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Three backpackers head to a Slovakian city that promises to meet their hedonistic expectations, with no idea of the hell that awaits them.
In the tradition of dread-inducing terror-rides like Saw and Wolf Creek comes Cabin Fever director Eli Roth's deranged and disturbed sophomore effort - Hostel. Produced and presented by film auteur Quentin Tarantino, this grim and gory piece of survival horror is set to give horror fans a gory, bloody, disgusting good time!
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It is really refreshing when something original comes out. Backpacking takes on a new term and I am now very wary when travelling because you just do not know what peoples motives are. A seemingly casual conversation on a train leads backpackers to divert from their itinerary to see a new town, what awaits is terror like none other experienced. Where money talks and the rich can buy the experience of a life time.
Although not as suspenseful as I would of liked and boring in areas it still is a good watch. You are unsure what is about to happen next. You are not shown the full story until near the end and the build up is a little flat. It could of been done a little better but it is still entertaining when it really gets going. The torture is rather subdue and although you are routing for the dude to escape you kinda want to see more of what could of happened.
It is scary to think things like this could really occur. Rather simple back packers go missing all the time and no trace is ever found again. But in reality it would take a hell of a lot of money to pull something like this off and you would need to full a lot of officials pockets and too many people have loose lips. Definitly better than any of the crappy sequels after it. Still this movie is an all time fav when it comes to horrors.
I quite enjoyed the premise of this film. With its dark and gritty environments, it is very reminiscent of Saw, but instead of elaborate traps and an unknown assailant, we have a far more simple approach, with high rollers paying for the opportunity to hurt people for a price.
Whilst I can imagine everyone has had the "I wish harm upon that person" feeling at one time or another, it certainly seems that there is an overwhelming number of rich psychopaths in this film, willing to bid on auctions for kidnapped victims.
I enjoyed the way in which victims were caught, as it presented a highly likely scenario, that could in all seriousness be happening today. The only issue was that it took so long to happen. Once the excitement and gore began, it was very much predictable, and you quickly see why Saw had a better concept by using machines and recordings, rather than being face-to-face with your victim. Your victim becomes far more creative in escape plans when they are left on their own, and makes for a more thrilling film.
Hostel had a great concept, and good intentions, but it failed to fully make the most of the opportunity. And the film ended up rather unexciting.
If you like movies like Saw and the likes then this is a movie for you, if that's not your type of film then stay away.
In short, three backpackers learn of a hostel in Bratislava, Slovakia where sex-mad women thirst for men in general, and American men in particular, naturally the guys decide to go to the hostel but then discover it is much much worse, in this hostel you don't get sex, you get tortured to death by rich men paying for the pleasure of a punish less crime. Hostel had potential, the thought that a place exists where rich people pay money to torture and kill other people is interesting but the job just doesn't done well.
It is frustrating to see a story that could have been so exciting and horrific get so utterly fumbled up, it takes a whopping 50 minutes to get to the place that is supposed to be the scene of terror and creepiness. There's no surprise to it at all, the bad guys are bad guys and who you think will die dies, there's no twist to this at all. The lead actors do an ok job but feel like they are there more to look pretty than anything.
Not a good movie and not keen to watch it again.
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