Horror Origins: Hostel

Did you know that director Eli Roth is on camera in the Amsterdam Hookah Bar?  I probably didn't notice him the first time I saw it because I had absolutely no idea what the hell he looked like.  Thanks to interviews and Inglorious Basterds, I can now spot a wild Eli Roth 8 times out of 10.

            Now, I've written a lot about the horror genre.  I mean hell, you're reading an entry in the 'Horror Origins' series.  I've also written a lot about the subgenre of torture porn.  For those of you who forget or haven't read my previous entries, torture porn is the horror subgenre that takes violence to a whole new and often sadistic level. 

            Yes there is often nudity in such movies, which many people confuse for the 'porn' part of the title.  However, the porn actually comes about from the fact that the 'torture' portion is so lovingly crafted.  The joke is that the directors of these films must have found the torture stuff so erotic that it was over-emphasized in far more detail and frequency than most films would allow.

            That being said, do you know what movie basically developed the modern version of the torture porn film?

            If you said Hostel, then you can just go ahead and give yourself 10 points.  10000 points can be redeemed for a free monogrammed handkerchief at the ticket counter.

            On to the review!

            The reason Hostel got so many people excited was because, for a horror movie, it was good.  (For the record, I hate that phrasing.  "Oh, it was okay, for a horror movie."  "Yeah, they were fun, for a rock band."  "Sure, it was fine, for a colonoscopy.")

            There was violence, intrigue and good acting,  It had an interesting plot, boobies, and it was believable.  This combination of events made it a hit and opened the door for other, more hyper-realistic, extremely violent films.  Unfortunately for us, those films often faltered or flat-out fell face-first on the concrete.  They always lacked something, leaving Hostel as some sort of unattainable symbol of perfection within the genre.

            It's funny to think about it that way, seeing as how it has a barely-above-average rating on most websites, and it's not like people mention it in everyday conversation along with films like The Godfather.  But for fans of the genre, it is quite possibly the best example of a good torture film.  Hostel is torture porn's Saving Private Ryan.  Sure, there are lots of other similar movies, many of them good, but both manage to epitomize exactly what makes a great movie great within the boundaries of their respective genres.

            You know what?  I've tried three times now to talk about what happens in the film and have failed miserably every time.  The fact that I don't think the plot description matters in this review says something about both the film and the genre.  As much as I love horror films, many sub-genres do tend to get very predictable, and torture-porn is more predictable than most. 

            Plus, you already know if you'll like Hostel and nothing I say will change your mind.  You either enjoy crazy, violent films or you have no interest in being within ten feet of the DVD case. 

            For fans, the biggest shames surrounding Hostel are its sequels and the failed hype it brought to the genre at large.  I can think of very few examples of a sequel failing so fantastically.  What made Hostel so popular was, in part, its fresh plot.  People being kidnapped and then murdered by bored rich people willing to pay for a rush?  That's freaking insane! 

            Oh, wait, the sequel is going to be that same exact thing?  Meh.

            On top of that, the industry as a whole didn't really know what to do with Hostel's success.  It's hard to make direct imitations of a movie that has such a limited scope, but it's also a lot of work to keep things fresh in such a specific genre.  Unfortunately for us, Hollywood is arguably much better at pumping out look-alikes than they are at staying fresh.  Yeah, a lot of the blame falls on us for spending money on such material, but it still sucks all around. 

            Sure, Human Centipede and a few other films tried to be like big Uncle Hostel, but they mostly failed at being either entertaining or good, oftentimes both.  While Saw did come out a year before Hostel, it was not nearly as depraved a film.  (I will agree that the later installments are far more violent than Hostel but they keep forgetting to make the movie interesting.  Or good.  Or worth anyone's time.)

            So, if you want a good example of the genre that doesn't take it too far (I'm looking at you, A Serbian Film) but still has enough violence to make you squirm, you can't go wrong with Hostel.  Unfortunately, as a series it did not show any staying power.  In fact, I'm genuinely surprised they made it to three.