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:

Dancing | Shot In The Chest | Screaming | Slit Throat | Laughing

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

MPAA:

Rated R for brutal scenes of torture and violence, strong sexual content, language and drug use.

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:

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

Filming Locations:

Cesky Krumlov, Czech Republic

Company:

Hostel LLC

Trivia:

At the train station near the end of the movie, which probably is supposed to be in Austria after crossing the border, most of the signs and print stuff is in German of course. However, you can see several posters in Czech. One of the German posters is an ad for some fictitious movie that's "out on DVD now", saying "Jetzt auch am DVD", where it should read "Jetzt auch auf DVD".

Goofs:

Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): Closely after the beginning of the movie, one of the characters speaks about the fact that in Slovakia there are so many women and so few men left because the war had nearly killed them all. The last military conflict that took place in Czechoslovakia (which at the time was formed by the actual Czech Republic and Slovakia) was the soviet military intervention in 1968, meant to stop the people's movements against the communist regime, and it can hardly be called a "war". But this may have simply been a ploy to get them to go there.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Paxton: Amsterdam, motherfucker!

Movie Connections:

Spoofed in Hostile (2007) (V)

Soundtrack:

Drzim Ti Miesto

Eli Roth redeems himself with the kick-ass Hostel

I was one of those people that hated everything about Cabin Fever. I wasn't anticipating Eli Roth's next film, but when I heard the Internet buzz around Hostel, and found it was showing at the 2005 TIFF (Toronto International Film Festival), I decided to check it out.

Eli Roth, who was at the screening, mentioned to the audience that this was the first public viewing in North America. He also told us what we were about to see was a work in progress print of the film. What I saw was one hell of a fierce horror flick that works on every level.

All the actors do a great job in this flick. I was especially impressed with Jay Hernandez, and Derek Richardson, two relatively unknown actors. There are a lot of funny scenes, and dialog in the early parts of the film. It's not that slapstick, forced stuff that was so prevalent in Cabin Fever. There also lots of nudity in the early parts in the film as well. When things begin to turn towards horror, you truly feel the sense of terror the characters are going through. The build up to the climax is just done so well. I loved the fact the story is very believable.

Make no mistake about it, this is a violent, sick, and gory flick. It's not for the squeamish. I haven't seen this type of extreme violence in a North America mainstream cinema. The Takashi Miike, and Asian Cinema influences are clearly seen here.

This is a film that will shock people, and remain in there heads well after the film is over. It will be interesting to see how the film is edited, and rated. In it's current state, I don't see how it could get anything less than the dreaded NC-17 rating. I just hope that it's not butchered too much, as the audience deserves to see the film how it was intended. Eli Roth has completely redeemed himself for what I thought was a very poor film in Cabin Fever, and has made one kick-ass horror film.