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Hostel
(2005)
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Director:
Eli Roth |
COUNTRY
USA |
GENRE
Horror |
NORWEGIAN TITLE
Hostel |
RUNNING
TIME
94
minutes |
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Producer:
Chris Briggs
Mike Fleiss
Eli Roth |
Screenwriter:
Eli Roth |
Review
Having
been dubbed "the future of horror" by Quentin Tarantino, Eli
Roth embarked on his follow up to his hugely successful
Cabin Fever
knowing that to shock would be a good idea if he were to enhance his
reputation. I might be depicting the young filmmaker as too analytic,
but there's no denying that Hostel is at least a wee bit
manipulative. But with that said: behind the early, dreary over-focusing
on sex (in the usual, ridiculous American manner – do all Americans have
a relation to sex as unnatural as these teen-movies suggest?) and behind
the over-mystifying build-up (that includes a couple of unconvincing
bait beauties), Hostel finally strips down to an extremely
interesting investigation of a business that embodies and looks into
some very unhealthy tendencies in our world view and human nature. The
film uses violence and graphic effects for all they're worth, and
encompasses a remarkable technical achievement; there are scenes in here
that look more real than you'd want them to. Roth takes hold of your
spine and shakes it a bit, but what's best about that is that he doesn't
do it just for show, or just because he can – there actually are things
to think about buried in the horror. Some sequences are strong – not
only on a graphical level, but also implicitly – such as Kana's final
scene, or a conversation between Paxton and a German surgeon. Hostel
isn't the refined film experience, but it boasts abundances of
quality, inspiration and talent.
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