Blog Monster Movie Monday Reviews...Hostel!

Hostel

Directed by: Eli Roth
Written by: Eli Roth
Starring: Jay Hernandez, Derek Richardson, Eythor Gudjonsson; Barbara Nedeljakova

Movie hype can be a tricky thing. Not enough hype and an excellent film can be easily overlooked, but when discovered the film can be all the more treasured for its obscurity. On the other hand, too much hype can lead to unrealistic expectations leading a decent film to be harshly criticized for not living up to expectations. I had heard a lot about Hostel. It’s possible that I had unrealistic expectations, but I need some help understanding the buzz about this film.

There was little tension, there were no extraordinary grossouts, and in the end, a wholly un impressive film. The first third of the film focuses on three young men who, having wandered Europe, are enjoying the freedom of Amsterdam. There we get the standard set-up of sin found in horror films…sex and drugs. The young men are told about a fantastically debaucherous hostel in Slovakia, and our three heroes are on their way.

In Slovakia, they find the hostel of the dreams; full of beautiful girls happy in their nudity and looking for sex. Unfortunately, they find more than that. Soon, one disappears, then another. While some odd occurances clue us in to the fact that things are amiss, really there’s little tension and low creepiness.

This leads to the second third of the film with the second abducted backpacker faces the tortures of his abductor. This is the point of them film which could have cashed in on gore and tension, but fails to do so. The mutilation isn’t very creative and the reveal of who the torturer is fails to surprise and removes any pretense of mystery or suspense.

This brings us to the final third as our remaining lead seeks to learn what happened to his two missing friends. Naturally, he finds himself captured and tortured. In the end he attempts escape and…I won’t tell you how it ends.

This movie is less a horror movie and more a thriller. While there is some gore, it’s generally subdued except for an eye sequence. Little effort seems to have been made to make the film suspenseful or creepy or mysterious. I’m not sure what everyone else saw in the film, but I didn’t find much more than hype.