businessmen the opportunity to kill tourists, who have been rounded up in a local hostel, is just twisted enough to be plausible. The film begins promisingly, like a slightly more explicit version of a National Lampoons movie. Travel plans quickly change when the main characters learn of a Hostel in Bratislava full of beautiful, seemingly amoral women. Josh, Paxton and Oli leave Amsterdam quicker than you can say "buy some condoms" and arrive in Slovakia ready to party. Once in Bratislava the blood finally begins to flow. However, much to my disappointment, the results are far less gruesome and far more Hollywood than imagined.
For all the talk of the "cutting edge" violence and sadism, most of the action occurs off screen. In fact, most of the gore is pretty lame. The film only comes close to its goal of hardcore gore during the torture scenes, which by American horror standards are reasonably graphic. The eyeball cutting scene is great and there is something about the misuse of power drills that does it for me every time. That said, anyone who has sat through Asian nasties like "Naked Blood" or "Daughter Of Darkness" will be scratching their heads at all the fuss. And I really hate to think what Hostel haters would make of "Red Room" or, heaven forbid, some "Extreme Measures" filth.
It is not only the tepid violence that irritated me, but also the incredibly stupid turn of events that sees Paxton turn into some kind of teen Rambo, all the while looking like a Backstreet Boy. Jay Hernandez just doesn't cut it as an heroic figure. He looks like he would be more comfortable on the set of "That's So Raven". His transformation makes the entire last third of film incredibly annoying. No wonder the Bubble Gum Gang left Paxton in peace; they probably mistook him for one of their own. The other lead, Derek Richardson, while hampered by his whiny and insipid character, is at least more credible than Hernandez. The real acting is left to Jan Vlasak, who makes a very creepy Dutch businessman and Rick Hoffman, a highlight as a psychotic American customer.
Despite my gripes, which admittedly have more to do with the way the film has been promoted than with the film itself, Hostel is a very good horror film. The premise works and there are shocks and disturbing moments aplenty. The violence, while not as explicit as the hype would have you believe, is still strong in comparison to most of the stupid fluff that passes for horror movies in America. The combination of sex, nudity and violence is also a nice nod to the more adventurous Euro-schlock that Hostel so desperately tries to imitate. Most impressively, Roth's vision and direction is not impinged by Tarantino's sometimes overbearing presence. Eli Roth is clearly a man with huge potential. Hopefully next time around he will stick to guns and forgo the Hollywood ending.