Here’s a film that will make backpackers think twice before they take to the road in search of easy women, in Southeast Asia or Eastern Europe. Three young (and horny) American guys are advised that Europe’s hottest chicks are to be found in a Bratislava suburb, in Slovakia. Off they go. But what they don’t realize, until, of course, it is too late, is that American guys are prized in this particular market. Prized for their blood. The 95-minute film starts off as your average teen movie with plenty of the usual hanky-panky, then shifts to the serial killer mode, then on to sheer horror, before finally ending up in the survival genre. Indeed, Hostel isn’t for the squeamish; it’s one wry, twisted, gob-smacking, raw and filthy piece of celluloid. 568 liters of blood were used during production – that’s 6 liters spilled every minute. In spite of the gore, director/scriptwriter Eli Roth (Cabin Fever) does a good job blurring audience perspectives – viewers aren’t quite sure if they’re meant to be voyeurs or victims. It comes as no surprise, then, that Quentin Tarantino is producer and that Japanese trash-cinema king Takashi Miike guest stars.
Lions Gate Films

(c) that's Shanghai Magazine
Chief editor: Steven Crane
May 2006 issue