Movie Review: Hostel: Part III
I’m a huge fan of horror films, as well as those in the the genre known as torture porn (a combination of graphic violence and sexually suggestive imagery without actual traditional pornography). In my opinion, Hostel (2005) and Hostel: Part II (2007) are some of the finest examples of these types of movies. And one of the biggest reasons why lies with their creator, Eli Roth.
Roth is quoted as saying:
I love horror movies, and I felt they lost their way in the ’90s, when we got these watered-down stories with family-friendly ratings,” he says. “In recent years, R-rated movies have made a comeback. I was part of that wave and I’m proud of that.
Roth, who after his privately-funded Cabin Fever became the breakout hit of the 2002 Toronto Film Festival, was anointed the figurehead of the Splat Pack, a wave of hardcore low-buget horror, whose members include Neil Marshall, Rob Zombie, and Saw creators James Wan and Leigh Whannell. He gets horror films - and was originally inspired to make Hostel after Harry Knowles, founder of the cult film site Ain’t It Cool News, sent him a link to a website that invited people to execute impoverished Thai villagers for a $10,000 fee. “We thought that, even if it was fake, somebody had conceived of this. It made me consider the behaviour of people when they’re in a position to control the fate of other lives.”
When I heard that there was a third film in the works, I was very excited – even though Roth had handed the reins over to director Scott Spiegel (who was also involved with the first two films).
In case you haven’t seen the first two films, here is the basic premise: College students backpacking throughout Eastern Europe, end up at a dodgy hostel and end up being kidnapped and imprisoned by rich clients that pay to torture and kill them. There’s more to it than this, of course – but I don’t want to give it all away.
Anyway, when I saw the trailer and read the promo for the movie:
High stakes gambling takes on a sinister new meaning in this third chapter of the terrifying HOSTEL series. While attending a bachelor party in Las Vegas, four friends are enticed by two sexy escorts to join them at a private party way off the Strip. Once there, they are horrified to find themselves the subjects of a perverse game of torture, where members of the Elite Hunting Club are hosting the most sadistic show in town.
I was expecting something that was at least in the spirit of Hostel I & II. Even though it was taking place in Las Vegas, I was hopeful that some of the fun of the originals would be maintained.
Ohhhhh boy, was I wrong.
While most of the special effects were good (there was an unfortunate amount of CGI instead of traditional gore), the characters themselves were flat, uninteresting morons. With having the film set in the US, we lose the “tourists vs. locals” aspect that made the first two films so great. Here, almost to a fault, the characters are such assholes that you want them to be killed – and you really don’t care how it gets done. It was in many ways a horror movie version of The Hangover, without any of the laughs.
Unlikable dicks. The lot of them.
Now – in these kinds of movies you expect certain things. One of them is gratuitous female nudity. There was none. You also expect gimmicky POV shots of people getting torn into pieces. There were a total of two POV scenes, and one was so blatently CGI that I may as well have just played a video game.
My expression throughout the movie.
My thoughts? If this had been a film with a different title – it’d have been an “okay” watch. Something to do on a rainy Sunday afternoon, but nothing more. But trying to make this a part of an awesome horror franchise destroyed it.
This is how I felt at the end.
Hostel: Part III is Rated R for strong bloody sadistic violence and torture, sexuality/nudity and pervasive language. You can buy it on Blu-ray and DVD as of Saturday, December 17th… but honestly… don’t bother. There’s bound to be a better use of your time.
