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Killers are afoot in Hostel.
The hype was huge. Quentin Tarantino’s name was plastered all over the film (even though he merely served as an executive producer). Could a mere horror film live up to all the build-up?
Close… but not quite.
Don’t get me wrong, Hostel was a very enjoyable film… on a very nasty and brutal level. But there was just something missing. Something… important. Yep, you guessed it… a freaking plot!
Eli Roth’s Hostel follows the journey of two post-grad buddies, Paxton (Jay Hernandez) and Josh (Derek Richardson), backpacking across Europe, and the Icelandic funnyman, Oli (Eythor Gudjonsson) they hook up with along the way. These three amigos are looking for one thing: sex. In fact, the first half-hour or so of the film could almost be mistaken for softcore porn. There is enough female nudity to satisfy even the most sex-craved madman. Yes, even me! Seriously though, it was a tad much for my taste. I mean, I’m all for a few good-looking ladies, but come on! Enough is enough.
The “plot” really begins to pick up when an apparent Russian drifter, Alexei (Lubomir Bukovy), lets the three boys onto a town in Eastern Europe where they can do and get anything and anyone they want… as long as they pay. What? Hot chicks… sex? Before you can count another pair of breasts, the boys are off to Bratislava in search of their next conquest.
At this point, we actually begin to see some semblance of a story. After a long night of partying, Pax and Josh find that Oli has disappeared… along with the Japanese girl he had been hanging around with. After worrying just a tad, the two figure he decided to continue along his way. However, something more sinister is occurring behind the scenes. The viewer then catches a few glimpses of Oli’s head, and his girlfriend’s fingernails.
Fast-forward to later that night, and a drunken Josh stumbles back to the local hostel they are staying at. The beautiful young girl at the front desk helps Josh back to his room, but he doesn’t remain there for very long. Soon thereafter, he’s somehow taken to a dungeon of sorts where your worst hedonistic nightmares come true.
Remember what Alexei said… if you pay for it, you can do whatever you want.
What ensues is an intense depiction of downright disgusting torture and violence, the likes of which haven’t been seen in a long time on-screen. At least not in anything legal. There are some exceptionally nasty portions that even made me squirm in my cushy stadium theater seat. And yes, I even had to close one eye in one scene in particular… (The Horror Guru gets freaked out by two things in horror movies… clowns, and any sort of eye trauma). Be warned!
This is young Jay Hernandez’s first major starring role, and he does an admirable job with the material given. He plays his character quite straight-forwardly, and is fairly easy to relate to… we are about the same age, so I guess that is inevitable.
You might recognize Derek Richardson from his Academy Award-snubbed performance as the young Harry Dunne in the beautiful film Dumb and Dumberer: When Harry Met Lloyd. (Insert hilarious laughter here). Richardson has come a long way in just those couple of short years, as he probably is the strongest actor here. His portrayal of Josh is spot-on, and truly makes you feel for the guy and the situation he manages to find himself in. It’s a shame that his previous work could manage to be the Achilles heel on his career…
Writer/Director Eli Roth’s most well-known work before Hostel was 2002’s stinker Cabin Fever. That film was dragged down by terrible writing… and even worse acting. I had trouble sitting through the entire film, and I’ve sat through some real winners, let me tell you. Apparently, Quentin Tarantino actually liked the film, and allowed his name to be whored around with Hostel.
I’ll give Roth his credit… Hostel’s writing is fairly original. The only problem is there isn’t any meat to it. Yes, it’s gory. Yes, it’s graphic. Yes, it’s gratuitous. But, Eli… where’s the substance? Perhaps for Hostel 2, you can trim down some of the completely unnecessary nudity, and insert more of a solid plotline.
And, that’s right. Hostel already has a sequel in its initial planning stages. I guess you can’t argue with a $20" million opening weekend box office take, huh? Lionsgate sure can’t. I’d bet on a sequel for sometime in 2007.
Alright, I’m not sure which remake caused the rabid Hollywood fascination with remaking every film ever made. But now with the success of Saw, it seems the horror subgenre-du-jour is one centering on torture. Round and round we go… enjoy the ride.
Flick Figures: Graphic nudity; lots of oozing and gushing of various bodily fluids; toe-crushing; Achilles-slicing; human-drilling; triple hit-and-run; multiple gunshots to the head; neck-slitting; severe eye trauma; head-crushing; rock-throwing; scalpel-fu; chainsaw-fu; vehicular-fu; fingers roll; legs roll; eyeballs roll; vicious Slovakian children; countless breasts – lost count at about 20.
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