In Chile, a group of travelers who are in an underground nightclub when a massive earthquake hits quickly learn that reaching the surface is just the beginning of their nightmare. From: IMDb.com
Directed by: Nicolás López
Starring: Eli Roth, Andrea Osvárt, Ariel Levy and others
Of course the key to liking this movie, is to take it not too
seriously. It's also so over-the-top and ridicules that I just can't
imaging anyone taking this serious in the first place, though there are
still plenty of people like that out there, as it appears.
It's a B-movie that is very well aware of itself and actually strives
to be taken as a B-movie. Now, this is an approach that can work out
but more often does not, since it's too forced and the movies are too
slick looking to be taken as a B-movie. However in this case I feel
like it did work out well!
Throughout the years, I have seen plenty of just plain silly mankind
versus nature/animal type of movies. And as far as this sub-genre goes;
this is probably one of the better movies out there, that I have seen.
It's such an enjoyable film to watch that its story just simply doesn't
matter and neither does all of the crazy and just stupid stuff that
this movie comes up with.
But it's not like that the movie simply only goes over-the-top with its
story. It also does so with some of its characters but mostly with its
gore. It's an extremely gory film, that also has lots of nudity in it
as well. The gore gets so extreme at points that the movie actually
starts to turn into a comedy, which is one of the reasons why it also
becomes such an enjoyable movie to watch.
It's also such a clichéd movie but because of this, the movie actually
starts to turn into a spoof. The movie gets deliberately exaggerated in
about every way imaginable, such as with its gore, nudity, character
behavior and plot developments. When you get and recognize all of this,
the movie actually becomes a much more fun movie for you to watch!
Of course when you start over-analyzing everything and look seriously
at this movie, there is no way you could call this movie a great one.
But not all movies are made to be great. Sometimes certain movies are
just simply made for entertainment and not to win any awards or receive
lots of critical praise. This movie is a perfect example of that. It's
purely made for entertainment and it looks to me like the film-makers
also had plenty of fun creating it.
It also must be the reason why so many big name actors make a cameo
appearance in this movie. Lots of people wanted to be part of the fun
and madness that got called "Piranha". Richard Dreyfuss, Christopher
Lloyd and Eli Roth make cameo appearances, while also big name actors
such as Ving Rhames and Dina Meyer play bit parts.
It's just simple, silly, fun entertainment, that works out very well!
(Review originally written at 17 October 2008) What Eli Roth always does well with his horror movies is using all of the usual horror clichés but he still knows to deliver the in a refreshing and original way. It's the reason why his movies still work out surprising, despite following the usual and expected formula. In a way he is also always subtly making fun of all the genre clichés but without becoming ridicules or a spoof. What Eli Roth also always does well is implying a lot of things but is then turning 180 degrees and starts heading in a totally different and unexpected direction. For instance you might be expecting this movie to turn into a typical teenage slasher genre flick, which it really doesn't. It takes a whole different other approach with its horror, which I wont spoil. Yes, it's true that it doesn't always the most exciting movie to watch and it's a bit slow at times when basically nothing is happening in the movie. So I can understand the people who did not liked this movie very much. I however did liked it due to Eli Roth's approach of the genre. He's a real horror fan who just happens to be good at making movies as well. He understands and loves the genre and this always shows well in his movies. It's also a really gory made movie, as as well can be expected from Eli Roth. The movie was a fairly cheap one to made with its $1,500,000 budget but movies like this proof that you don't need a lot of things or a big bundle of money to make a good and effective genre movie with. The movie is exaggerating with its gore at times, which is really in tone with the rest of the movie its style. It's a special kind of style not just all people will just 'get' and appreciate but it's what makes Eli Roth such a special young new director to me. I'll hope he'll direct many more movies, even though this movie is by no means a brilliant one it's a special one nevertheless. You'll either probably hate it or love it but you should at least give it a try. 7/10 Watch trailer
This movie is a more than great one for several reasons. It's not also a good refreshing and original horror movie but also a great, subtle social commentary.
Just think about it. Every horror element of horror movies of the past two decades are present here. Hot girls, lots of sex and nudity, graphic horror and a murderous psychopathic villain. Everything is made out extra large and is prominently present here in this movie, with as a result that it becomes almost a parody on these sort of other recent horror-flicks. Watching this movie really made me realize that Eli Roth understands the genre and sees what is wrong with it these days. He's a horror-fan that also happens to direct movies himself. Especially the first halve of the movie is mostly a parody. It's filled with nudity and sex and really feels over-the-top all. It's also filled with some great humor.
Yet this movie is also so much more than just reflection on horror movies of the past 2 decades. It's also a great social commentary. The Americans are portrayed as ignorant testosterone driven persons who are willing to travel halve over the world just to have sex and they also see the world through their own ignorant narrow minded eyes. For instance Amsterdam is filled with willing-girls at about basically every corner and all the city has to offer are coffee-shops. And everyone in Slovakia is poor and does literally everything for money and the country itself is gritty, cold, gray, boring and filled with old fashioned use objects such as cars, televisions and clothing, like time has stopped there during the cold war. And one of the torturers is OF COURSE a German. Some people call it racist but I see it as a great and perhaps even brilliant, subtle brought statement, made by Eli Roth. He shows how ignorant most Americans are about the world around them, by showing us the world through the eyes of the two main American characters. Everything is cliché filled and stereotypical but with a purpose. Not sure if it was done on purpose that every Dutch characters speaks German in this movie. I think it had more to do with budget reasons. It's easier to let an actor learn to speak German than Dutch. Still it feels pretty weird, since Quentin Tarantino, who was involved with this movie and who lived and worked in Amsterdam for a couple of years and always puts some Dutch elements into his movies (also in this one obviously), didn't pointed this out to Roth.
It's also funny to see how most people call this movie a predictable one. If there is a refreshingly original horror movie of the past few years, than it's "Hostel". You don't know who is the killer(s) and why and how things are happening, until like the last 30 minutes when everything becomes FULLY COMPLETELY clear. The movie goes in several directions at times and than suddenly turns the other way around. For instance the movie begins as a tripping, humor filled B-movie, that you can hardly take serious. But after that the movie suddenly becomes darker and mysterious and in the end it also becomes gory. The movie and its style go into several directions at times and the movie takes some great twist and turns. It fools the audience a couple of times. For instance who didn't thought that when they went into the 'torture museum' the main characters would get stuck there and the rest of the movie would be set in there. Or how about it that it's implied several times in the movie that one of the main characters is a homosexual. Nothing is really done with it in the movie but it's a great daring and subtle touch to make the main character look extra vulnerable and sensible. It was not necessary for Roth to put it in the movie, since nothing is done with it in the story but it's obviously put in there to fool us and makes us think that the movie is heading into a different direction with this extra added element.
The movie gets graphic but not until the end, when the movie fully turns into an horror movie. The movie might not be as gory and graphic as expected but it leaves a lot up to your own imagination. But still there are a couple of straight-forward graphic sequences, which are certainly not just for everyone.
The movie is fairly cheap looking which certainly does also add to the unique feeling and atmosphere of the movie. It's style is certainly unique. Although this movie is mostly a horror one, it never looses its sense of humor and is filled with humorous comical situations, dialog and whatever more. It makes "Hostel" above all an entertaining and amusing one to watch, even though it certainly also gets heavy in the end.
Quentin Tarantino calls Eli Roth 'the future of horror' for a very good reason. If there is one person who can bring back the horror-genre back to its roots and to what they were intended to be at the first place, it's Eli Roth. Simple, straight-forward and without a complicated or sensible plot. Hopefully in the next few years more people start to see this and shall this also inspire other directors and movie makers.
Perhaps you have to be familiar with the horror-genre and its movies of the last 2 decades and '70's and perhaps even older, to fully see and understand this movie the way Eli Roth intended us to see it. It's a movie that will most definitely please the fans of the genre, while most casual viewers might probably find this movie nothing more than a formulaic horror movie, with a simple story and just 'don't get' what is so special about it. (also hence the low rating (5.8) on IMDb at the moment.)
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