Hi, everyone. "Moriarty" here with some Rumblings From The Lab...
I know we’ve run a few reviews for this one in the last week or so, but I specifically asked Cbabbitt to go check it out at the test screening. He’s a young guy who went to FanTasia and did a great job covering it for us this summer, and he’s also just recently started his own website so he can collect his thoughts on film. What I like most about Cbabbitt is that he’s at that stage where he’s movie crazy and he’s mainlining films as quickly as he can and he’s still finding out what he loves and what he doesn’t and, more than anything, he just seems open to the possibilities of movies every single time he presses play or buys a ticket. He’s exactly what I like about the audience I’ve gotten to know over the last eight years here at AICN, and so I’m very interested to see what he thought of Eli’s new film. Check this out:
It’s brutal, shocking, difficult to stomach, and hell-bent on making you squirm in your seat. Hostel pulverizes everything the genre has seen in quite a while and clearly indicates Eli Roth has arrived as a talented genre filmmaker. It’s filthy, vile, grotesque, and unhinged. There’s no question Roth set out to make the most profoundly daring and unsettling horror film of the decade. Hostel is ferocious entertainment, a spectacularly intense display of cinematic brutality and malice, not to mention the most juvenile sex fantasy that movies have seen in quite some time. Honestly, the film is reprehensible by any moral standard. It’s mean, gratuitous, relentless, and gritty. It loves its sex and violence and is determined to cause you pain and suffering. Hostel is incredibly suspenseful, even frightening at times.
If you’re a fan of Cabin Fever, let me make it perfectly clear that Hostel is basically the polar opposite. I enjoyed Roth’s debut for its comedic value, but was more than under-whelmed by its horrific side. Roth has made leaps and bounds as a filmmaker since his directorial debut, blending the laughs and horror with seamless ease throughout the entire picture. Even when the film becomes an all out nightmare, Roth still understands how to make an audience snicker. And let me tell you, Hostel certainly becomes a nightmare. We were presented to an NC-17 cut of the film, which I imagine will be its final rating no matter how much is trimmed. The only possible way for Hostel to get an R rating is if Eli Roth releases the “family” edition, shows you three seconds of the lead actors touring Europe, and then immediately rolls the end credits. I don’t think a minute passes by without a shot of nudity or graphic sex or hardcore violence. Hostel is just that type of film. It’s like Eli took John Carpenter, Tobe Hooper, William Freidkin, Paul Verhoeven, Quentin Tarantino(who presents this film), and Takashi Miike(who makes a cameo), blended them together and forced them to create the most savage cinematic monster we’ve seen in ages. The film is genuinely unsettling, with nothing forced or gimmicky. And that’s not to say it’s perfect. I have two major problems with the film, one involving the surprisingly anti-climactic ending. I’d like to keep this review in general terms as much as I can, since spoiling the plot is a great disservice to the film.
Basically, three friends are touring Europe on a quest to get laid. A lot. As you can guess from the title and genre, they arrive at a Hostel that isn’t exactly what it seems to be. That’s all you should know. Honestly, don’t read spoilers for this film. You will be shocked at what you see. The gore effects by KNB are insanely good. I love that Roth takes his time setting up the characters, setting, and atmosphere. The first half of the film is fun and games, with more sex than Eyes Wide Shut.
By the time the first terrifying act of cruelty is unleashed, it hits you like a fucking freight train. It’s pure horror filmmaking. It feels claustrophobic and real. Even though buckets of blood are spilled, it retains that sense of realism and terror without becoming over the top or cartoonish. More importantly, Roth films and paces the violence almost brilliantly. There’s nothing flashy or artificial. Nothing that calls attention to itself. Roth makes sure you witness the carnage in the most uncomfortable of ways. There’s a torture sequence(not the first one) later in the film that is absolutely scary. It’s suspenseful, horrific, and filmed, edited, performed, and scored perfectly. It’s genre filmmaking at it’s finest. I promise none of this praise is hyperbole. I’m not the biggest horror fan in the world, and I was still impressed at how powerfully cinematic it was. The score is pretty standard for the genre, but man, in that one sequence it’s killer. That’s all for spoilers, as minor as they were. Now, I was told a different ending was written and filmed that’s supposedly much more satisfying than the one I saw. I admire what Roth attempted with the final moments of the movie, but unfortunately it lacks the punch that’s necessary for a feeling of closure. It’s dark though, I’ll give him that.
Hostel is one of the best genre films of the year. I can’t wait to see how mainstream audiences and critics react to this beast. Eli Roth has arrived.
Excellent work, man. Thanks. Now go check out Cbabbitt’s site and give the man some feedback on what he can do to get his site up and running.
"Moriarty" out.
