This film really didn’t do much for me.  It is however a much better film for Eli Roth then Cabin Fever was.  I like the shot selections and the overall look of the film.  It was dark and dirty and I felt like I needed to take a shower after I watched it but that alone is not enough for this fan to want to watch this film more than once.

The premise is actually kind of lame.  A group of three friends are hip skipping around Europe on a pussy tour.  They pretty much want to lay as many woman as they can (I know, hard to believe a group of college guys that want sex, what are the chance of that).

As a lot of young folks do when traveling overseas to help save money they stay at Hostels, kind of like dorms, where the fees are cheap or non-existent and the women are plentiful.  While at one such Hostel they meet up with some local who tells them about this ultimate Hostel where American men are treated like kings and fucked all night long by the most gorgeous woman known to man.  Unable to control their dicks they hop on the first train out of town in search of this sexual nirvana.

While on the train they meet up with some whack job that freaks them out a little bit and offers us the first glimpse into the fact that things may be heading down a dangerous path but this fact does not stop our pussy seeking hero’s from their mission.  When they pull into the train station things look a little bleak.  It is a run down looking dump of a place but they follow the crowd and end up in a little town that is actually quite nice.  It seems that the first impression was wrong and maybe this place was actually pretty awesome.  They find the Hostel without problem and find out that they have to share their rooms with other guests.  Kind of bummed out by this fact they head on up to their room and guess what.  Their roommates are hot naked chicks.  Who could have guessed!!

The hot chicks are on their way down to the spa to show off their tits and look seductively at each other so our hero’s quickly drop their pants and follow.  What follows is some small talk and very little character development.  That I think is my main problem with the film.  All the things that happen to these folks in the final third of the film really mean nothing because you really don’t give a shit about the characters.  Actually you kind of feel that they got themselves into the whole mess so whatever happens happens. 

Anyway, back to the story.  After hanging out at the spa for a while they all head back up to their rooms for the much anticipated “hot sex” during which we see the “hot chicks” glancing at each other with those menacing knowing looks.  When morning comes one of the friends has gone missing. 

The remaining two buddies start looking for their lost counterpart searching the strange little town high and low.  Their friend sends them a couple IM’s saying that he is going home one of which is a close up of his face.  At this time it is revealed that it is actually a picture of his severed head.  From this point on the film takes off in a different direction and becomes an exploitation film.

The next 45 minutes are a tour de force of blood-letting.  It seems that the whole town is involved in the action and what this town actually is becomes revealed.  Sex is used to lure in folks so that they can be tortured and killed and diced up by sick fucks that are willing to pay to have this experience.  It seems that Americans bring the best price.  The locals are paid to bring in the hapless suckers so that the sick games can be played.

As you may have already guessed, one of hero’s manages to get away and exact revenge on the bastards that have killed his friends.

The special effects are AMAZING.  Nicotero and Berger really are the current kings of splatter effects.  Some great stuff and the goodness of the gore far out ways the lacking story to make this a film that all gore hounds must see. 

Lionsgate has once again put together a wonderful presentation.  The DVD is chock full of special features with 4 commentary tracks, which is actually kind of over kill.  All four tracks have Eli Roth and he talks it up with Tarantino on one, with the other producers with another and with AICN’s Harry Knowles on another.  Like I said, a little much.  You can only listen to Roth talk about his film so many times before you really kind of quite caring.

There is also a Behind the Scenes featurette and something called Kill the Car which I didn’t have time to play with yet.

All in all I have to say I pretty much enjoyed the DVD.  I just wish that there could have been a little more time spent developing the characters instead of showing tits.  In the end my lack of caring about the folks in the film made this experience seem like more of an exercise in excess than a study of finding out about the dark underside of something evil.

HOSTEL is available now at your favorite video retailer.