The first Hostel is pretty cool and I remember seeing it during the press tour Eli Roth was doing for the flick. The movie came out January of 2006 but I saw it in August of 2005. It was pretty cool, got to meet Eli and Barbara Nedeljakova, the girl who plays Natalya. At the press screening, I remember the crowd just being wowed and having a great time .
The movie follows three backpackers that are heading to Slovak city with the intention of finding girls and having the time of their life. They do, but the girls put them through the worst hell they could ever imagine.
This was Eli Roth’s first film after the highly acclaimed Cabin Fever. Story is, Roth was swimming with Quentin Tarantino and told him this idea for Hostel. QT told Roth that he was willing to produce it. Must be nice.
The only recognized face in the flick is Jay Hernandez who does a killer job playing the role Paxton. Another one of the coolest things about the movie is Takashi Miike, who made Audition and Ichi The Killer makes a cameo toward the end of the movie.
When the movie had its national release, I saw it again and everyone in the packed theater totally enjoyed it and really got into the flick. I later bought the movie on DVD and then eventually Blu Ray, the director’s cut is pretty cool. Damn, Eli Roth got three purchases from me. I did get this awesome framed Maniac rip off poster for Hostel. Also I had four Hostel shirts, no clue where they are today. They were really cool.
I must admit that I really enjoy the second part over the first one. As with Hostel, I saw the sequel at a press screening in Philadelphia. A lot of people were into it but the movie didn’t turn out as well as the first one and I don’t know why. Once again, I got to re-meet Eli Roth.
In the sequel we follow three American students that are studying abroad. They get lured into a Slovakian hotel only to find out what the reality is behind it. It opens right where the first one left off. Jay Hernandez then has a terrible nightmare, wakes up next to his girlfriend, played by the lovely Jordan Ladd, and well, I’m not going to give anything away. So, we kick to a new set of people. The three wonderful women being: Lauren German, Bijou Phillips, and Heather Matarazzo. Ya know, Randy Meeks sister from Scream 3! There’s something more disturbing seeing three women going through these tortures as opposed to three men going through it in the first one. But, what I really enjoyed about Hostel Part 2 is that we get to see how it happens. How it gets done. It’s a pretty wild ride and that’s why I don’t understand why it wasn’t received as well as the first one. Especially the ending with the dude and his – well, yeah, not going to spoil anything.
Something pretty funny happened at the press screening; I was sitting down, watching the movie and I’m focused on the movie. When I’m at the movies, I pay no attention to anything or anyone else. Well, I turn my head and scratch my neck and see that Eli Roth is sitting right next to me, watching his own movie. It was funny and pretty cool at the same time.
Fast forward to 2011, I’m in LA screening my movie at ShockFest Film Festival and one of the guests was Eli Roth and he was screening Cabin Fever. Something happened with the sound and the audience wound up getting a director’s commentary for about ten minutes of the movie, right there. It was also pretty funny. I later met Eli Roth once again and after all these years and three hit movies , playing the Bear Jew in Inglorious Bastards, he’s still the same dude, which is pretty cool.
So all in all, definitely go check out Hostel 1 and 2. It’s definitely better if you see the first one before you see the second one. I do enjoy the second one over the first one. I know they actually play the movie on TV a lot but it’s not that much fun, censoring stuff bores me.
Well till tomorrow, what’s next! 24 days left until Halloween. ALSO, I have some really big news and another huge change for my fllm.
-Jay
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