Eli Roth's Hostel

In a couple hours my last page of Toronto coverage will be up, which shall reveal that I liked HOSTEL even less than CABIN FEVER, and was really disappointed by the lack of imagination in the gore.

So, no pancakes, Russ?

I think I'm the only person in the world who enjoyed CABIN FEVER.

It'll be interesting to see what HOSTEL is like.

Only OTHER person, Fett. I enjoyed CABIN FEVER alot. Looking forward to HOSTEL.

I enjoyed Cabin Fever as well guys. I am interested in Hostel as well.

Hey! There were actually four of us! Let's go get something to eat.

I really liked Cabin Fever too....so I am quite interested in this new movie...personally speaking the niggas jokes was one of the funniest things I had seen in a cinema that year

regardless of quality, Hostel together with Dead and Breakfast might just mean a comeback for the LODGING-BASED horror subgenre and that can only be a good thing.

Where do you want to go eat?

Nice - and incidentally, now I want an omelette.

Oh like you wouldn't eat a stuffed French Toast? C'mon... "Stuffed French Toast Warm cinnamon-raisin French Toast stuffed with sweet cream cheese filling and crowned with whipped topping, powdered sugar, and your favorite fruit topping."

Actually I was thinking Cinnabons or Ruth's Criss.

I"ll be at the "Cabin Fever Sucks Balls" table having the pancake sandwich and a cup of coffee. Hostel will only get a rental from me.

Now you're talking my language. Well... one of them anyway.

I loved Cabin Fever, and it was the first movie my gf and I saw together can't wait for Hostel.

Didn't care much for CABIN FEVER. It wasn't as clever and unnerving as it wanted to be.

Notes on HOSTEL:

http://chud.com/news/4380

Thanks for the review, Russ (and for the kickass Toronto coverage in general).

Roth reminds me a lot of Robert Rodriguez in the fact that I love their enthusiasm and passion for genre filmmaking, but I never like their actual films.

Cabin Fever was the worst movie in the last ten years. You would think a horror movie would have some scares in it. Nope, not this one.

I blame Kevin Williamson.

I blame hype. If Cabin Fever's the worst film for ten years, you need to seriously consider seeing more movies. I'm not being nasty, I just think that's completely hyperbolic. Worse than Boat Trip ? Worse than Van Helsing ? There are dozens and dozens of others I'm sure even the most cynical Roth-watcher could find which are worse than Cabin Fever. Of course it's not the worst picture of the last ten years.

I really, really liked the picture but even being being objective, if you don't "get" the humour in it, it's still at worst a well made picture (on a very low budget) and at best an affectionate, goofy exploitation picture made by an obvious and talented genre fan with some rather impressive technical elements.

I like that Russ tempers my enthusiasm for Hostel, because I consider his opinion to be one that's totally backed up with informed critique, pretty much without exception. It's a balanced and disappointed view of the picture but still benevolent enough to give Roth his props as a filmmaker with passion and drive. Which makes me believe it both as an objective review and as a subjective opinion. I'm still really looking forward to Hostel.

It's the worst movie "I've" seen in the last ten years.

HIDE AND SEEK is worse than CABIN FEVER.

"Worse" in this case not having much significance.

Then you need to see more movies.

So, you're saying I should see more bad movies, in order to make Cabin Fever not seem so bad?

No, I'm saying I'd love to live in a world where the very worst picture I'd seen in a decade was Cabin Fever. But unfortunately Utopia doesn't exist.

I can understand not thinking Cabin Fever is all that great of a picture. I like it but it's no flat out masterpiece. But calling it, catagorically, the worst film you've seen in 10 years (unless of course it was mere hyperbole) must surely limit how many pictures you've seen in that time. Musn't it ? What makes it worse than...Die Another Day, The Recruit, The Quest, Hideaway, Ballistic: Eks Vs Sever ? I mean these are all pictures you've seen, right, from a brief sampling of threads you've posted in ? Have you not seen many more ? It just smacks a little bit of justifying some kind of flippancy. Not that it matters, it's just the internet afterall, but I was genuinely curious.

My problem with Cabin Fever was/is related to the hype from some on this site and from the ego demonstrated by Eli Roth in interviews. I went expecting to be blown away.

What I got was a movie that seemed to want to honor a genre and make fun of it all at once. It made me think that for all his cockiness, Roth didn't have the confidence in himself or his movie to do one or the other. So he made this strange amalgam of a flick that would build momentum only to be brought to a screeching halt by the actions of its characters, usually in an attempt to be funny.

That didn't work for me.

CABIN FEVER has many problems, but your expectations are not among them.

Seriously? That's your contribution to this thread? Interesting.

Stupid. But interesting.

Does the same go for THE PHANTOM MENACE?

Actually, my contribution to this thread is one of a handful of first-hand accounts of HOSTEL currently available.

Kindly pointing out that what anyone expects from a film has nothing to do with it's actual level of quality was just a bonus.

Russ, you know what I mean and meant. Had I left it at "it didn't meet my expectations," than I guess your little jab would have been fine. But I went on to say what about the FILM I didn't like.

Good for you seeing Hostel. Post about it next time rather than playing hall monitor.

You seem to have missed that part of the thread.

I think Russ is point a universally prescient one: if you were told something was the best movie ever, but when you saw it you felt it was only the 15th best movie ever is it automatically a disappointing picture ? Not that Cabin Fever is the 15th best picture ever, but to hold expectations as any barometer of qualitative assessment is not fair to the picture, or your enjoyment of it. The same isn't true in reverse, if you weren't expecting it to be great and it turned out that it was, you don't mark it down accordingly, do you ?

It's a hyperbolic point, maybe, but important if one is going to look at film with any kind of discerning eye - which being that one is actively posting on CHUD, one probably is.

In the interest of putting this to rest, I will admit post was not exactly a thing of beauty. I still don't think it was so unclear that it deserved to draw a lesson in critical study, but whatever.

So, what I meant to say was, I had high expectations going in based on word of mouth and Roth's own horn tooting. I found the film less than deserving of the praise.

Then, I added my own estimate of the films flaws, separate and apart from my unmet expectations. I can safely say that this opinion is not informed by unmet expectations because I've seen it a number of times now and it still comes back to the same thing with me. It appears, to me, that Roth did not have the confidence in his film to choose a path -- gore/slasher/disease horror movie vs. satire/comedy -- nor did he have the talent to combine the elements to produce a satisfying movie.

Don't get me wrong, there are some really good moments. Some really funny moments too. But the sum of its parts is too schizophrenic for me.

So, to recap, yes I was disappointed, yes it did color my initial viewing of the film, however my disappointment had little long term bearing on my final critical analysis of the film. I'm sorry I did not communicate that fully in my first post but I shall, going forward, endeavor to do better.

Cabin Fever was decent, but nothing great. It showed promise though and I'll definitely give this one a shot.

Loved Cabin Fever. It was funny as hell and had some great gore. The opening title sequence was fantastic and that is a hard thing to pull off for most directors then again most people probably don't get into the opening title sequences like I do. Alien? Hell yes. Anyway, I'll be all over Hostel when it comes out. I think Roth has displayed talent and comes across as a genuine lover of horror whether or not his particular brand of horror is for a person is besides the point in that regard. I've seen alot of independant horror films and for the most part they suck. Cabin Fever did not.

I thought cabin fever was great fun, i got to see gore and titties, and thats all i really wanted from it.

Also i'd like to add "i hate this movie because websites overhyped it to me" as the stupidest reason to hate a movie ever.

I agree. While hype can give you somewhat an impression of a movie before seeing it, I would think we have all been burned enough in the past to not let it completely overwhelm us before walking into the theater, renting the movie, or blind buying it. It's silly to let your opinion of a film be governed by your impression of what it should be like before seeing it. Afterwards, yeah, rip it to shreds if it doesn't go the distance like you wish it had........................but don't hate it just because it didn't turn out to be what you were told it was. I'm just saying this in general, this comment isn't pointed directly at anyone's statements.