Film Excess - Free Ukraine - Stop Putin - End the war NOW!!: Hostel (2005) - Roth resurrects sexploitation for terrific horror trip

12/26/2021

Hostel (2005) - Roth resurrects sexploitation for terrific horror trip

♥♥♥♥♥

+ Best Horror of the Year + Best Mega-hit Movie of the Year + Best Sexploitation of the Year

'What is that...?' The inevitable question raised by this effectively chilling, hooking poster for Eli Roth's Hostel

Two young American males and an Icelandic are on a European interrail trip and decide to head to Slovakia, where local prostitutes lure them to a place where businessmen pay to torture and kill such unlucky tourists.

Hostel is written and directed by great Massachusettsans filmmaker Eli Roth (Cabin Fever (2002)).

I'm crazy about Roth's reinvigoration of the lurid sexploitation subgenre and the pricelessly grim effects in his early films. Hostel is based on a dark web phenomenon Roth had read about, based in the real world in Thailand, which should be just fiction but, regrettably, may well be horrific reality. His story runs wild with this dark gem of an idea and makes up an exaggerated, entertaining 'American's-nightmare-in-Europe' type horror story.

Hostel is a sadistic cornucopia with a menacing villain in Jan Vlasák's (Zdivocelá zeme (2008-12)) Dutch businessman.

Related posts:

Eli Roth: The Green Inferno (2015) - Roth - of course - exhumes cannibal horror

The Last Exorcism Part 2 (2013) or, The Not So Last Chicken Exorcism (co-producer)
Aftershock (2012) - Extreme tastelessness in one of 2012's worst films (co-writer/co-producer/co-star)
Corman's World: Exploits of a Hollywood Rebel (2011) - Stapleton's Corman doc. is among the year's best films (interview subject)
Inglourious Basterds (2009) - The Movies take revenge on Nazi scum (co-star)
2007 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]

2007 in films - according to Film Excess

Hostel: Part II (2007) - Roth's return to Eastern Europe is a wicked horror blast

2005 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
Cabin Fever (2002) - Eli Roth's awesome skin-rash-inspired breakthrough (co-writer/co-producer/director)

Roth and others are interviewed about the movie here

Cost: 4.8 mil. $

Box office: 81.9 mil. $

= Mega-hit (returned 17.06 times its cost)

[Hostel premiered 17 September (Toronto International Film Festival) and runs 94 minutes. Quentin Tarantino was a fan of Roth's debut Cabin Fever (2002) and encouraged him to write and direct Hostel, instead of the many offers to direct horror remakes that Roth was getting. Tarantino executive-produced the film and lend his name to its posters. Shooting took place from March - May 2005 in Germany and the Czech Republic, including in Prague in a hospital that had reportedly been abandoned for more than 80 years. The film opened #1 to a 19.5 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it spent one more weekend in the top 5 (#5), grossing 47.3 mil. $ (57.8 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were the UK with 7.7 mil. $ (9.4 %) and Germany with 3.6 mil. $ (4.4 %). Roth returned with Thanksgiving (2007, short) and theatrically with Hostel: Part II (2007). Jay Hernandez (Gang Related (2014, TV-series)) returned in Carlito's Way: Rise to Power (2005, video) and theatrically in World Trade Center (2006); Derek Richardson (Men in Trees (2006-08)) in 11 TV and short credits prior to his theatrical return in The Power of Few (2013); and Vlasák in Stríbrná vune mrazu (2005, TV movie) and theatrically in Vratné lahve (2007). Hostel is fresh at 61 % with a 6.20/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Hostel?

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William Friedkin has died

Born in Chicago, Friedkin accrued TV credits prior to his advance to the big screen as the director of Good TImes (1967), The Birthday Party (1968), The Night They Raided Minsky's (1968) and The Boys in the Band (1970) before his major breakthrough, The French Connection (1971), for which he won his only Oscar. He followed it up with the even bigger smash, The Exorcist (1973), arguably the best horror film of all time, for which he was Oscar-nominated. Later credits include Sorcerer (1977), Cruising (1980), To Live and Die in L.A. (1985), Rampage (1987), Rules of Engagement (2000), Killer Joe (2011) and The Devil and Father Amorth (2017, documentary). Friedkin passed away at age 87. R.I.P.

Louise Fletcher has passed away

Born in Alabama to deaf parents, Fletcher got her first credits in late-1950s TV-series.She took a 10 year-long sabbatical to devote her time to motherhood after the release of A Gathering of Eagles, but then came back and soon saw her career's most important part, as Nurse Ratched in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975), for which she won her sole Oscar. Later credits include Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977), The Lucky Star (1980), Brainstorm (1983), Two Moon Junction (1988), Cruel Intentions (1999), A Perfect Man (2013) and many more. Fletcher passed away at age 88. R.I.P.

Jean-Luc Godard has passed away

Born in Paris, France, Godard lived much of his life in Switzerland. He wrote for French film criticism magazine Cahiers du Cinema and became foundational for the New French Wave that inspired new waves in scores of other countries across the world with his Breathless (1960). Later credits include A Woman Is A Woman (1961), Vivre Sa Vie (1962), Le Petit Soldat (1962), Contempt (1963), Alphaville (1965), Pierrot le Fou (1965), 2 or 3 Things I Know About Her (1967), Weekend (1967), Every Man for Himself (1980), King Lear (1987), Century of Cinema (1995, documentary), Goodbye to Language (2014) and many more. Godard died of assisted suicide at age 91. R.I.P.

Wolfgang Petersen has died

James Caan has died

Caan was born the son of Jewish immigrants from Germany in New York. He got his start on TV in the early 1960s. His credits include El Dorado (1966), The Rain People (1969), Brian's Song (1971, TV movie), The Godfather (1972), - for which he earned his only Oscar nomination, - Slither (1973), The Gambler (1974), Funny Lady (1975), Rollerball (1975), Silent Movie (1976), Hide in Plain Sight (1980), - the only film he also directed, - Thief (1981), Misery (1990), Honeymoon in Vegas (1992), Bottle Rocket (1996), Eraser (1996), Dogville (2003), Elf (2003), Las Vegas (2003-07), Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (2009) and many more. Caan passed away at age 82. R.I.P.

Jean-Louis Trintignant has died

Born in Vaucluse, France, Trintignant's theatrical debut as an actor was in If All the Guys in the World... (1955). Later credits include ...And God Created Woman (1956), The Seven Deadly Sins (1961), Inferno (1964), A Man and A Woman (1966), My Love, My Love (1967), A Man to Kill (1967), The Great Silence (1968), Z (1969), The Assassination (1972), Three Colors: Red (1994), Amour (2012), Happy End (2017) and many more. He also wrote and directed two films in the 1970s. Trintignant passed away at age 91. R.I.P.

Ray Liotta has died

Adopted from an orphenage at a young age, Liotta got hooked on acting in high school. He had various TV credits in the late 1970s and early 80s, with his film debut in The Lonely Lady (1983). Later credits include Something Wild (1986), Field of Dreams (1989), Goodfellas (1990), Cop Land (1997), Hannibal (2001), Blow (2001), Narc (2002), John Q (2002), Identity (2003), Observe and Report (2009), Youth in Revolt (2009), The Details (2011), Killing THem Softly (2012), The Place Beyond the Pines (2012), Shades of Blue (2016-18), The Simpsons (2018, TV-series), Marriage Story (2019), The Many Saints of Newark (2021), Black Bird (2022, TV-series) and many more. Liotta passed away at age 67 in his sleep while on production in the Dominican Republic. R.I.P.

Philip Baker Hall has died

Born in Ohio, Hall didn't start acting until he was 30. His long list of credits include Zabriskie Point (1970), Miami Vice (1987, TV-series), Midnight Run (1988), Ghostbusters II (1989), Cheers (1993, TV-series), Hard Eight (1996), The Rock (1996), Air Force One (1997), Boogie Nights (1997), Seinfeld (1991-98), Rush Hour (1998), The Insider (1999), Magnolia (1999), The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999), Bruce Almighty (2003), Dogville (2003), The Zodiac (2005), Zodiac (2007), Curb Your Enthusiasm (2004-09), Mr. Popper's Penguins (2011), Modern Family (2011-12) and many more. Hall passed away at age 90. R.I.P.

William Hurt has passed away

Born in Washington D.C., Hurt's first film role was the lead in Altered States (1980). Later credits include Body Heat (1981), The Big Chill (1983), Gorky Park (1983), Kiss of the Spider Woman (1985), for which he earned his only Oscar as Best Actor; Chilrdren of a Lesser God (1986), for which he was also Oscar-nominated; Broadcast News (1987), for which he was again Oscar-nominated; Smoke (1995), A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001), A History of Violence (2005), for which he was again Oscar-nominated; The Good Shepherd (2006), Into the Wild (2007), Robin Hood (2010) and many more. Hurt passed away at age 71. R.I.P.

Ivan Reitman has passed away

Born in Chechoslovakia, now Slovakia, Reitman's family fled the Soviet regime to Austria, then Toronto, when he was 4 years old. Reitman broke into movies as a director with Foxy Lady (1971). Later credits include Cannibal Girls (1973), Meatballs (1979), Stripes (1981), Ghostbusters (1984), Twins (1988), Ghostbusters II (1989), Kindergarten Cop (1990), Junior (1994), Father's Day (1997), Evolution (1998), No Strings Attached (2011), Draft Day (2014) and more. Reitman's son Jason Reitman is also a great filmmaker. Reitman passed away at age 75. R.I.P.

Film Excess - Free Ukraine - Stop Putin - End the war NOW!!

Eagerly anticipating this week ... (6-24)

12/26/2021

Hostel (2005) - Roth resurrects sexploitation for terrific horror trip

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