Hostel is one of the fathers of the modern "torture porn" genre, while there were plenty of movies like it previously, it did have a very influential impact on horror cinema, even going as far as to inspire Pascal Laughier to write and direct the vastly superior film Martyrs. It holds up pretty well today as an enjoyable genre movie with all the expected tropes that go with that.
The best thing about the film by far is its concept, I love the idea of the Elite Hunting Club, which is the term given to the group of wealthy sadists who travel to Eastern Europe with the sole intention of paying large sums of money to brutally torture and murder complete strangers. It's a horrifying concept that may very well exist in some deep dark corners of the world.
I've seen this film dozens of times, It's enjoyable for sure but on this most recent watch I did find myself having a very hard time caring about the main protagonist. He's too much of a bro, he's a misogynistic pig with few if any redeeming features and so when he is eventually kidnapped and tortured its hard to feel connected to him or to care all that much.
He is a complete and utter idiot at times, willfully walking into an "art exhibit" in the middle of nowhere to find his lost friends and he is so totally oblivious that even when inside the very obvious torture fun-fair he doesn't quite get the gist that maybe he's being led to his death. But then again, he is an American frat boy, so, maybe that's a realistic reaction in all fairness to the movie.
But like I said this type of unlikeable and stupid protagonist is a common horror trope and it definitely doesn't ruin the film.
One thing I don't understand is how many people believe this to be a very gory movie, it isn't, the gore is all implied for the most part. The thing the film does best is it creates such an oppressive, dirty and nasty atmosphere that you think you're seeing something worse than you are.
The horror is largely psychological, the decrepit dungeons, the unwaveringly uncompromising behaviour of the torturers, the helplessness of the whole situation, that's where the real horror comes from. Overall the film works, its not supposed to be a cerebral horror, its exactly what Eli Roth wanted it to be, a nasty throwback to grind-house horror.
Hostel Part II gives you everything you could possibly want from a Hostel sequel, it expands on the lore in an unexpected and interesting way, it's more gory and the kills are more inventive, the characters are more sympathetic so you actually care when something happens to them and it gives you a great final girl.
The inclusion of having the film be split between the victims and the perpetrators was an incredibly unique and creative decision,
we get to see the Elite Hunting Club from the inside and the type of person that would be a member, an idea only hinted at in the original, here its fully explored and takes up most of the runtime.
This is Eli Roth's best film by far.
Add comment
Comments