Hostel, Saw, Human Centipede, etc. are just modern-day video nasties. Before they were called "torture porn," they were called video nasties. (Examples: Faces of Death, Bloosucking Freaks, etc.).
Source: Siskel and Ebert.
I agree with you. It kind of reminded me of those old '70s/'80s Italian cannibal films in terms of gore. Eli Roth is obviously a fan of those since he made Green Inferno. I think his style would've fit right in back then and got labeled video nasties.
shareOh indeed. As with everything nostalgic bias blinds people. So many people will worship movies like The Thing, Re-Animator, The Beyond and The Evil Dead for their gore then turn their noses up at gory movies from more recent times.
If Hostel was released in the 80s it would have more fans and a higher rating on sites like IMDb.
well the world didnt have access to VHS and DVD etc back then .
As soon as that became available to the public they got a bit carried away with what could now be distributed and rewatched , avoiding broadcasting laws .
Now the novelty has worn off and people realise torture porn is just for sick puppys to get off on .
Additionaly , I'm sure the video nasties of old didnt have oscar winning stories ,
but in Saw & Hostel the so called 'plot'is there solely to link one horrific scene of gore and mutilation to the next.