Hostel

An horrific, nauseous and wholly unnecessary attack on the senses and nerves, “Hostel” nevertheless manages to achieve its main aim; to disgust, haunt and unsteady the viewer.

Two American backpackers are journeying across Europe, and in Amsterdam discover an infamous hostel in Slovakia, said to have the ‘best girls’. When they get to their destination, it soon becomes painfully, excruciatingly obvious that they’ve been misled as well as conned, and the consequences are not for the faint of heart...
None of the actors were recognisable, which is fair enough, but none of them were particularly good at all. The American guys just appeared to be caricatures of the "typical American tourist" from an American point of view, but as a European I found them to be unlike the Americans I've seen here. The European actors do their jobs, but lend stereotypical portrayals of themselves to the viewer. The best acting was that of those in pain quite honestly. The two 'stars' for want of a better word weren't particularly noticeable, and I didn't feel empathy for them even whilst they were being tortured.

The women that are at the forefront are the honeytraps, the local women that entice the American guys to the Hostel. They really to me just appeared to be an American, stereotypical and judgemental depiction of European (Eastern in particular) women, which seemed unfair and really took away from what little acting they actually did. What went for the main women goes for the co-stars; they're really only there for eye candy, or to look attractive. The male co-stars are more fleshed out (pardon the pun) than their female counterparts, but only because the film picks upon the patriarchal capitalists that would indeed be the type of men who would pay to do such things. They, like the other actors, appear ridiculous and totally unbelieveable.

Despite its flaws, the film evokes the beauty of the Czech Republic (where it was filmed and not set), and the Hostel scenes are the best of the film not only for their unsettling nature and gore, but because the place looks like you would expect such a place to. Eli Roth can't direct worth a damn in terms of narrative and conversations, but in horror and gore terms the man is an auteur. The disgust with which I squirmed through the torture scenes marks him as markedly above many horror film directors; he holds no punches. The horror however is all that he masters in, the tension palpable in other scenes but missing in others. The cliched talk of sex and such, whilst the motivation of the characters, is ridiculous to listen to. I couldn't believe half of it, and as a student, I've heard my fair share of conversations similar to those featured here, but none of it seemed within the bounds of realism.

The music was actually very effective in the horror scenes, but otherwise is anonymous. This is what drives the film: the effects and the gore. And it does NOT fail to disappoint. One scene in particular made me feel uncomfortable to the extent that I felt the part of the body that I had seen on screen in empathatical pain. That is the degree of realism Roth attempts to portray here, and it hits home. This film is truly disgusting in places, and the violence is centered as such in scenes that are removable from the rest of the film (in which they take you out of it). The talk of a new genre spawned from “Hostel”, torture-porn, is one which is to be feared, as anyone who’s seen this or the “Saw” films can attest.

Whilst truly grossing this reviewer out, “Hostel” only succeeds in this department, and could be considered a success, for that’s what it was made for. However, everything surrounding the gore and torture is contrived, ridiculous and stereotypical rubbish. If someone asked Roth to make a film totally concerned with violence and violence only, it would be amazing. Ask him to write dialogue, construct a believable story and create sympathetic characters, and you have “Hostel”. Few merits and your dinner of choice on the floor and in your lap.

3/10