Stars: Lenka Vlasakova, Jan Vlasak, Jay Hernandez, Eythor Gudjonsson, Shane Daly, Derek Richardson

Director: Eli Roth

Summary: Two young Americans embark upon a backpacking trip across Europe. A fellow traveller recommends a hostel in Bratislava that is full of attractive women who love Americans. However when the two men arrive at their destination, they find themselves in a terrifying situation.

The hallowed tradition of the post-college European backpacking trip turns into an unimaginable nightmare for two unsuspecting American 20-somethings in Eli Roth's (CABIN FEVER) sensational second outing. Paxton (Jay Hernandez) and Josh (Derek Richardson) have embarked upon a hedonistic tour of the continent, and somewhere along the way pick up travelling companion Oli (Eythor Gudjonsson). In Amsterdam the trio partakes of the pastimes most dear to frat boys everywhere: weed, prostitutes, and nightclubs. But when a fellow traveller tells these thrill-seekers about the decadent scene that awaits them in Bratislava, they find themselves unable to resist its lures; enticed by the promise of a hostel full of beautiful girls who love Americans, they set out for the remote areas of Eastern Europe. There, the sex farce to which the film's first half is devoted slowly turns ominous, as the boys hook up immediately with the gorgeous Natalya (Barbara Nedeljakova) and Svetlana (Jana Kaderabkova), whose eagerness masks more sinister intentions. Soon, the disagreeable backpackers find themselves on the other side of the flesh trade, sold by the girls into an exclusive human trafficking operation that gives its customers the opportunity to torture and kill a helpless victim. Much of what follows consists of the squirm-inducing surgical horrors that characterise precursors such as SAW, with the implications regarding the capitalist system and the human soul becoming ever darker. Produced by Quentin Tarantino, the film amps up the gore factor as much as it can get away with, and, in the tradition of the best horror films, offers a satirical socially conscious commentary.

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Well-made for the genre--the excessive-skin-displayed-before-gruesome-bloody-torture-begins genre--Hostelfollows two randy Americans (Jay Hernandez, Friday Night Lights, and Derek Richardson, Dumb and Dumberer: When Harry Met Lloyd) and an even randier Icelander (Eythor Gudjonsson) as they trek to Slovakia, where they're told beautiful girls will have sex with anyone with an American accent. Unfortunately, the girls will also sell young Americans to a company that offers victims to anyone who will pay to torture and murder. To his credit, writer/director Eli Roth (Cabin Fever) takes his time setting things up, laying a realistic foundation that makes the inevitable spilling of much blood all the more gruesome. The sardonic joke, of course, is that Americans are worth the most in this brothel of blood because everyone else in the world wants to take revenge upon them. This dark humor and political subtext help set Hostelabove its more brainless sadistic compatriots, like House of Waxor The Devil's Rejects. In general, though, there's something lacking; horror used to suggest some threat to the spirit--today's horror can conceive of nothing more troubling than torturing the flesh. For aficionados, Hostelfeatures a nice cameo by Takashi Miike, director of bloody Japanese flicks like Auditionand Ichi the Killer. --Bret Fetzer

Aspect Ratio:	2.35 Anamorphic Wide Screen
Main Language:	English
Region:	Region B
Subtitles:	Dutch, Finnish, Danish, Hebrew, Greek, Hindi, Czech, Norweigan, Hungarian, English, Arabic, Swedish, Turkish, Polish
Year:	2005
Release Date:	October 16, 2006
Runtime:	90 minutes
Certification:
Catalogue Number:	S B R 40859
Keywords:	General, Horror, Occult, Hostel
Genre:	Horror/Occult