The very nature of slasher films: Paying for watching someone get killed (or tortured).

Rating: 8/10 (16 September 2006)

Eli Roth is a genius, and Hostel is a twisted, sick, depraved masterpiece.
I was one of the few that had high expectations when I went to see Cabin Fever in theaters. Boy, was I disappointed. I still thought back then that Eli Roth was a promising guy even if his first film wasn't that accomplished.
Let's say that for that matter, my expectations were kind of "neutral" when I went to see "Hostel", but I was anxious to see it anyway. During the first 10 or 15 minutes I was thinking "hey! I guess Roth sold himself after all". More wrong couldn't I be.
What I found was one of the sickest, darkest and above all, most intense films I've seen in my life. I found out that Roth didn't want MTVish flashy editing cuts, and after seeing this film a total number of 7 times (5 times at theaters, and 2 times at my home theater, and still going up) I see that is true, and works perfectly for the story. Roth wanted the film to have a classic (and classy for that matter) feeling to it and he succeed in every single aspect of it. The editing is just invisible and discreet, the photography is stunningly gorgeous, and the music score is one of the finest and most memorable I've listened to in a long time; there is no need for filling up the soundtrack with your one-hit-wonder of choice.
Kudos to Roth for making one of the best screenplays in recent years. The dialogues feel so natural and real, with every situation grounded in some logic. His directing skills are brilliant too. There is no a single frame or scene that is a waste. Every single shot, every single frame is as beautiful as it can be. And in a horror film that makes the whole thing more disturbing.
What I found more remarkable about this film, it is the amount of intelligent ideas that float around like subtexts, consciously OR unconsciously. One of the most clever ideas is why we like to see horror films: because we like to see people being tortured, chopped, or beaten to death and that is true. As the Dutch Businessman would say, that is part of human nature. We, horror films fans, PAY for watching someone going through gruesome suffering and we don't pay once, we do it twice, thrice, or more, just to feel that adrenaline rush the American Client talks of.
-Some Spoilers-
It is amazing how we come to "rationalize" the deaths to suit our beliefs, attitudes and fears. We feel bad for Josh, Kana, Oli, and Yuki, but the audience was clapping and cheering when Natalya, Svetlana, and Alex get rolled over by two cars, when the chasers get beaten to death by the Bubble Gum Gang, and when Pax finally gets his revenge at the Dutch Businessman, in the gentlemen restroom.
-End of Some Spoilers-
I guess it is just part of human nature. Revenge is in our genes. See the trashy state of the world for that matter.
***1/2 And #02 of my Top Ten of 2006 (just behind Love Me If You Dare).
Note: Though I'm certain that Roth and Hernandez won't get any Oscars nods (even if they deserved them for their marvelous work behind (Best Director) and in front of camera (Best Actor in a Leading Role), there are other things that need to be taken "For Your Consideration". Editing, by George Folsey, Jr., the beautiful score composed by Nathan Barr, and the gorgeous cinematography by Milan Chadime are such a fine work that deserved some nominations. But they won't get them. Roth's attitude towards American film unions (that could be resume in a big Screw You!) won't let them get the recognition they truly deserve.
8/10