Great Horror - Better Than You'd Expect

Rating: 8/10 (23 January 2006)

I saw this movie on Quentin Tarantino's recommendation alone - apparently the previews of it scared my entire friend network and family away. Everyone said 'too gross!' 'too scary!' which I think are perfectly great reasons to see a horror flick. Having read many interviews with Tarantino, one of which in Fangoria, I figured he has similar tastes with me and so I figure if he's presenting, I'm paying to see it on the big screen.
Hostel starts out with three friends (two American, one Icelandic) staying at a hostel in Amsterdam. Sex, drugs, and jokes ensue. Actually, the portrayal of the American post-undergrads is one of the better representations I've seen. Usually the kids are really dumb and all cookie-cutter the same, so it was refreshing to see some 'kids' that I probably would have known in college.
I should warn the set-up to the gore and horror is slow-coming because I think Roth really wants you to like his characters. I didn't find the beginning set up to drag at all but I know many horror fans will because they want to see the violence right off the bat.
When the gore and horror do begin, they don't disappoint. Following a promise for some of the sexiest and easiest women in the world, the trio travel to a Slovakia hostel where they have a pretty good time before one of them disappears. What is this place and why are they killing kids!? I already knew because I'd seen Tarantino and Roth interviewed on late night. If you know the basic premise it will be pretty easy to figure out what's going on.
The gore is EXCELLENT and EXPERTLY done. I'd like to consider myself a connoisseur of horror make-up and this was perfect for me. Not too over-the-top, not to stingy. If you were disappointed in not seeing anything sawed off in 'Saw' then watch this! Also to note there are many Tarantinio directorial touches in the film...it's like he said 'Eli wouldn't it be great if you did this with that shot....etc.' So well directed is what I'm saying - great camera work was done.
The movies' ending took a bit of an unexpected turn for me but that is because I was expecting something really wacky for an ending (Roth did do 'Cabin Fever'...) but there is no wackiness there..actually it's pretty damn serious.
The acting was pretty good for a group of unknowns (and thank god they didn't use another B-list TV star, getting SICK of that!).
If you're going to see a horror movie on the big screen, this is the one to see. I'm glad I took Quentin's recommendation.