Hostel (2005)

Three backpackers head to a Slovak city that promises to meet their hedonistic expectations, with no idea of the hell that awaits them.

Director:

Eli Roth

Writer:

Eli Roth

Stars:

Jay Hernandez, Derek Richardson, Eythor Gudjonsson

4 wins & 11 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jay Hernandez	...	Paxton
Derek Richardson	...	Josh
Eythor Gudjonsson	...	Oli
Barbara Nedeljakova	...	Natalya
Jan Vlasák	...	The Dutch Businessman
Jana Kaderabkova	...	Svetlana
Jennifer Lim	...	Kana
Keiko Seiko	...	Yuki
Lubomír Bukový	...	Alex
Jana Havlickova	...	Vala
Rick Hoffman	...	The American Client
Petr Janis	...	The German Surgeon
Takashi Miike	...	Miike Takashi
Patrik Zigo	...	Bubble Gum Gang Leader (as Zigo Patrik)
Milda Jedi Havlas	...	Desk Clerk Jedi

Storyline

3 backpackers are in Amsterdam where they get locked out of their youth hostel. They are invited into a man's house where he tells them of a hostel somewhere in eastern Europe where the women are all incredibly hot and have a taste for American men. When they get there, everything is too good to be true - the hostel is "to die for"

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Plot Keywords:

hostel | europe | bratislava | backpacker | slovakia | 

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Taglines:

10,000 people are killed in America each year. Over 2,000 with firearms. Americans... they have no imagination...

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Genres:

Horror

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for brutal scenes of torture and violence, strong sexual content, language and drug use

Details

Official Sites:

Gaumont Columbia Tristar [fr] Lions Gate Films [us]

Country:

USA

Language:

English Czech German Dutch Slovak Japanese Icelandic Russian Spanish

Release Date:

6 January 2006 (USA)

Also Known As:

Hostal

Filming Locations:

Cesky Krumlov, Czech Republic

Box Office

Budget:

$4,500,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$74,276 (South Africa) (28 April 2006)

Gross:

$197,565 (South Africa) (5 May 2006)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Hostel LLC, International Production Company, Next Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

94 min 93 min (cut)

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Le Monde named this as one of its ten best films of 2006. Only two other American films made the list: Terrence Malick's The New World and Martin Scorsese's The Departed.

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Goofs

Alex, when showing pictures of the girls says that because of the war there are no guys in Slovakia. There has in fact been no war in Slovakia since 1945.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Paxton: Amsterdam, motherfucker!

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Crazy Credits

Eli Roth Thanks The Boston Redsox

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Connections

Followed by Hostel: Part II (2007)

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Soundtracks

"V Slepych Ulickach"
Written by Meky Zbirka and Kamil Peteraj
Performed by Meky Zbirka and Marika Gombitová
Courtesy of Opus Records

User Reviews

Good horror, non-existent story

I like a rip-roaring horror movie as much as the next guy, but this one just didn't do it for me. It certainly felt like it hit all the necessary marks, from nudity and dismemberment to bloody revenge, but at the conclusion, it just felt like eating cotton candy - no real nutritional value, just a sense that I had satisfied some of my prurient appetite without any logical payoff.

The movie was slow in getting started and then the sprinted to a singularly boggling ending. I walked out of the theater asking, "What was the point of all that?" And while this is described as horror, it really should be classified as thriller. There was no explanation or clever twist at the end. Just the end. I'm sure that it will attract an enthusiastic audience of young adults, but the evisceration by the critics will stem any hopes of huge box office.

If your expectations are low enough, and your tastes in gore sufficiently robust, then you are in for a good time. Otherwise, skip this and see a classic Hitchcock film. You'll feel better about yourself.