Contrary to what most of the Internet forum bottom feeders would tell you, this is a damn fine time to be a horror fan.
Sure we can all wax nostalgic for the 1970s and 1980s, as I do quite often, but in the DVD generation, there are a lot more cool flicks to see than what we were limited to by the local mom-and-pop rental outlet. Want to see some obscure foreign film? A trip to
Amazon.com is all it takes, whereas a decade ago most of us, no matter how elitist we may act today, weren't even aware of some of the genre veterans we consider masters now. If I had to choose between too many options and too few, you probably wouldn't have to call the LaToya Jackson Hotline to wager my decision. [Old Man Voice] You bastard kids have it too good! [/voice]
On the other hand, with greater availability comes another problem. Who has time to watch all this shit? I mention this because when I was presented with the opportunity to screen the new Director's Cut DVD of Hostel, I realized that I had the original DVD – which was a blind purchase – still shrinkwrapped on my shelf. Hostel is no fringe film; this was a mega-popular box office horror flick that I neglected to see either in theatres or on DVD for almost two years. Sometimes there are so many choices that it's easy to overlook the big ones. Now that I've seen it, I really regret not having the privilege of watching Hostel for the first time with an audience of people having no idea what to expect.
 That must have been so awesome.
For anyone out there who lives under a bigger rock than I do, Hostel is twisted little tale of some backpackers traveling through Europe. While staying at a local hostel in Slovakia , one by one they start disappearing, being brought to a remote location where they are brutally tortured until they are killed. The reasons why are initially unclear, but when there is only the one traveler remaining, determined to uncover the truth about his missing buddies, a sickening feeling that the entire town is playing these kids for fools in a very Wicker Man-like conspiracy sets in. Hopelessness turns into despair turns in to bloodlust turns into vengeance.
You will not be finding Hostel as you flick past the Family Channel. That's for fucking sure.
Now, my non-exposure to the film didn't stop me from hearing or reading about it. The general consensus is that you'll either love it or hate it, and the more vocal members of both camps were ready to line-up to fellate or castrate director Eli Roth depending on their reaction. Before seeing the film, I found all of this reaction amusing, because I had seen Roth's debut film, Cabin Fever and loved it. It was gory, funny, horrific, clichéd and full of hot chicks. It has my seal of approval all over it, but I didn't find it particularly well directed. So while I was looking forward to my never-getting-around-to-it screening of Hostel, I couldn't fathom what could possibly cause such a commotion in the Internet community that doesn't involve Britney Spears.
 The most common complaint that I've heard from detractors who think their witty even though it's been said ad infinitum by as just many people, is that Hostel is "Eurotrip with murders." Well, it has been repeated so often mostly because it is true, although it doesn't make them sound any smarter by saying it. In fact, there are immature fratboy jokes littered throughout the first act as we are introduced to the three travelers: Paxton (Jay Hernandez, Crazy/Beautiful), Josh (Derek Richardson, Reeker) and Oli (Eythor Gudjonsson), as they pursue their lofty goals of getting stoned and laid. No, they aren't the most likeable guys in the world, but I can't imagine a more accurate portrayal for these characters. I know all of these guys in real life and they act just like this. So while I can't relate to them, per se, I can certainly associate with them. That goes quite a long way in making me sympathize with them when shit turns bad.
And then of course, when shit winds up going bad the film takes a very twisted turn. The final half of the film is an incredible endurance test for the viewer and the character as the person you least expect to survive long enough to be the final victim does, and then only narrowly escapes his demise only to an incredibly long and hard escape to endure – while mutilated.
So while I can see the detractor's comments about the film taking to long, I have to say that once the film hooked me I never looked away. My heart actually raced while I watched the film and as I rooted on the survivor. Adrenaline was pumping as I watched him deliver poetic justice to the bastards who set him and his friends up to be killed, and the ultimate revelation as to "why" makes for one of the most interesting scenarios in all of modern horror cinema.
 It's hard for me to imagine anyone not liking Hostel to at least some degree. It gives horror fans the gore, dark humor and nudity that they want and does so while actually brining an interesting original plot to the table. Sure it starts out slow, but the original Wicker Man and Miike's Audition, which this film reminded me of (Miike also makes a cameo), also worked that way. Working the slow, lingering journey to an incredible dénouement, Hostel manages to take the viewer on a serious ride, and it does so in just over 90 minutes. You can't really complain about that.
Is it a perfect film? No. But I wouldn't change a single thing about it. Hostel is a must see, regardless of your ultimate reaction.
The DVD Presentation
What an excellent transfer. I mean, for a recent film there is no reason that it shouldn't be anything but stellar, but even still, they really managed to do a great job on this one. The rundown factory that is used as the torture chamber is so dirty and grimy that I feel like you could catch TB just by
watching this film. The transfer is that perfect. The audio is also a really great mix. For a 5.1 mix that shares disc space with four commentary tracks and two other alternate languages (French and Portuguese), it's pretty damn immersive. Subtitles are available in English, French, Spanish and Portuguese.
But what about this whole Director's Cut bit? Well, I pulled the plastic off my old, unwatched Hostel DVD. The new DVD has a running time of 1:33:31. The original DVD is 1:34:02 . It's safe to say you're getting the same Unrated version of the film. The same commentaries are used either way, but my guess the Director's Cut tag is exclusively called such due to a feature included in the set which we will be getting to in a moment.
And the Extras Are?
So now that the big deal of knowing that you're not really getting much of a Director's Cut (or realizing you pretty much had one all along), the extras are going to be the big selling point of this DVD. Here's the breakdown…
Director & Executive Producers audio commentary – Eli Roth + Quentin Tarantino = Party. This is a fantastic track and probably my favorite of the four. The enthusiasm that they both have for the project feed off of each other over and over throughout
Director, Producer and Documentarian audio commentary – Roth brings along his brother Gabriel who acted as the documentarian for Hostel's production and together they are joined with producer Chris Briggs to create fun but still technical commentary which follows a great deal of on-set situations and challenges.
Director audio commentary – Eli hits it solo here and he still does a bang-up track. This one is much more technical with a lot of "How's" and less "Why's." The origins are very clearly fleshed out for the Hostel project here as well.
Director and Guests audio commentary – The final commentary has Eli chatting with actors Barbara Nedeljakova and Eyethor Gudjonsson via the phone, and various other people phone in their thoughts too, like Harry Knowles (who I still can't stand) and Editor George Folsey. It too is solid.
It's a triumph that any film can have four commentaries and never get boring, even with some of the comments being covered multiple times. I can't say I've seen one that could accomplish that, but Hostel pulls it off.
Director's Cut Ending – (7:53) The exclusive new feature on the DVD, this ending has a very different vibe going for it, focusing on the surviving character and him going perhaps a bit too far in his revenge. I'll say no more than that. It is very interesting and it is the original scripted ending. However, Roth, on one of the feature commentaries says he prefers the one he ultimately used.
 Hostel Dissected – Three-part featurette – (55:19) Just shy of an hour, this fantastic featurette nails every aspect of the production and filming of Hostel. Where this succeeds the most is the portrait of the cast and crew that the film paints. Everyone seemed to be having tons of fun. Watching the "Bubble Gum Gang" yelling Ali G catchphrases with Roth and looking at the guys tuck bananas in their towels for the sauna scene were some humorous highlights. Seeing some of the gore effects and how they were executed is always a good time. While hardly displaying much of a narrative force, this feature still is compelling and one that Hostel fans shouldn't miss.
"Kill the Car!" Multi-Angle interactive feature – (2:29) For the sequence where some local Prague kids beat the shit out of the car, multiple cameras were used. With this feature you can keep flipping between alternate scenes of the mayhem.
Previews – A collection of promo trailers for Hostel Part II, Vacancy, Blood and Chocolate and Rise: Blood Hunter.
That rounds out the first disc, and with the exception of different trailers in the preview gallery and the inclusion of the Director's Cut ending, it is exactly the same as the previously released single-disc release. But there is plenty more on the second disc!
 5 Additional Featurettes – (61:59) Another hour worth of new features are included on this second disc. Three of these highlight the Music & Sound, the Set Design and the KNB EFX. I found these interesting for the diverse and obscure instruments used for the score, and Howard Berger and the rest of the KNB team are always awesome for their gross-out effects devices. Thankfully, not a lot of the ground is repeated from the first disc's featurettes. A featurette called "Hostel Dismembered" spends about a half-hour going into the origins of Hostel and its themes. It's a definite highlight that all fans should check out. Every single interviewee, even Harry Knowles has some interesting shit to say. Finally, there is an amusing and disturbing featurette called "An Icelandic Meal with Eythor Gudjonsson" where the actor demonstrates the proper way to eat a sheep's head, right off the bone.
10 Deleted Scenes – (18:07) Most of these are truly needless or merely extended scenes, but one in particular is worth watching. "The Witch Finder Speech" is an additional sequence of The Dutch Businessman torturing his prey. It's menacing, but the reason given for its removal is just.
"The Treatment" Radio Interview with Eli Roth – (26:50) The Treatment is a radio talk show that centers on film and this is a nice conversation with the host and Eli Roth. A lot of this material is covered in other areas on this DVD. It's good, but probably a bit overkill.
4 Photo Galleries – Photos and art are divided up into four collections: Behind the Scenes, On Set, Barbara Nedeljakova and Hostel Artwork. From what I could tell there are over 100 different images. Cool stuff to be found too, like pictures of huge banners and candid shots.
Takashi Miike Interview – (9:52) You know, outside of his cameo, and that Roth was inspired to a degree by Audition, Miike really doesn't have much to do with Hostel. That said, this interview provides an interesting insight to his methods, and if not for an obvious throwaway praise for Roth would be an excellent closing feature.
You know what this DVD is missing? The Hostel theatrical trailer. That's it.
The Bottom Line
Hostel surprised the hell out of me. Everything you've heard about it is true. It's sick, violent and fucking insane. It shouldn't be missed by any horror fan. For those of you wondering about upgrading, it's really a matter of how much of a fan you are. If you want to know everything there is to know about Hostel, this upgrade is a fantastic DVD that will scratch that itch. So if you would give this film 4-5 pants and you love behind-the-scenes material, this is worth every single dollar.
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