DAY NINE - HOSTEL #31daysofhorror
DAY NINE OF 31 DAYS OF HORROR
HOSTEL - 2005
"I always wanted to be a surgeon, but the boards wouldn't pass me. Can you guess why?"
I have never seen Hostel before. When this movie came out along with the Saw movies I wanted nothing to do with them because I couldn't stand watching torture. I have since watched the Saw movies and fell in love with the franchise. I was curious if Hostel would be the same.
Hostel is written and directed by Eli Roth who I'm a huge fan of. It was his second film after Cabin Fever and Quentin Tarantino helped executive produce it. It follows two college students from the States who are traveling across Europe doing drugs and trying to get laid. Like Euro Trip, but with more violence, but the same amount of nudity. They're told by a fellow hostel stayer that the real place to go for ladies is Slovakia. The two men, along with their traveling companion Óli, head there and are pleasantly surprised when beautiful ladies pay attention to them. But that same night Óli disappears and something seems very off about this small town.
Hostel is...intense? Way more intense than Saw. While I would argue Saw has more in your face violence, Roth has a terrifyingly clever way of showing more violence while not showing anything. There are some in your face gore scenes, one involving an eyeball and a pair of scissors that made me break out in a cold sweat. But some of the worst scenes are when you just see someone screaming and are hearing the noises, leaving it up to your imagination.
The story is super cool. I had no idea what the reason for everyone missing would be because I've avoided this movie for so long. So I was pleasantly surprised when it turned out the way it did. It's super scary to think about that concept, and even scarier to think that's probably a real thing that could be happening. I mean, we hear about stuff like that all the time on the dark web. Eli Roth originally wanted to make Hostel about the real concept of "murder vacation" and that is SO TERRIFYING. I am never leaving my house. Even more than I already never leave it....
Character wise - there's not much here. But to be fair, it's not really that kid of movie. Though that meant I found it hard to relate to the lead characters and feel for them as the story continued. The kid gang was pretty bad ass and I liked their final showdown. Rick Hoffman's character was my favorite purely because he played it so well. In that moment I realized how realistic this could be and how scary it all was.
Gore wise - there's a lot, as I mentioned above. Scare wise - there's no jump scares or really edge of your seat moments, but it does make you feel like taking a shower and hugging your dogs.
Will I watch the rest of the Hostel movies? Probably not. I think one was enough for me. There were some scenes in this movie that really got to me and I didn't like that feeling. So props Eli Roth! You made me feel gross once again.
8/10
