MovieChat Forums > Hostel (2006) Discussion > Review for Hostel

Review for Hostel

posted 7 years ago by JigsawX (265)
8 replies | jump to latest

(Originally posted on fight-evil.com)

Each time I see this film, I continue to be impressed. The story is not necessarily overly creative, but it is well crafted (especially the switch half-way through the movie, in which we end up with an unexpected protagonist). The gore is a pretty decent touch also. Not only that, but the movie has a pretty satisfying ending, which is rather unexpected from a movie that is as grimy as this one.

Paxton's not a character that I overly enjoy for most of the film, but his depth does grow as the story goes on, and by the end, you'd be hard-pressed to not be rooting for him. Insofar as the torture aspect, it's pretty solid. Not overdone, either. While it's definitely shocking the first time around, this movie doesn't drown itself in unnecessary gore, which I applaud it for. There are downsides present, but truth be told, I don't believe there are all that many. Only thing that comes to mind right now is that I wish some of the characters had a slower death than they did. Alas, we can't always get what we want. The ending makes up for that, though. 7.5/10.

[–] lukejbarnett (1869) 5 years ago

i agree, this film is 7.5/10. i really think this film gets unfairly maligned and criticized just because of it's misogynistic and copious amount of nudity and sex and extreme violence and gore and reputation made by a lot of people who haven't even watched it.

this is a very well made, impactful, resonating, meaningful, thought provoking, well executed, and relevant film.

it's also one of the most thoroughly enjoyable and thrilling horror films that has come out in the last 15 years.

yeah, grimy horror movies nowadays often don't have a satisfying ending. as good and entertaining and engaging as this film is hostel part 2 is even better with a more broad story and more interesting characters and better acting.

[–] JigsawX (265) 5 years ago

Generally speaking, I think the second one's a better movie also (if just marginally).

Every time I watch this, while I'm impressed with the on-screen gore, I can't help but think how overblown the outcries against the violence here was, as it wasn't really even that over-the-top. Don't get me wrong, the gritty setting, chainsaws, the eye scene, it could easily lead someone to think the movie's gorier than it is, but aside from a few specific scenes, I think some people are missing the story here (and interesting character paths) over the violence.

The revenge feel of the conclusion went a long way to make the film more satisfying than it otherwise would have been, and that really goes a long way to setting the movie apart (which is, on a personal level, somewhat ironic, as I utterly adore the first Saw, from the year prior).

Thanks for the comment.

[–] lukejbarnett (1869) 5 years ago

glad you're still here jigsaw lol. i always loved hostel more than saw because saw is a suspense thriller, like a true crime, serial killer film whereas hostel is a straight revenge horror film. and you can really see the influence of '70s exploitation/giallo horror film through the eyes of eli roth.

i wanted to add that hostel part II has a lot better character development than hostel. way more fleshed out characters and character motivations in part II than in part I. do you agree with this? and also they more develop the torture system in part II than in part I, they show you more of the behind the scenes of how this company really works. they take the curtains away from this secret company in part II, whereas in part I you don't really know much at all about this company which make part II more satisfying to me.

you're right people should have paid more attention to the filmmaking, the story, and the ways in which suspense was built to an unnerving extent through what we couldn't see.

the climax is one of the best parts of hostel. it really is satisfying how they played the violence against those bitches out. i mean, not only did he run the girls over but then he ran their heads over with the car's wheel! that was so great feeling to me, to get that much revenge, that was one of my favorite scenes, another was when that evil guy got his throat slit and i also loved how he even got his daughter kidnapped by Paxton. don't fuc# with Americans, they will track you down lol!

my favorite scene is the sex scene between the guys and those amazingly beautiful and hot girls. i love, love how that scene is edited. it's edited in a seamless, back to back sort of way which makes you feel like the two acts of sex are connected. those two girls are two of the most beautiful and hottest girls that i have ever seen. they are so exotically and otherworldly beautiful that to be able to have sex with them would be enough for me to die immediately after a happy/fulfilled man.

[–] JigsawX (265) 5 years ago

Yeah, I've not been active here, nor posting reviews recently, mainly because I'm posting them all on a forum I'm a member of (Fight Evil), but that said, I may post a few over here as well, as there's a chance for a larger audience here. This all said, I hope to be more active here than I have been the past year.

You're right in that Saw definitely has more a crime feel than Hostel, but when one of your main characters is a police detective, I think that's probably somewhat unavoidable. For me, personally, Saw was one of the perhaps ten horror films I saw as a kid that really got me into the genre, so it's a hard one to push aside, even when against stiff competition.

Hostel II is a better film, I feel (I gave Hostel a 7.5/10 and the second one a 8/10), much for the same reasons you do. They delve into the operations and organization of the company, and that bidding scene near the beginning was always really interesting to me. More so, sort of showing the point of view of a would-be torturer and his motivations were pretty cool, and felt, for lack of a better word, unique.

Now, something can be said for the fact that, in the first movie, these American kids have absolutely no idea why they're being tortured, which makes it all the more horrifying, but still, as a viewer, I like knowing more about the company and their operations.

Hostel's one of those films that, for many people, looking past the gore and reputation as 'torture porn' (as jacob below alludes to) would probably be either difficult or disinteresting, which is a shame, as I do think this movie has something to offer.

[–] lukejbarnett (1869) 5 years ago

you wrote: "looking past the torture porn moniker for hostel would probably be...disinteresting," what do you mean by disinteresting?

[–] JigsawX (265) 5 years ago

Basically that some viewers may not be willing to look past the gore. They may see Hostel just as a gory movie and nothing more, without taking an interest in looking past that and seeing what else the movie could present to them.

[–] [deleted] 5 years ago

Torture porn they called it!

[–] TaRaNRoD (1579) 5 years ago

Shut the fuck up, dumbass. Retards like you are the reason this great movie gets such a bad reputation.