Great Movie, Very Underrated

Rating: 9/10 (26 July 2006)

I agree with much of what nowonmai42 said, but I choose to celebrate those things about the film, rather than dismiss it. It seems, perhaps unsurprisingly, that this is a very polarizing movie; you either connect with it or you don't. To correct one of the observations though, Paxton does know that the Dutch Businessman hacked up Josh, he sees him "operating" on Josh as Paxton is being dragged into the warehouse.
Yes Roth has made an unpleasant film, with unpleasant characters. (If you saw Cabin Fever, you know that that is quickly becoming a trademark of his.) That's the point, and that's why I enjoyed it. Truthfully, like many others, I actually expected to see more violence than there was (although I'm sure I'm not alone in saying the tendon-cutting scene and the eyegasm scene will stay with me for a while.) Roth has made a small triumph here in three ways:
1. I'll never forget the headline in I believe it was Entertainment Weekly: "We're All Going to Hell: Hostel Beats Narnia At The Box Office." In a way, it reminded me of 15 years ago, when Nirvana knocked Michael Jackson out of the top spot on the Billboard album chart: It's nice to see the little guys win. Roth has created quite a sensation on a $5 million budget. Nice job. Especially in a year of bad remakes and overblown sequels.
2. Like Romero's NOLD movies, he's made a satire full of social commentary. And, I think that this film just might have similar staying power-- like the original Texas Chainsaw, I wouldn't be surprised to see its cult status elevated through the years.
3. As unpleasant as the film is, it does have a "happy" ending-- Paxton is redeemed by saving the girl-- something he couldn't do for the drowning girl when he was younger-- she turns around and saves his life, and he gets to avenge his friend's killers. Which may be why Tarantino signed off on it-- Pulp Fiction was really all about Butch and Jules' redemption, And Kill Bill was about Beatrix getting her revenge and getting her daughter back. Violence aside, these are redemption films.
All in all, the surprise of the year for me, so far.