Hostel (2005)

Director:

Eli Roth

Writer (WGA):

Eli Roth (written by)

Release Date:

6 January 2006 (USA)

Genre:

Horror | Thriller

Tagline:

Welcome To Your Worst Nightmare

Plot:

Three backpackers head to a Slovakian city that promises to meet their hedonistic expectations, with no idea of the hell that awaits them.

Plot Keywords:

Foreigner | Gory | Car Run Over | Perverse | Gay Slur

Awards:

4 wins & 5 nominations

Cast

Jay Hernandez	...	Paxton
Derek Richardson	...	Josh
Eythor Gudjonsson	...	Oli
Barbara Nedeljakova	...	Natalya
Jan Vlasák	...	The Dutch Businessman
Jana Kaderabkova	...	Svetlana
Jennifer Lim	...	Kana
Keiko Seiko	...	Yuki
Lubomir Bukovy	...	Alex
Jana Havlickova	...	Vala
Rick Hoffman	...	The American Client
Petr Janis	...	The German Surgeon
Takashi Miike	...	Miike Takashi
Patrik Zigo	...	Bubble Gum Gang Leader (as Zigo Patrik)
Milda Jedi Havlas	...	Desk Clerk Jedi

Runtime:

94 min | Philippines:93 min (cut)

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Czech | German | Dutch | Slovak | Japanese | Icelandic | Russian | Spanish

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Finland:K-18 | South Korea:Limited (original rating) | Malaysia:(Banned) (theatrical) | South Korea:18 (re-rating) (cut) | Italy:VM14 | Iceland:16 | Portugal:M/18 | Australia:R | USA:R (certificate #42205) | Netherlands:16 | Singapore:R21 (cut) | Brazil:18 | Hungary:18 | Argentina:16 | Germany:Not Rated (SPIO/JK) (extended version) | Belgium:KNT | Sweden:15 | Switzerland:18 (canton of Geneva) | South Africa:16 | Norway:18 (self applied) (with warning) | Hong Kong:III | Japan:R-18 | France:-16 (with warning) | Malaysia:18SG (unrated DVD version) | Canada:18A (Alberta/British Columbia/Manitoba/Nova Scotia/Ontario) | Philippines:R-18 (MTRCB) | Germany:18 (nf) | Switzerland:18 (canton of Vaud) | New Zealand:R18 | UK:18 | Mexico:D | Canada:18+ (Quebec)

Filming Locations:

Cesky Krumlov, Czech Republic

Company:

Hostel LLC

Trivia:

The crate that Paxton hides behind at the train station had to be painted over, because the production design team put the words "Made in Slovakia" on it. Eli Roth thought it would seem strange for a Slovakian crate to have English words on it.

Goofs:

Continuity: In the scene with the torture of the "American" character, we can see the man inflicting the torture is visibly uncomfortable. At one point, he removes his face mask from his left ear, but the right ear remains on. Moments later, he's seen in the reflection of the mirror replacing the strap on the right ear, as it hangs from his left.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Paxton: Amsterdam, motherfucker!

Movie Connections:

Features Chodník cez Dunaj (1989) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Pravda Vitazi

Good idea...turned to generic garbage.

This movie really could have been so much more. The idea would have been much better off with someone who actually wanted to make a decent movie, instead of a porno gorefest. The first half of the movie consists almost entirely of sex, talk of sex, drugs, and talk of drugs. Instead of, hey, maybe develop the characters a little so the audience might care about them and make their plights a little more tense, the filmmakers decided to have a lot of party scenes and annoying main characters acting like idiots until, uh oh, we didn't plan on being tortured, oops! The sad thing is, there are hints of something more intelligent beneath the surface, but the surface is piled so high with garbage that it's lost. For example, while at a sex club (wow, original!) one of the characters mentions something along the lines of "paying to do anything you want to a person," of course he means sexually, but we know the basic plot of the movie involves the same concept with death and torture instead of sex. One of the characters is supposed to seem like a nice guy, but still never really develops enough for us to care. The main character has absolutely no depth other than a childhood story and his shallow interaction with his friend. The last half or so of the movie actually starts to gain momentum, and the first half not been an entire waste of film, I could have walked away with more than a feeling that I'd just watched 15 minutes of an okay movie, and an hour and fifteen minutes of porn and senseless gore. Sadly enough, the idea of this movie was put into the wrong hands. A little less than halfway through, my friend turned to me and said, "Maybe I picked up the wrong movie..." to which I replied, "Yeah, I think you got Eurotrip by accident." I am baffled as to why they decided to write the first half like they did. I guess I was hoping for something deeper. Don't watch this expecting anything special, be ready for lots of nudity and lots of incredibly disturbing gore mixed randomly, the two not even seeming to fit like they would in a slasher flick.