Hostel
By Cory Peynado, Blockbuster.co.uk

“I always wanted to be a surgeon. But the boards would not pass me. Can you guess why?”

Director Eli Roth pushes the boundary, bursts through the gate and looks through the key hole with his new gore-filled hack ‘n’ slash movie, Hostel. Completely unmerciful throughout, Hostel shines a torch light into some of the darker corners of Eastern Europe and, (based on true events) gives us a fictitious and gruesome account of the terrors that can await us behind the scariest closed doors.

American backpackers Paxton ( Jay Hernandez) and Josh ( Derek Richardson) are both travelling with their newly acquainted friend Oli (Eythor Gudjonsson). They make it to Amsterdam with the distinct aim of hooking up with every girl, going to every party and smoking every substance they can find. And they are not disappointed. It seems that as soon as they get there all of their greatest fantasies are coming true, but the fella’s also quickly learn that things are not always what they seem.

The first girls they hook up with are Natalya (Barbara Nedeljáková) and Svetlana (Jana Kaderabkova); two beautiful women who are more than happy to give the boys a guided tour of some of the countries many pleasures. No one notices that Oli has disappeared; Paxton and Josh are too busy having a good time, living it up and enjoying themselves. But when Josh disappears, Paxton becomes worried. No phone calls, no messages, his friends have just vanished.

After looking for his friends, Paxton wakes up tied to a chair with the strong sounds of a rusty chainsaw whizzing by his ears. It isn’t long before he figures out that his friends must be in the same torturous position.

The Verdict:
A complete marmite-film, with the majority proudly swaying towards the loving it side. Ok, so perhaps it’s not for the faint hearted but any attempts to “dumb down” the movie would have turned it into every other basic boring horror flick.

It's bold, ruthless, callus and cold blooded… oh come on! - like you’re not! And if you are about to go off backpacking around Europe then please don’t use this as a reference guide. Be brave, add to your list now!

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