Hostel Review Country : USA Year: 2005 Genre: Horror Format: Theater Running Time: t/b/a Distributor: Lion's Gate Films Pit of Horror hosted the first official US screening of this movie in Dallas, Texas with Eli Roth present. John Gray loved it and the Pit reckons he is the next master of horror... Credits Written & Directed by Eli Roth. Starring Barbara Nedeljakova, Jay Hernandez, Derek Richardson, Jana Kaderabkova, Eythor Gudjonsson, Jan Vlasák, Jennifer Lim. Stephen King once said, "I have seen the future of horror, and his name is Clive Barker". Well, I have seen the new future of horror and his name is Eli Roth... time to hand over the crown Clive. Eli Roth's Hostel is the most frightening and disturbing film I Have ever seen. Don't take that lightly either. Hostel begins with three backpackers heading to a Slovakian city that promises to meet their hedonistic expectations, with no idea of the hell that awaits them. Seriously, what happens in this film is almost unspeakable... The terrifying film written and directed by Eli Roth, comes fresh off his tremendous success with Cabin Fever and packs in one serious punch. Roth brings us a brilliant follow up, but does not try to repeat the parade of far out shocks, F/X and in-jokes that Cabin Fever so brilliantly gave us. Roth's film has more of an emotional core and really makes it hard to watch at times. The first half of the film provides us with plenty of laughs and more sex and drugs than you can shake a stick at. The second half of the film is brutal, intense, and scary as hell. To know that this film was indeed inspired by true events makes it that much harder to watch. The violence is just plain brutal and sick... this is exploitation at its best, and most pure form. Once again, Roth gives us the perfect screenplay, and the cast to execute it perfectly. There's a lot about this movie that's memorable but the scenes with Barbara Nedeljakova top the list. Nedeljakova does a great job playing Natalya as pure and sweet, but can seriously turn on unrepentant evil and smirk at our fear. Jay (Joy Ride) Hernandez is another stand out in the film and pulls off the fact that his only weapon is a fierce determination that allows him to stare right back at pure evil in a believable way. Derek (Dumb and Dumberer) Richardson does a fine job as well as the hilarious Oli, played by Eythor Gudjonsson. Jan (Dune) Vlasak and Erick (Cellular) Hoffman also kicks us in the teeth a few times with excellent supporting roles. Japanese Master of Horror Takaishi Miike and Roth both make cameos as well. And don't forget about the masters behind the mayhem... KNB EFX provide the grue, and plenty of it. How the hell Hostel wound up getting an R rating is beyond me. There is one scene in particular that involves an eyeball and some scissors that had the entire theater erupting with moans. In the screening Q/A, Eli Roth mentioned that with Hostel, he wanted to make a film akin to Miike's "Audition"... well, he actually wound up making a better film. It works on a totally different level, but also delivers so much more than this reviewer could ask for. I got up after credits started to roll and ran over just to tell Roth that his film was "fucking amazing" and I couldn't wait to see it again. He was more than gracious and as it turns out...not only is he a great director, but a great guy as well. He is truly a fan first, and a filmmaker second. That is the reason that Quentin Tarantino is so great! Its also quite a coincidence that Tarantino wound up being involved with the film... he knows what the fuck he is doing and can smell raw talent a mile away. As a wannabe writer/director myself, people like Eli Roth and Quentin Tarantino inspire the hell out of me and I'm sure plenty of others. Eli Roth has already proven to be one of the new masters of horror, I just can't wait to see what he does next. Hostel opens nationwide January 6th, 2006 and definitely earns the Pit of Horror seal of approval! OFFICIAL SITE ELI ROTH'S BLOG VIEW THE TRAILER INTERVIEW WITH ELI ROTH DISCUSS ON OUR FORUMS Review by John Gray, for Pitofhorror.com