Hostel Assault

Rating: 8/10 (7 February 2006)

Hostel makes cinematic history... no other movie has ever had so much graphic torture... clearly groundbreaking.
It begins with a fairly genteel account of some twenty-somethings having a good time backpacking across Europe... a dream on every American's to-do list.
BUT, once the hammer drops on this one, it don't let up until the very last frame. The hammer falls in one scene in particular, where one of the three disappears, and the hostage's picture mail appears on his buddy's phone with the phrase "I go Home." From this point on, it truly gets as medieval as anything ever seen on screen.
Hostel reaches all in the audience on a visceral level, as torture of this nature is truly the most common, deep-seeded fear that exists. It's no accident that Hostel's homonym is hostile... as this is one of the most hostile assaults on an audience in cinematic history.
I would recommend three things: one bucket, two toothpicks and three shots of rye. Hug the bucket during the movie, toothpicks for you eyelids as nightmare preventative, and the rye will help in the deprogramming phase afterward. You don't want to go to this one alone.
The criticism I have is that there could have been more comic relief. A few well-placed Tarrantino's would have really escalated this movie to the top of the heap. Like a soup with too much garlic, and nothing to help kick it down a notch, the recipe of hostelsoup called for too much ghastly, and not enough comedy.
In the end, this is the groundbreaking high water mark of torture movies. I hope I don't see another try to top this one for many years to come... but somehow, I know I will.