Review for Hostel

Rating: 10/10 (8 November 2005)

I thought I would do an informal review of the midnight screening of HOSTEL in Canada. Eli Roth and some of the actors were in attendance as Eli spent about 15 minutes prior to screening not only introducing the film, but also creating the atmosphere for all in attendance. He spoke of the decline of American horror films with specific references to House of Wax and Exorcism of Emily Rose and how American horror films are not "ON PAR" with the Japanese and South Korean horror films. Eli said that HE wanted to change American horror films and finally put America back on the map to compete against the South Koreans and Japanese horror film markets.
The midnight screening of HOSTEL played to a sold out crowd as every single seat in the Varsity 413 seat cinema was filled. After the Movie There was a 30 min Q&A session, At which an audience member called Eli Roth "a sick motherf***cker to his face" to which he thanked him and began to answer his question.
Now on to the review:
Hostel is truly ground breaking in the horror American film genre. This is no PG-13 horror,but this movie definitely will get an NC-17 rating from the MPAA. This film IS "on par" with some of the South Korean horror (Oldboy, Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance) and also some of Takeshi Mike's films (Audition, Ichi the Killer).In fact Takeshi Mike makes a small cameo in this movie which was treated with applause from the audience.
The first 20 minutes of Hostel is slow as it tries to establish the feel and mood of the film. The film starts off in Amsterdam and slowly reaches its way to Bratislav , Prague. Essentially there are lots of breasts, and lots of nudity
After the first 20 minutes, be prepared to be disgusted, surprised, and be sweating in your seats. This movie is NOT for a young audience nor is it for teenagers. The rest of the movie which comprises of 2 fairly long torture scenes that I had to close my eyes is very graphic being both Gory and very violent.Also the tension is just supernal, i will briefly describe the tension scenes as follows ****SPOILER*** There are 2 scenes in the movie (just before the torture in the chairs)in which the audience only sees a black screen but can hear heavy breathing, heavy panting as the incumbent is tied up in the chair just waiting for his executioner. The other scene consists of a person just waking up from a coma, however, the camera switches to the perspective of the person in the chair. Therefore,offering only glimpses of the tools that are about to used in his execution. Excellent technique used by Eli Roth as both of these scene created tension within the movie****SPOILER FINISHED****
The film is beautiful to look at, as the scenery (around Bratislav) is almost breathtaking. The main bulk of the film happens in almost like a basement / dungeon-like setting. Eli presents his surroundings in a very scary way. So scary, that after the film,this movie still makes the hairs on your neck stand on end.
There's not much else I can say about the film without spoiling any other parts. This is a major step forward for both the filmmaker Eli Roth and the American horror Genre as most of the light hearted humor portions that were contained in Cabin Fever are taken out in replacement for very tense, gory action / torture / horror sequences.
Again this is definitely a hard R or NC-17 rated film aimed at adults ranging from 23-35.Most women would be disgusted or horrified by the amount of violence portrayed in this film. After I watched this film, all I could think of was the Sound Of Music to try and get this film out of my head. It was that disturbing!!
During the Q&A session, one audience member asked about the MPAA rating for this film. Eli responded by saying "He feels like the person in the torture chair at the moment as the film has already been submitted to the MPAA and he's just waiting to hear back with their answer" Eli also mentioned that we (the audience) should comment and write on websites to protect the director's cut version of the film and make sure that the version of HOSTEL we see in theaters will be the directors cut with either a Hard R rating or an NC-17 rating. Eli also said that Harry gave him the idea to make this movie based on a website that Harry provided Eli i would love to know the Url but i guess we will never know.
All in all the movie is great and most certainly keeps you on the edge of your seat both due to atmosphere and visual gore, I personally would put this movie on my favorites list of the year, this certainly is one to watch with the Guys. Don't take a first date as the chances are she will slap your face and walk out