Hostel - The Director's Cut [Blu-ray]

Thanks to the rise of Asia Extreme horror, American horror seems to be stepping away from the teenie bopper-slasher crap of recent years. Hostel is one of the best American horror movies I've seen in years. Full of never-shattering torture scenes, tense moments and even humor, this surpasses Eli Roth's Cabin Fever by far. Not since watching Takashi Miike's Audition have I felt like turning away from a scene at what I was watching. although I loved it, the happy ending was a little disappointing, until I found out there will be a squel. Now coming out on DVD as Unrated I can only imagine what new horrors will be added to it. Now, if you like your horror to be the Jasons, Freddy's or Final Destinations...this is not the movie for you. If you are a fan of Saw, Ichi the Killer, Oldboy or the Devil's Rejects...this is a movie for you.

Hostel(released Sept/05)stars,among others,Jay Hernandez as Paxton,Derek Richardson as Josh,Eyþór Guðjónsson as Óli, and Barbara Nedeljáková as Natalya.I was recently handed this one and didn`t know anything about the film,except Taranino was involved,which piqued my interest.It turned out it was yet another of such plot lines with people getting into places they don't belong and barely escaping with their lives,if at all.But as the film got deeper and deeper into the story,the gore got worse and worse and it became totally gratuitous to the extreme.How many sawed off body parts,drills to the body and blood squirting and spattering everywhere,does one need to see before it is too much.Not alot,but for director/producer/writer Roth,"just one more for the road",seemed to be his motto.
The story finds three young men,two American and one Icelandic,back packing across Europe.They get a tip from a young man about this hostel in Czechoslovakia,that's not on any maps.The three travel there and manage to hook up with some local action.The next morning Oli,their Icelandic friend,goes missing.We have a cut scene where we see Oli's disembodied head on a table.
That night at a disco Josh feels sick and goes back to the hostel.Later Paxton gets sick and gets lost finding the disco washroom and is locked in a closet instead. The next morning Paxton gets out and finds Josh has gone missing also.Josh,we have seen,was being held prisoner by a man who they had all previously met on the train going to the hostel.He tortured and killed Josh.
Paxton is at loose ends and decides to have a local girl take him to a museum before he finally leaves later.She takes him out to an old factory and he becomes,like his two friends,an unwilling participant in the "wheel of torture" game.He loses three fingers but manages to fight and gain his freedom.He inadvertently runs into a fellow American who mistakes him for a client.It seems this whole factory is set up as a large torture chamber for those willing to pay good money for the experience.As Paxton is outside he hears the screams of an Oriental girl he knows and he returns.He extricates her and they both flee to the train station.When she sees her horribly disfigured face she deliberately jumps in front of the in bound train.Paxton gets on and is heading away from this nightmare when he hears the voice of the man that killed Josh.When the train makes a brief stop he gets off and follows the man into the washroom.There he gets his revenge by slicing a part of his hand off and cutting his throat.He gets back on the train and leaves.
This isn't Nightmare on Elm Street,whose violence had an air of tongue in cheek to it.This is not Kill Bill,where we had a lady on a mission whose unreal acrobatics took the violence to a totally different place.No,what we have here is gore just for gore's sake,as the plot plays it all too seriously.We get to see every slice,vein and blood spattering.And believe me,there is blood everywhere in this gigantic torture chamber.In every room there is something twisted and sick going on.It is definitely not for the faint of heart,let me tell you.Long before the end I was totally sickened by what I was seeing.
Technically speaking the film is in its w/s a/r of 2:35:1 and was generally clear and crisp,although the film was grainy in some spots.Extras include featurettes,the trailer,commentary and a look at a specific scene with three different angles.
All in all a terribly gory and in my opinion,sick movie.The film plays its plot straight as the three enter a twisted scenario where clients get to pay to torture victims in any way they want.A must to avoid.

Three college students (Jay Hernandez, Derek Richardson and Eythor Gudjonsson) decide to backpack across Europe. They have no idea what lies in wait. When they meet an older man on the train, they're told about a village where women will do anything to satisfy a man--especially Americans. Checking into a hostel in Slovakia, the three men discover that their room comes with a few perks. Three gorgeous women. And this of course leads to one thing.

Most of the first half of the film is filled with the gratuitous sexual encounters so prevalent in today's horror movies; however, since it's actually a key part of the story line, I guess they had to do it. (No pun intended.) The women are bait. And once the men are lured in, they're drugged and find themselves in a terrifying predicament.

As a longtime fan of horror movies, I felt there was extreme shock value in the gross chopping, drilling and slicing of human flesh. It made me cringe and turn away at times, and I have a strong stomach. It isn't a psychological thriller or ghostly horror, so much as a movie that tests your limits on what you can visually handle seeing.

The final explanation of what's actually going on is perhaps what sets this film apart from other random slasher films. In fact, it's the 'hunt club' aspect that makes the story line more believable and even, dare I say, feasible. Yet instead of hunting down victims, wealthy men can torture, maim or murder in order to satisfy their sadistic needs. And as a subtle humorous dig, it's the Americans who are most prized. For what better way to get back at the US than to torture and kill future generations? The shocking violence of the group of children that appears occasionally also sends a strong message. If you travel to a foreign country, it's a good thing to carry gum and candy!

At least the acting in Hostel was a far cry from the poor readings of the actors in the movie Saw--a movie that made me groan and sigh, wishing I could have written their dialogue and had my neighbors act it out.

Unlike many of today's horror films, Hostel does leave you with a vaguely fulfilling ending. Of course, you'll just have to see it now to find out what that is. This is the perfect dieter's movie too, by the way. You won't be too hungry or thirsty while you're watching it. This movie is definitely for 18+!!! If you enjoy a movie that makes you gasp, cringe or has your stomach churning, this is it. If you can't handle blood and excessive gore and brutality, I'd recommend you watch a comedy instead. Now...where did I put my saw?

Cheryl Kaye Tardif, [...]