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Hostel (1 Viewer)

Quentin

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Just wondering if anyone else has seen this yet? It is the upcoming new horror film from Eli Roth. Scott? Anyone?

I will say that it is quite twisted and depraved in a delicious, upsetting Miike way (Miike even has a cameo).

Being Roth, it is also at times damned funny.

I think horror fans will eat it up!
 

Rakesh.S

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The trailer for this was played right before Saw 2..It looks like a movie that takes "Saw" to the next level. People getting tortured, yelling, screaming with all sorts of torture devices lying around.
 

Ruz-El

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This is one of the few upcoming horrors I'm actually interested in seeing. I hope it's as gory as it's being set up to be, I'm always dissapointed with the gore level in horror movies these days.
 

Quentin

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It is quite gory. It pulls no punches on the cringe level.

It's also a pretty solid low-budget genre story. The interesting thing for me was how blood-thirsty the audience gets. It results in a pretty rousing and oddly fun finale.
 

Bill McA

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I saw this film last September, thought it was simply OK...nothing great.

The film plays too much to the audience like an amusement ride, rather than trying to create an atmospheric and convincing horror film.
 

Jason Roer

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Very much disliked Eli's first flick (Cabin Fever). I thought it was one of the worst films I'd seen in years. Characters were so unlikable, I found it hard to believe even they considered themselves friends with one another. That beings said, I don't expect too much from Hostel. I like the idea and will probably see it on DVD. But I wouldn't even consider spending the money on it in the theater.

Cheers,

Jason
 

Quentin

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I thought Cabin Fever was ok. I liked the humor.

I think Hostel is much better. I agree somewhat with Bill - it is like an amusement park ride and it plays to the audience. But, it is not supposed to create an atmosphere of anything other than unease. It's not that type of horror. It's a slow burn buildup waiting for the shit to hit the fan. And, I can't imagine not feeling uneasy once things start going wrong.
 

Malcolm R

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I'd say Wolf Creek, though it does have a vibe like Wrong Turn 2, IMO.

BTW, what's up with the marketing of Wolf Creek? I saw the same trailer at least 5 times last night during the hour of Earl/Office on NBC. Saturation is one thing; beating the audience senseless is another.
 

Matt Stone

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I'm a big Cabin Fever fan, so I'll be there. I'm not too impressed with the trailer though.
 

Bradley Newton

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I can't wait to see Hostel, although I'm a bit wary after seeing Wolf Creek last night. I barely made it through that one. Something about torture scenes just makes me squirm right out of my chair. And Hostel is apparently filled with long torture scenes. I'm a horror nut, so I'll be there, but man....the older I get the more it hurts me to watch other folks suffering. I still laugh at good, old-fashioned, over-the-top, Gordon-Lewis-style gore, but the realistic intensity of something like the scenes in Wolf Creek makes me feel all dirty inside.
 

Rhett_Y

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How did you like wolf creek???

This one has me interested... If you go the website, kinda lets you know what you are in for....

R~
 

Bradley Newton

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I have to say that I was absolutely blown away by Wolf Creek. We didn’t know anything about this walking in to it. We thought it was just another cheesy horror movie. It turned out to be one of the most disturbing films I have ever seen. I haven’t felt so shaky and upset since seeing the first Evil Dead in the theater when I was in ninth grade. What makes it even more disturbing is that it’s based on a true story, mostly the Ivan Milat case, and it also borrows from the Bradley Murdoch trial, which just ended last week.
I almost walked out but I am impressed by how well acted and directed it was, while being absolutely repulsed by it. Can you despise a film and admire it at the same time?
What makes it work is the way the first hour is like a documentary and you really get to know and like the characters. I just cannot put into words the intensity that this film has. And it really does fool you. The first hour or more really fools you. You forget that it is a horror movie. And the director does a fantastic job of showing you the geography of the Wolf Creek area of the outback and making you realize just how vast and away from civilization you are. I just cannot tell you the sense of dread that the film builds. Way before anything happens you want to walk out.
There were a lot of walk outs. A lot. And there was (strangely) applause as the credits rolled. I’m glad I saw it. Again, I haven’t had that kind of an experience in a movie theater in decades.
I may see it again, just to admire how technically brilliant it is. And to watch in amazement at John Jarratt’s performance.
I personally recommend not reading too much about Wolf Creek if you're thinking of seeing it, (I’ve tried to be vague) but if you have the stomach for it, I cannot recommend it highly enough. Greg McLean is a director to keep an eye on for this is an unforgettable debut film.
 

James_Kiang

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Slight spoilers to follow, though nothing really beyond what has been in trailers/commercials.
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OK, Hostel was pretty much what I was hoping for from Wolf Creek. I can agree with the comparisons that have been made between this and Takashi Miike's Audition (see that movie, and don't do any research on it). The movie starts out as a buddy-sex film, but undertones of danger are laid throughout. At about the half-way point it shifts the horror/gore into gear and takes off. There is gore, there is blood, there is torture. If these things do not appeal to you, you would probably be better off not seeing this movie. I won't comment more on specifics just yet until people have had a chance to see it.

Overall, especially for its genre, I am leaning towards giving Hostel an 8 out of 10 or B. My brother enjoyed it a little more than I did. It does a lot of things right - lighting and set design perhaps best of all. The acting is acceptable, with the exception of maybe a character or two. For genre fans I can definitely recommend it, but at the same time I think I am getting old. There really is no redeeming value to be found in this movie. Then again, do you really expect anything redeeming in this kind of film? In the past, I would say this would definitely be a dvd purchase, especially if an unrated cut is released (not quite sure what it would include); however, my wife would hate this movie and I wouldn't want my daughter to see any of it. The solution may be to buy it for my brother when it comes out :).
 

Brook K

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I liked Cabin Fever, it had elements of fun but didn't pull it's punches either. I found Wolf Creek to be completely generic and a film I've seen dozens of times before. Nothing about it stood out to me.

Hope to see Hostel in the next couple of weeks. James reviews makes it sound much more interesting than the trailer and TV ads do.
 

Justin_S

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**MAJOR SPOILERS THROUGHOUT**

I wasn't so sure about this one, but I loved it! The party-like atmosphere of the first half of the movie was fine by me, especially with all the creepy little out-of-place moments that were thrown in. These guys are having fun and everything, but it's obvious that something's going on, like an eerie conspiracy. There's just a great foreboding feeling throughout the first half of the film.

Unlike the main group of characters in Cabin Fever, the two main characters in this film were very annoying to me, and I felt no sympathy for them. I liked the Iceland guy though. Naturally, the villains were far more interesting. The businessman with the surgeon fetish was certainly an intriguing individual. As soon as he said he liked to use his hands, I knew he would be one of the participants in the torture factory. The nutcase who tortured Paxton was the most effective though, a very creepy fella with his orgasmic-like breathing at the thrill of it all. Also, Barbara Nedeljakova (Natalya) was extremely gorgeous to say the absolute least, and her shady character's demise had my theater cheering. I was cheering for her though, as Paxton was so unlikable. :D By the way, did anyone else notice that the music in the scene where she is having sex with Josh is Willow's seduction song from The Wicker Man? I found that to be rather odd.

The torture factory provided a very nasty and hellish atmosphere. I loved how it things worked there, with the differing prices for each victim's nationality, and the privacy of your own mini-torture chamber. The hound dog tattoos for the members was a nice touch too. It's just one big club like any other! ;) Takashi Miike's cameo was great! Sure, he has a very minor cameo, but it was just too cool.

The torture scenes were pretty unsettling, and I didn't think the gore effects were the least bit poor. They were downright brutal, and quite realistic to my eyes. The scenes of torture set out to get under the viewer's skin, and in my case, they succeeded. Job well done.

The ending with Paxton getting revenge on the businessman struck me as especially brutal for some reason. I've seen far worse, but this hit pretty hard. Maybe it was because of all the pure rage involved, or maybe it was simply because the guy was on the toilet at the time, hehe. I still love the daughter idea Roth originally had for the ending though.

This is a fantastic film. It explores the fears of being alone in a foreign country, the fears of conspiracy, and the bodily fears of torture, and it explores them all in a very effective, creative manner. While I think I prefer Cabin Fever overall, as far as I'm concerned, Roth is two for two. I will certainly continue to support his future films.
 

JayDerek

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Justin> what 'daughter ending'?

Saw this tonight and thought it was pretty solid.

~Jason
 

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