31 Days of Horror: Hostel (2005)

Three young men backpacking their way across Europe find themselves in a quaint Slovakian town with many sex-crazed local women. After checking into a local hostel, the boys are surrounded by eager and all too friendly girls. It's not until his friends disappear, that Paxton (Jay Hernandez) begins to ask questions and discovers a murder-for-profit organization settled within the city limits.

Hostel is essentially torture porn for the masses. Charging away with gruesome, random events, the movie's potential is squandered with a less than stellar plot, sub par acting and a storyline that tortures it's own audience.

Director Eli Roth jumbles essential elements of film-making and randomly inserts them for this messterpiece. Sure, the scenes of torture are intense, but Roth fails to back them up with enough development to make us care. Part teen sex comedy, part horror and all crap.

Still as hack&slash goes, Hostel is memorable. Scene after stylish scene assaults your memory with cheap, gratuitous, juicy thrills. Those with one iota of brain will do as I did..."what kind of crazy bastard thinks this stuff up?!"

As I see it, Hostel is an original concept, very poorly executed. There is nothing here but hard and fast thrills. For some, that will suffice. For me, it crossed a line and ceases to be entertainment.