There's no "R" in HOSTEL

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Remo D
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There's no "R" in HOSTEL

Post by Remo D »

An "R?" HOSTEL gets an "R?"

I'm convinced now. PG-13 is the new "R" (but they'll let anybody in), and "R" is the new "NC-17" (but they'll still let you in if your mom and dad bring you).

And the very idea that anybody would bring children to see this? Hey, I was upset enough when my parents wound up seeing WOLF CREEK, but HOSTEL pushes the nasty business to levels even eye wasn't expecting. One moment in particular eye will remember as long as eye live. An "R." Still can't get over it.

After all I said about movies like WOLF CREEK and extended torture sequences, I approached HOSTEL with near-reluctance, believe it or not. Sure, Eli Roth had scored a favorite-of-the-year hit with me with CABIN FEVER, but then again, William Malone stuck me with FEARDOTCOM as a follow-up to HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL (another favorite in my book).

But the alternative? I could have driven to the next town and seen BLOODRAYNE instead!!!!

Screw that. I may be a completist, but something like that would have to be the ONLY game in town for me to risk it. Uwe Boll can wait for DVD.

Well, I should have known. HOSTEL does, indeed, contain some truly horrific torture set-pieces (as I subtly hinted earlier). But it has much, much more to offer.

The opening passages made me wonder--there's some awkward exposition and far-too-obvious setups for moments you know are on their way. Oh, and I couldn't get the EUROTRIP "hash bar" sequence out of my head, either. But Roth has once again put together a believable, likable cast of characters, and you won't WANT to see horrible things happen to them.

Okay--for those of you who hated CABIN FEVER? You should know that Roth got plenty out of his system with that movie. The in-jokes are far less obvious, the musical references are restrained but no less inspired (the cover of the WICKER MAN "How Do" song couldn't have been better-timed), and there's no out-and-out "HUH?" material ("Pancakes! Pancakes!"). But HOSTEL, like its predecessor, takes place in a world in which only the locals know the rules--tourists beware.

And yet you DO get plenty of surprises (not to mention sinister children, who are thankfully not present in the torture-chamber scenes). And more truly sick laughs, which is no small accomplishment. After what you're subjected to in the chamber scenes, the very idea that the film could provoke any sort of laugh at all should seem utterly impossible, but it manages to score both laughs (not of the mocking variety that some cretins in the WOLF CREEK audience provided) and even APPLAUSE for certain moments.

I can say in all honesty that I was not ahead of the movie step-for-step, and that even though the horror elements made me cringe violently, I simply could not turn away because I had to see what was around the next corner.

CABIN FEVER was a terrific "cover" tribute to early 70's horror. But Eli Roth has definitely grown up in the meantime--so if you've got the stomach, in you go.
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Post by Kimberly »

Tits 'n' ass 'n' gore... and an enjoyable story too boot

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Post by mickey brown-eye »

I liked when the little kid bashed the guys skull in with a mallet
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Post by Angelica »

Am I seriously the only one that thought this movie was just silly?! I found myself laughing way more than I had hoped/expected. I didn't think the effects were too great, I didn't like how for the most part, they didn't show any actual wounding, just the approach followed by the aftermath... the music was weird, they could be talking about something as mundane as what they had for lunch and the music would be all dramatic with a big scary build and then suddenly *nothing*... just the next scene. They threw in a bunch of basically soft porn to divert your attention, but the breasts sure as hell weren't nice enough to distract me. I went with a girl that was a self proclaimed "wussie" and she quit covering her eyes when she realized, it just wasn't scary.

It was entertaining though, as I said, I laughed a bunch and I was stoked when the two bitches got ran over.
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Post by Angelica »

Something I thought was interesting:


http://forums.lgf.com/showthread.php?t=1661
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Post by Griff [Mola] »

I can see I'll have to avoid this topic until I've seen this movie before you dumb fucks ruin the entire thing for me.
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Post by shawn »

Angelica wrote:Am I seriously the only one that thought this movie was just silly?! I found myself laughing way more than I had hoped/expected. I didn't think the effects were too great, I didn't like how for the most part, they didn't show any actual wounding, just the approach followed by the aftermath... the music was weird, they could be talking about something as mundane as what they had for lunch and the music would be all dramatic with a big scary build and then suddenly *nothing*... just the next scene. They threw in a bunch of basically soft porn to divert your attention, but the breasts sure as hell weren't nice enough to distract me. I went with a girl that was a self proclaimed "wussie" and she quit covering her eyes when she realized, it just wasn't scary.

It was entertaining though, as I said, I laughed a bunch and I was stoked when the two bitches got ran over.
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Post by Angelica »

shawn wrote:Goddamn you are fucking clueless.
Did you write this fucking movie???? I had no idea that you had such close personal ties to it, which you must, given your response. I am sure being disagreed with is not so unusual to you that it would invoke such a response, so maybe you are just really pissed off in general? Sucks to be you I guess.


So, I didn't think the movie was worth 7.00, big fucking deal, guess we will never go to a movie together.:rolleyes:
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Post by steven_millan »

Remo D wrote:An "R?" HOSTEL gets an "R?"

I'm convinced now. PG-13 is the new "R" (but they'll let anybody in), and "R" is the new "NC-17" (but they'll still let you in if your mom and dad bring you).

And the very idea that anybody would bring children to see this? Hey, I was upset enough when my parents wound up seeing WOLF CREEK, but HOSTEL pushes the nasty business to levels even eye wasn't expecting. One moment in particular eye will remember as long as eye live. An "R." Still can't get over it.

After all I said about movies like WOLF CREEK and extended torture sequences, I approached HOSTEL with near-reluctance, believe it or not. Sure, Eli Roth had scored a favorite-of-the-year hit with me with CABIN FEVER, but then again, William Malone stuck me with FEARDOTCOM as a follow-up to HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL (another favorite in my book).

But the alternative? I could have driven to the next town and seen BLOODRAYNE instead!!!!

Screw that. I may be a completist, but something like that would have to be the ONLY game in town for me to risk it. Uwe Boll can wait for DVD.

Well, I should have known. HOSTEL does, indeed, contain some truly horrific torture set-pieces (as I subtly hinted earlier). But it has much, much more to offer.

The opening passages made me wonder--there's some awkward exposition and far-too-obvious setups for moments you know are on their way. Oh, and I couldn't get the EUROTRIP "hash bar" sequence out of my head, either. But Roth has once again put together a believable, likable cast of characters, and you won't WANT to see horrible things happen to them.

Okay--for those of you who hated CABIN FEVER? You should know that Roth got plenty out of his system with that movie. The in-jokes are far less obvious, the musical references are restrained but no less inspired (the cover of the WICKER MAN "How Do" song couldn't have been better-timed), and there's no out-and-out "HUH?" material ("Pancakes! Pancakes!"). But HOSTEL, like its predecessor, takes place in a world in which only the locals know the rules--tourists beware.

And yet you DO get plenty of surprises (not to mention sinister children, who are thankfully not present in the torture-chamber scenes). And more truly sick laughs, which is no small accomplishment. After what you're subjected to in the chamber scenes, the very idea that the film could provoke any sort of laugh at all should seem utterly impossible, but it manages to score both laughs (not of the mocking variety that some cretins in the WOLF CREEK audience provided) and even APPLAUSE for certain moments.

I can say in all honesty that I was not ahead of the movie step-for-step, and that even though the horror elements made me cringe violently, I simply could not turn away because I had to see what was around the next corner.

CABIN FEVER was a terrific "cover" tribute to early 70's horror. But Eli Roth has definitely grown up in the meantime--so if you've got the stomach, in you go.


Very interesting view that you have there about the current state(and heavy usage)of the PG-13 and R ratings Remo,for I've heavily noticed that the PG-13 stuff is somewhat more aimed at the 35-60 aged crowd(when it comes to films such as "The Sixth Sense" and "White Noise"),while the R-rated stuff seems to be more aimed toward the 13-35 aged crowd.

Yeah,everyone complains about there being too many PG-13 films,but yet it's gotten back to the 70s where there were many PG-rated horror films in theaters and nobody complained about them then(since they were more ballsy and adult orientated),which make a great diveristy of films that are out there for the horror crowd(whether they're heavily gory or barely gory).

And yes,"Hostel" 's success has proven that those ballsy doom-and-gloom horror films("The Devil's Rejects","Wolf Creek",the "House Of Wax" redux)are pretty much here to stay(and are the popular wave of genre films for the moment).
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Post by shawn »

Angelica wrote:Did you write this fucking movie???? I had no idea that you had such close personal ties to it, which you must, given your response. I am sure being disagreed with is not so unusual to you that it would invoke such a response, so maybe you are just really pissed off in general? Sucks to be you I guess.


So, I didn't think the movie was worth 7.00, big fucking deal, guess we will never go to a movie together.:rolleyes:
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Post by Chris Slack »

Good stuff, I am looking forward to a DVD release.
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Post by HUNTKILLBURYFINN »

ye i thought it was quiete good---entertained me any ways, hehe sorry shawn bruv i liked it
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Post by Evil Red »

Holy Fuck !

I really liked it, but was starting to wonder what the big deal was all about with the seeming lack of violence. That is until the surprisingly graphic torture scenes arrived... whoo !

Gotta say, it sure as hell br-eye-ghtned up my Friday the 13th !
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Post by steven_millan »

Angelica wrote:Did you write this fucking movie???? I had no idea that you had such close personal ties to it, which you must, given your response. I am sure being disagreed with is not so unusual to you that it would invoke such a response, so maybe you are just really pissed off in general? Sucks to be you I guess.


So, I didn't think the movie was worth 7.00, big fucking deal, guess we will never go to a movie together.:rolleyes:

Who knows,for those three main characters(Jay Hernandez and his fellow drunken,sex starved friends) in the movie did remind me of the Blackest Heart gang and their alcohol-fueled adventures at various genre conventions in the earily and mid 90s. And the splatter was pretty much up to the Blackest Heart/Deep Red standards,with the Gore Score running up to 10.

And yes,this film is worth every penny(and dollar) to go on out and see....
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Post by Lode »

I thought it was alright. Good acting and an interesting plot for a horror film. Though to me, it just wasn't scary. It was just a little suspensful until you find out what's really going on near the end. The gore wasn't even too bad, and I thought it was weird how there wasn't that much actually shown. It's more about what goes on in your own head than what's shown on screen.

I'll definitely want to see this one again.
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Post by DylanDog »

I thought it was a ton of fun. I wouldn't say it exactly broke new ground or anything like that, but it was a real good time. Apparently they are already talking sequel which I guess shouldn't be a surprise.
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Post by Latte Thunder »

What the fuck? Eli really took it easy on us with Cabin Fever. This was just about as grimy an afair as I thought it would be. Hardcore all the way. How the hell has this been happening lately, anyway? It seems like this time last year, the horror market was very much in favor of the teen audience with its PG-13 ratings, but between this and the Devil's Rejects (and maybe even the Hills remake), it looks as if horror is becoming much more savage.

Hostel really played both sides of the horror fence well. On the obvious side, it was extremely gruesome. The last half of the movie was extremely unsettling. However, grue usually doesn't freak me out. The movie had a great angle that I found struck a chord with me. Disconnected from familiar customs, having no understanding of the local language and having no real idea of your location is a particularly frightening idea to me (following a personal episode of getting in Europe) . Throw in the plausability of this movie's situation with shady Russian mob overtones and it's not inconceivable that remote, former communist bloc villages may, in fact, be home to murder tourist clubs.

Definitely a great movie. Eli Roth has a bright future ahead of him in the genre.

The Takashi Miike cameo was cool, too.
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Post by steak »

man i loved this movie bit of a dull start though lucky there was boobies to keep me company until the blow torching of eyeballs
hahaha so pretty
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