Your stock is rising Mr Roth

Rating: 7/10 (8 March 2006)

Hostel.
Having seen the trash that was Cabin Fever, I was quite worried that Hostel would be a disappointment, I'm glad to say that on the contrary it wasn't.
The film starts off innocent enough, 3 backpackers touring Europe looking for some hedonistic fun (and lots of sex!) and who wouldn't? Being an ex-backpacker myself I can relate to their early experience entirely! One night they meet a dark and mysterious character in Amsterdam who tells them that if they are looking for beautiful girls and lots of them they should head out to a Hostel near Bratislava, which is in Slovakia if you don't know.
So they do and after a strange incident with a man on the train they go to the Hostel and start having lots of the kind of fun you might expect.
Soon though, things begin to take on a more sinister and very gory turn.
Just to warn you, i have seen some very gory films and I actually felt physically sick watching this one.
I am impressed with the quality of Roth's film-making here, as in Cabin Fever he uses a slightly skewed take on the horror genre, going for real suspense. Instead of the usual bad guy hunting down the teenagers, there is a real mystery about this film right up until the last few acts.
But don't worry, I hear Slovakia really is a lovely place...