Hostel
Expressly made to be the most fucked up movie you've ever seen!
Posted by: Task, September 19, 2005 06:00 PM
Saturday, September 17 11:59 PM VARSITY 8
Starring in the same "last movie of the festival" timeslot, by the same director, and in the same program as Cabin Fever (a movie I'm thinking I should see now), it's a gory horror that will make you cheer and might even make you think. Imagine that.
I've always avoided "horror" movies, but I've definitely been learning the error of my ways. Not all of them are stupid teen splatter movies with a ridiculous plot and no point, some of them are fantastic films in their own right. Take, for instance, the films of Miike and Eli Roth. This one in particular, of course.
While certainly being a good example of how gross and shocking a movie can be, it also turns into a great example of the fantastic "revenge drama" genre that I have recently discovered. At the same time, this movie also explores the question of "how much is a human life worth?" and posits that the answer is "different amounts to different people". Perhaps it's worth $25,000 and perhaps it's worth a stick of bubblegum. Depends on who you're asking.
If you can handle a movie that is this intense, then you're in for a fulfilling cinema experience.
But wait, there's more!
I think this is the first time that I've gone to the final showing and it was actually utilized effectively. Eli was warned against taking the final slot (It's the last day of the fest, nobody is going to hang around for your movie) but he stuck to his guns. The people at this showing were the true diehard midnight movie fans. The people we talked about at the Midnight Movies documentary showing/discussion. In other words, this was exactly the audience he wanted to see his movie. And yet it goes much beyond that. We didn't just watch the movie, we were all participants in the enjoyment of the viewing. The start time was held because they wanted to get all 800 seats filled by the long rush line. Eli Roth talked during that time slot and nobody was anxious for the film to begin. Once the house lights came down, there was cheering and jeering for the trailers. The film fest trailer itself was made hilarious fun of! The number of funny hand shadows that came up on that screen, the virtual forest of raised hands, I had already laughed my ass clean off before the film even started. At the final movie of the 'fest, anything is possible because nothing is prohibited. I'm definitely not missing that timeslot show again.