Hostel (DVD)

Not neccessarily one of the goriest films out there, though I must admit I did buy it just for the gore and cringe factor. The special effects are not all that great throughout either. Some parts are super, others... not so super. If you're wanting blood and guts then this film has it, if you're wanting a cringe-worthy film then this film also has it... particularly if you like your achilles tendons...

What makes this film even better is the way it is set, normal people like you and I snatched from the streets. Being bought for torture - pain, one of the biggest fears of any human being... and this film is pretty much all about it!

The downside of this film for me was the build up to the action. For the first 15-30 minutes of the film there is nothing much happening, but then the fun begins. And what follows makes up for the boring bit at the beginning...

ANOTHER FILM WHERE THE TRAILER (AND QUENTIN TARANTINO) EXCEED THE EXPECTATIONS OF THE FILM. LOOKS LIKE AN EXCUSE TO WASTE LOTS OF MONEY BY STRINGING SOME SICK THOUGHTS AND URBAN LEGENDS TOGETHER TO CATER FOR ALL THE GORE HOUNDS OUT THERE. AND WHY OH WHY DID OUR HERO MANAGE TO LOSE TWO GUNS, EVEN IF ONE WAS EMPTY NO ONE KNEW IT WAS ! ALSO I DON'T THINK THAT IF YOUR EYEBALL AND HALF YOUR FACE WAS BURNT OFF WITH A BLOWTORCH THAT YOU WOULD LIMP AWAY - YOU WOULD DIE OF SHOCK. WHAT A WASTE OF A POTENTIALLY GOOD IDEA.

I watched this dvd because i must admit i am a bit of a fan of horror/thriller/gor films which this was diffinately billed as, after watching the first half hour i was begining to wonder were it was going to go as it seemed more like a soft porn film than that of an horror. As i am a man i obviously have no complaints about that however i thought it did lack that gor factor for which i wanted to watch it for in the first place. Having said that as the plot slowly unravels and the gor begins it did have all the classic requirements off blood and gor fans with a twist, that leaves you to ponder on if such things have happened in the past and the madness of some people who would pay so much money just to live out there sick dreams of killing someone however there sick mind desires. I also think that it finshes well leaving you with the feeling that at least at little justice was done, without giving away the full plot i will leave my review at that and say on a final note if you are a male horror fan then this just may be a great film for you, if you are female and not in to seeing naked women just get past the first half hour or so and the plot unravels in to a good film which is the rating i have given. I hope you find the rating of use.

This film was, frankly, very disappointing. Hostel was hyped as incredibly frightening and so disgustingly gory that you wouldn't even be able to look at the screen. This may have been the case if you are 12 years old or have spent your life watching Disney films. If, however, you have ever seen another horror film in which people get killed, this will bore you rigid. There is nothing new, dangerous, exciting or even interesting in this film. The story takes forever to get going, presumably to allow the characters to develop and to create a sense of the scene and the context. This fails dismally as the characters are all 2 dimensional and the context could be explained in about 45 seconds. By the time the 'action' starts you simply can't wait for them to be despatched, just to get it over with. There was no tension, no suspense and absolutely no interest in the thoroughly bland storyline. I would also love to know what any Eastern Europeans thought of the film as all the countries further East than France were portrayed as being populated by juvenile, sex-obsessed, drug-fuelled charicatures.
I was also stunned to discover that Quentin Tarantino had anything to do with this film. He is well known for his originality and ability to shatter emotional boundaries. Unfortunately the only thing that was shattered following this film was my will to live. If you haven't yet watched this turgid pile of fake blood, I suggest you don't waste your time.

fantastic film VERY VERY gory lots of blood , definitely puts you off backpacking!!!!!!!!!!!!!! didnt know any of the actors but very good performances, some sex scenes but nothing too much to get excited about. look out for the little kids in a gang!

Bit of a slow start to this gory torturous blood fest,but when it gets going,boy does it get going.From the director that brought you classics like "Reservoir Dogs" and "Pulp Fiction" this is Tarantino "doing" horror so you can imagine there is a lot to it. Recommended to any slasher,torture type film fans out there! Enjoy.

I like a good horror film and from reading the write up thought this would be agood film
And it was
Very gory ,alot of blood but well worth seeing .Excellent special effects
There was one part which I wasen't expecting the bit with the oriental girl
I will say no more than that , incase anyone who is reading this and hasent watched it yet I certainly jumped at that part

At first this film seems to be all about sex sex sex and randy teens, untill the twist comes and with it some pretty nasty sceens so you need to love pain infliction films and not be squeemish, im not and i thought it was great, though even i had to cringe on occasion.

Well what can i say........
I'm a horror and gore buff.
This film is a let down to say the least.
the only thing good was the beautifull women.
special effects were not to bad but as for overall satisfaction........i dont think so.

the film was shocking as usually i like blood and gore but this was sickening to say the least.the first half was all sex and women and the last half torture.
however, it think this film is a must see and a brilliantly thought out.something ive never seen or experienced before in a film.As the film was so sickening for me it made it a top film somehow.
however i did walk away from the cinema in shock

Ive put below average simply because this was a copy, the film itself is really good and the artwork was really good, it could pass for an original but i knew it wasnt and emailed the person i recied this item off, i was furious i payed £7 for a copy when in the item description i was promised 100% original which it wasnt very dissappointed.

i thought this was a very good film lots of blood!!! not for the faint hearted!!

good acting makes this film a film to go and rent not sure if i would want to see a hostel 2 unlike the saw series where i cant wait for saw 3 !!!

When I first saw Hostel in the theatre, I was a bit taken back that it seemed more like soft core porn than a horror movie. The entire 1st half is basically filled with nude women, and sex.
However, after watching the movie a few times, it really makes sense the way it was put together.
Definately not for folks who can't handle blood, guts, and oozing open wounds! Great effects, and great story line. It's hard to believe places like this really exist in the world.

I love the twist at the end - sweet justice is always a perfect ending.

I was really looking forward to watching this film, as my friend had seen it and loved it and the fact that we pretty much enjoy the same films, I thought this one would be another one for me to add to my favourites list. However I was very wrong....

Most films take a little time to get going, and have a begining, middle and end. This one is split in two! Soft porn to start and all out excessive violence and gore to finish. For the 1st part of the film I sat there saying to my boyfriend "and?" I was bored, where is the plot?
Oh Yeah, its guys backpacking/trying to get laid around Europe and then they get hunted and tourtured. Thats it for the plot Im afraid no clever twists or top list stars. Just boring sex scenes (probably not for the boys) and gut wrenching, horrible, gorey, tourture to follow. I nearly puked and Im used to watching gorey/horror/thrillers.

If you want some gore but do not want to loose your dinner, may I suggest the following:
Saw 1 & 2
The Hills Have Eyes
And for those of you, who have seen the film and its put you off gore for life, may I suggest:
Bambie (just close your eyes when they go in the meadow)

Thanks for reading

This film had a lot of good reviews, and I was looking forward to seeing it but was really disappointed.

As mentioned in other reviews the blood and gore effects are really poor, so you can't suspended your disbelief, and some of the acting is atrocious especially Jay Hernandez who dosen't seem overly concerned about his predicament once the horror section of the film starts.

The real shame is that they have squandered an excellent idea - that of showing two different sides of human exploitation, and you get the feeling that had the script, acting, and effects been better this could have been a classic. If you are after a decent modern horror see SAW instead.

Hostel is a great film that follows American back-packers in Europe. I loved the realistic experiences the characters involved themselves in and the errie, remote villages of Eastern Europe add to the film's power to haunt you.
It took a while to get started (my friend actually thought it was just a film about Amsterdam) but once it started, the suspense was great. The effects and gory scenes were fantastic.
Also, if you consider the extreme behaviour of some individuals in this world you would understand why I viewed this film as quite realistic.
I definately would advise you to watch it and make up your own mind!

I am a total Horror buff, and a huge Quentin Tarantino fan, too, so I was really looking forward to this film.
I wouldn't say it was dissappointing as such - I did enjoy it - but it didn't really live up to the hype it received.
The film takes a long time to build up, with much to-ing and fro-ing between hotels, and not very much happening.
I think much more could have been made of the scenes within the actual 'Hostel' in the title - it could have been a great film instead of a fairly average film.
It was very gory, and the effects were extremely realistic, but i can't help feel that blood and gore was relied upon too much as a selling point, rather than suspense and storyline.

An utterly, utterly disappointing film. A great premise destroyed by Hollywood. The special effects are atrocious and the acting abysmal. One of the worst horror films of all time to be honest. Stick to Japan and Korea for your horror - they know how to do it properly!

I love horror films.I almost exclusively watch horror.I had very high expectations before watching this film.The hype was massive.I was disapointed.Yes there are some disgusting scenes but the needlesly long drawn out opening was so boring it was almost a joke.Not a patch on the SAW serise

Hostel
It seems that today’s horror genre is no longer focusing on fear and bumps in the night, they cut out the middle man and go straight for the gore. It's not a question of how scary a film can get, but how many audiences it can make heave at the amount of blood gore and major gashes that the victims suffer.


The one that really set the trend lately was Saw, audiences were shocked to the core to see a woman raid through a body for a key to a helmet that was going to rip her head open-only catch was that the body she was rummaging through was still alive…This original idea was something so horrifying but still managed to excel in popularity, it also loosened up the restraints for what filmmakers could throw onto the publics laps.

It didn’t stop there though, the Jigsaw man and his twisted games returned for another slice in Saw II. Once again, not holding back on the psychological and visual horror that was executed so well in its previous instalment.

Now, a new film is challenging the Saw series in turning the audience’s stomachs with Hostel, and like the previously reviewed V For Vendetta, this too has a big name stamped all over it, Quentin Tarantino is the executive producer of the film with Eli Roth-who previously directed the gore fest that was Cabin Fever. But just like V, was all the publicity and big names behind the film nothing more then something to brag about?

Set in Europe, Hostel tells the story of three young backpackers who are informed of another youth boarding house not seen on the map somewhere in Slovakia, where the ladies are top notch and have a weakness for American men. Feeling stupid to turn down the chance, the men follow their urges and set off for the dream hostel. Arriving to greet everything they were hoping for, the place is a shag fest. The dream doesn’t last for long though, when it ends up that Paxton (Jay Hernandez) is the only backpacker remaining of the three, he sets out find where his two other buddies have disappeared to-dumbass…

The search for his friends turns quickly to something Paxton could never have imagined in his darkest nightmares, as he is imprisoned and become subject to a perverted world of torture and murder, where people pay to fulfil there darkest desire to decapitate, disfigure and destroy their victims by any means necessary. Paxton is in a life or slow and painful death situation, and he’s going to try very hard to take the first option…

Right, I’m going to get straight to the point if Saw made you heave, Hostel’s going to do pretty much the same job-as I’m sad to say I Saw (pardon the pun) this as pretty much the same thing. In fact, give it a sprinkle of the village folk from An American Werewolf In London and The Wicker Man and you’re there.

Don’t get me wrong this is a very good idea to put on film, but there are certain aspects of it that you’ve probably seen before. A scene in which Paxton enters the village pub seemed so reminiscent of The Slaughtered Lamb from American Werewolf, I was almost shocked to not see the folk warn with “stay off the moors, lad.”

But with all the slaying I’m continuing to give it the one thing it did do a good job in was the horror and fear factor.

Another good Tarantino film. It's a horror film intended to shock and disgust and it does that well. I've seen some gory stuff in my time and was still disturbed by this film. Colleagues of mine think Tarantino has gone too far this time. I think it's a good flick and should be seen if you're into horror, otherwise steer clear.

I brought this purely because everyone went on about how 'gorey' it was and that it was 'horrific',, i watched a few trailers before and thought id give my stomach a test!
To my amazement i didnt really cringe once! I peronally am a true lover of all horror films but the graphics was poor, you didnt get to see much of the gore and the beginning of film seemed to go on forever! I brought and sold on, not really what id call a horror, it has the action but not alot to be honest!!

Whether critics were constantly switching from Hostel to Eastenders or they're analysing the film in too much detail, I still don't know how they can make this film sound rubbish, cheap etc etc!

First of all, let's think about the plot...THERE IS ONE, unlike the extremely samey storylines of friday the 13th parts 1-5 (although I am not trying to knock any of these films, as most are great in their own way)! Of course, people have their own opinions about everything!

Hostel could also be conceived as a 2 act film, ie softcore eroticism/porn, and of course the next best thing: murder, in the similar sick mind of Saw. As we all know, horror films interlink sex with murder on countless slasher movies (Scream, Friday the 13th) and we could say sex lends itself to horror films a great deal. I do understand critics points regarding there being far too much unnecessary sex scenes in the film.

However, I personally believe, emphasised by two americans and an Icelandic off to Europe to discover themselves by way of their sexual needs, the sex vs horror act as such a comparison that the viewer is much more mentally attached to what is happening to the characters portrayed in the later parts of the film. I believe this is due to the innocence of the start of the film (meaning non-horror, not sex lol!) It also means the climax is far more intense than your average horror film as usually there is suspense throughout and way before murders begin. In Hostel, we see very little of this, and due to this the first third of the film could be compared to teenage comedy movies as American Pie, The Quest and so on.

Final Thoughts: If you want something gripping, scary, original, and thought provoking (more than the average horror!) you should definately watch/buy this film. I came away from this film thinking Saw..? Pah! Hostel saws Saw in half!