That was intense

Rating: 8/10 (11 June 2006)

I had to check spoilers since I couldn't resist reviewing this without giving some parts away, but I have not given everything away - perhaps just a little more than one might take from the previews. Read at your own risk.
I watched the preview for this movie and put off watching it until I was in the right mood. If Quentin Tarantino hadn't been involved in some way I probably would have given it a miss, but even though I still didn't think I was up for seeing graphic scenes of sadistic torture, I couldn't resist watching it.
The first half hour sets up the main characters, 2 Americans partying in Amsterdam with a guy from Iceland they just met. They're into normal stuff like getting stoned and getting laid. On the advice of a stranger, they head off to Slovakia where the girls are hot for foreigners.
As soon as they arrive, you get the sense that something isn't right (of course, I suppose the previews helped with that). The scenery is what you'd expect from an Eastern European country behind the former Iron Curtain, very industrial, very bleak, but then they find their oasis, a hostel with hot chicks, a spa, a disco....they're in heaven.
Then each morning, they wake up to find that one of them is missing and they can't get in touch with them, first the Icelander, then one of the Americans. We are shown some of what happens to the victims, and while it was hard to watch because of the torture/gore factor, most of it is actually left up to the imagination of the viewer.
I was reminded of the torture scene in Reservoir Dogs as one of the victims sat helplessly in a chair in anticipation of what was surely to come, but as Tarantino points out in the commentary for that film, they never actually show the graphic brutality of the cops ear getting cut off - different torture here, but again, they don't actually show that although the build-up and the aftermath make your imagination fill in all the blanks so you feel as though you had.
Do not be misled by these comparisons to Reservoir Dogs though - the 2 movies are nothing alike beyond what I've already mentioned. Hostel is definitely more graphic. I do have to agree with the poster who said this was more of a thriller than a horror flick. The horror is contained and once the lone survivor escapes, there is suspense as he tries to get away from the Slovakian mob which has obviously enlisted the police in their efforts.
I see the movie in 3 parts, the setup introducing the characters and how they get into the situation the movie is about, the terror, and the escape. The escape is what really saved this movie from being a torture/horror flick - it wasn't like so many horror films where the "escape" consists of the final 3-4 minutes.