Hostel

I didn’t mind the depiction of Slovakia; on the contrary, I genuinely enjoyed it. But I was rather surprised by how this turd is packaged in a campaign with great posters, the slogan “Quentin Tarantino Presents” and 20 million dollars in box-off receipts in the US alone. Hostel could have been made in the same quality by an average Slovak director with one-tenth of the budget. Some scenes follow each other as if they were improvised, without a screenplay. There is zero atmosphere and the build-up is killed by the film’s dull predictability. We wait an endlessly long time for the scenes of cruelty, of which, incidentally, there are far fewer than were promised. Films like this were made as if on an assembly line in the 1980s and there is really no call for them now. History repeats. The only benefit of Hostel is the degree to which it shines a positive light on the directorial and screenwriting qualities of films like Saw. (28/01/2006)

The depiction of Slovakia as a backwater can still be somewhat endured in peace, but I didn't quite understand what Eli Roth was playing at here. The overall meaning of this creation also didn't click with me. Was it meant to entertain? Shock? Maybe both, but it failed at either, as it is, in every aspect, among the worst things that have been produced in the past few years. The screenplay is nonexistent, the actors are wooden, and even the torture scenes weren't cool. There was plenty of blood, but hardly any fear or disgust. It's a mystery to me how Quentin Tarantino could have had a hand in this. Maybe drugs, maybe money, who knows. In any case, this poorly made, inconsistent, and stupidly directed travesty certainly doesn't deserve any good rating in any way. (11/08/2006)

One of the biggest injustices on Filmbooster. Hostel is not a turning-point in modern horror, and if it wanted to be among the best of the genre, it would have to offer a lot more. That said, it is a slightly above-average film that has the misfortune of having been watched by people who shouldn’t watch this kind of stuff. If you expect being afraid or scared by an exploitation film, the problem is yours and not the film’s. (14/08/2007)

There is no doubt that we are in the realm of dumbfounded trash here. When I read these derogatory comments, where stinging remarks abound, I say to myself, how everything is relative, because the same users can effortlessly give a similar, and I dare say even worse film, five stars and a comment from which one feels the concept of a "guilty pleasure." Also worth mentioning is that Hostel by Eli Roth is a cult film overseas. On internet forums, teenagers who are horror fans drool over Hostel in delight. The distorted realities of Slovakia are of no concern to them, so while we get angry about obvious stupidity, we Central Europeans are willing to believe in cannibals in Texas or mutants in the deserts of the Midwest. Overall impression: 10%. (30/05/2011)

Boring as hell, which, despite a huge advertising campaign and American-European audience ambitions, only declares the sad fact that Eli Roth is unable to tell stories or create an atmosphere only with the formal appearance of his films. Hostel has mediocre actors, a shoddy Central European production design, an interesting, genre-defying setting, and an appealing plot, but Roth dissects it into an extremely unlikeable and vulgar teenage trip, where the most important thing is not the main motif surrounding the death merchants, but apparently the crew's egotistical need to show Slovakia as a dirty, backward country far below the ethical United States. Only the final half hour deserves praise, where the untalented filmmaker finally stops playing the sociophile and gives us the horror entertainment we've been waiting for all along, even though the level of brutality isn't actually that great. I don't hate Hostel, if only because I found the depiction of our neighbours (and the use of our locations) quite amusing, but with a similar premise, your average East Asian director would have made the heart of a devoted genre fan happier. (08/01/2013)