Disappointing

Rating: 6/10 (17 January 2006)

I have read a bunch of comments stating that this movie is "hardcore" and "real horror" but it's not. The truth is the horror movies that are being produced today are just so terrible that this movie appears to be for real. I was really disappointed by this film. So much potential and so little actual payoff. The beginning of the film that is supposed to be setting up the Hostel sequence is waaaay to long. I don't really need this much character development. They are a bunch of early 20's morons who travel to Europe to take drugs and have sex. How much more do you need to know? Apparently you need half of the film. When you do finally get to the Hostel the violence and horror that could have been never appear. Granted there are a few scenes that make you cringe but nothing that hasn't been done before. Much like Roth's last film Cabin Fever, this is nothing more than an homage to better films. (If you want to see a great power drill sequence check out Feluci's Gates of Hell.) I am willing to give Roth a break since the movie had to be edited pretty severely in order to get an R rating. I would wait for the DVD to come out and see this movie without the constraints of rating system. In the meantime I am throwing all of my hope for good horror films on Aja shoulders with his remake of the Hills Have Eyes.