Disturbing and shocking film.

Rating: Null/10 (9 January 2006)

Hostel(2005)
Starring: Jay Hernandez as Paxton Derek Richardson as Josh Eythor Gudjonsson as Oli Jan Vlasak as The Dutch Businessman
Plot: Three backpackers are making their way through Europe, partaking in the sex and drugs in countries like Amsterdam. They are soon told of a Slovakian city where they can pay for anything they want from the girls. They soon become victims of a group called "Elite Hunting" in which innocent people are captured and then tortured and killed by paying customers.
Hostel is an interesting movie. It is directed by Eli Roth, the guy who made Cabin Fever(a movie I loved). This movie had a lot of pressure to deliver I thought. They went and attached Quentin Tarantino's name to it as a producer, talked up how "shocking" it was and made it seem like Horror's second coming. So naturally it had to deliver or would be considered a huge disappointment, correct? Well I'm happy to report that despite being over-hyped, Hostel does come through and bring the goods in disturbing fashion.
This movie lives up to it's exploitation image that the trailers were trying to portray, I thought. There's lots of partying in the beginning which equals lots of drug use and nudity in general. This lets your guard down for what happens later. The whole thing had a sense of dread throughout, especially in the beginning when the characters are having so much fun and you know that something bad is going to happen to them.
Then when the horror finally hits we are treated to lots and lots of gore. Severed heads, slashes with scalpels, nasty cuts, severed fingers, cut up bodies, sick hammer shots in which we see a skull cave in, chainsaw action, severed leg, gunshots, people run over, lots of vomiting and more. I haven't even gone into the eyeball scene, which was just so gross it was unbelievable this got an R-cut. I find it odd how people complained about lack of gore when there was just enough in the right amounts here. So in terms of brutality it certainly lives up to how it was played up.
None of the torture would mean a damn thing if we didn't care about who it was happening to. Jay Hernandez leads the pack with a good performance as Paxton. He looks genuinely terrified, as opposed to acting like it. And his character even has some decent back story which plays into the decisions he makes. Derek Richardson did good as Josh, and I liked his character. Eythor Gudjonsson played Oli well and he was pretty funny. How could you not love "The King of the Swing"? Jan Vlasak was kind of creepy as the dutch businessman, but that was how he was supposed to be, so good job. The girls in this movie were hot, and that's pretty much all they were in there for.
This movie has some flaws, however. Some of the comedy felt forced. That was part of Roth's problem in Cabin Fever, trying to inject comedy in certain situations where it just didn't work. And in the beginning, we are treated to lots of partying. Then more partying, and more and more and more. I get the fact they wanted to show that these guys are out to party but you know, it just seemed a tad bit repetitive. I wanted to get to what was advertised. Also I'd have to say that parts of the movie were a little predictable, and the ending was anti-climatic. Also, what was up with the kids? I really did not like having them in the movie as this little juvenile gang. Even if I did get where they were going with it, it felt pointless.
Other than some hiccups here and there, Hostel does it's job well. It shocks and scares the audience and while it may have been over-hyped, it still lived up to most expectations I had for it. Plus in addition to being shocking this movie actually was pretty scary, as it sure made me never want to go backpacking in Europe...ever, and the audience I was with was definitely jumping when they needed to, and cringing in their seats during the torture scenes. I definitely recommend seeing it.
Rating: ***1/2 out of *****