The latest effort from writer-director Eli Roth (Cabin Fever) certainly has a good ad campaign on its side that borrows the "hook" from many 70's horror flicks by claiming people have passed out during screenings having to be whisked away by an ambulance and it also gets more push due the fact that Quentin Tarantino has put his name above the title as "Presents." - even though some people I've talked to think he actually directed the movie, showing just how knowledgable about movies they really are. Plus it has Lions Gate's usual stellar poster art to draw you in and a title that, I'm assuming, is an intentional wordplay on "Hostile". But is it any good? Can it make me forget the horrible taste left in my mouth by Roth's debut film? Read on to find out.

Despite the television ads promising a visceral, unsettling thrill ride from the get go, director-writer Eli Roth decides to build-up his story gradually introducing us to backpacking American friends Paxton (Jay Hernandez) and Josh (Derek Richardson) who have picked-up fellow traveller Oli (Eythor Gudjonsson) along the way and have ended-up in Amsterdam on their journey.

Living up the nightlife smoking marijuana and pursuing women, the three friends soon hook-up with Alex (Lubomir Silhavecky) who tells them about a hostel in a small Slovakian town where there's parties all the time and the women not only have a thing for Americans, but are easy to get into bed. Taking his advice to heart they head-off to said city and things seem to be going good at first as they meet-up with a couple of hot local girls, have a night of passionate sex, and wake up the next day not wanting to leave the town.

However, Oli has gone missing through the night without saying anything leading Paxton and Josh to mount a search for their missing friend. But things are about to get "not so fun" as it turns out that the nearby abandoned factory is the spot of a bizarre operation that lets various rich men pay in order to torture various, young kidnapped travellers (who are being handpicked from various hostels) in whatever way they seem fit.

It's from here that Hostel cranks into high gear and kicks your ass black and blue. After a relatively dry first half the movie throws away it's aspirations to be the next Eurotrip and becomes a full-blooded, and at times disturbing, picture of human depravity. Sure, the concept of "humans as meat" was been done before but Roth manages to do it with such panache that you can't help to enjoy the ride.

Roth doesn't hesitate to throw-out various tense moments of torture (involving such things as metal claws, chainsaws, and even a blowtorch) and effects masters Gregory Nicotero and Howard Berger are more than willing to oblige giving us some nice and gooey gore effects (like a cringe worthy moment involving an eyeball that makes one appreciate practical effects even more). But there's also some truly deranged offbeat humour wedged in there and Roth has given the entire thing a dirty, unpleasant look the fits the premise perfectly. Throw into the fact the acting is all-around solid (Hernandez gives a great impression in the lead) and there's plenty of pleasing scenes of "getting yours" in the script and it's easy to forgive the slower going start and a few moments of "yeah right."

If you've been visiting this site for any length of time you know I absolutely despised Cabin Fever. At the time I recognized Roth's love for the genre and his passion and was hoping he'd be able to redeem himself - Hostel is that redemption. (Chris Hartley, 1/8/06)

Directed By: Eli Roth.
Written By: Eli Roth.

Starring: Jay Hernandez, Derek Richardson, Eythor Gudjonsson, Barbara Nedeljakova.