Hostel 3: De vuelta al horror

...not really very good. The opening scene got my hopes up for this movie but it never really gets going. The change from desolate post-Soviet landscape to Vegas doesn't work at all. Eastern Europe (or maybe Asia/Africa/Middle East) would have provided a more suitable backdrop to this movie.

At least this 3rd in the series didn't just increase the footage of graphic torture-porn - it was more subdued than I expected. But I can't help feeling this, like the US of A setting, was more to do with getting a wider release at a lower classification than artistic taste & restraint.

A solid B movie.

The twist in the first scene was excellent. The rest of it was disgusting but if you're going to watch Histek, what do you expect

Hostel: Part III could be so named for the three main points that set it apart from its predecessors.

One: the departure from Slovakia to Vegas. Ultimately, this turns out to be a good decision. Bringing the chaos closer to home (for us Americans) adds an effective layer of chill and gives us something fresh and new to work with, as opposed to churning out what could have been basically a remake of the original film. At times the nostalgia of the foreign setting was missed, but ultimately I accept it as a wise choice.

Two: Roth is out, Spiegel is in. The change in direction is noticed heavily, and in the end I was disappointed and left wishing Eli Roth had never given up the reigns.

Three: Straight to DVD. This, also, was a change that was noticed for all the wrong reasons.

The film kicks off with a highly interesting opening scene with a twist in which our expectations are squashed and it is established that we are working with a totally new style of villain. We see that the Elite Hunting Club has progressed into something much more advanced than just a pay-to-kill deal, and while a little over-the-top, I enjoyed the new additions to the game. During the climax we are fed table-turning twist that had my heart pumping with excitement. Sadly, however, here is where my praise ends.

The torture scenes are terrible. They are all bad ideas executed very poorly. Furthermore, they are over within seconds and contain almost no gore compared to the first two (an OBVIOUS reference to the lack of budget). The cinematography is dead on arrival. Don't expect the dark and gritty look that is required for this type of film, but instead look forward to distracting brightness and elegance. And finally, the acting (spare one or two) is the worst of the series.

Overall, I give it a painfully mediocre rating of 5/10. I do, however, definitely recommend you to see it if you liked the first two. Just go into it with low expectations so you will not be let down, and look out for the unique routes the story takes instead of the torture sequences. These fresh twists and turns are bittersweet, though, because it showcases the fact that the film could have been a big success had the necessary efforts been put into it. Hostel: Part III will forever be known to me as the little film that could... but didn't.

Gone is director Eli Roth, the desolate European location and a major theatrical release, but that didn't stop Sony Pictures from developing a third entry in the semi-successful but uber-popular Hostel series.

Ingeniously titled Hostel Part III, the terror comes to America with a setting in none other than Sin City itself – Las Vegas, where a group of guys get together for a bachelor party only to have their week-end fun interrupted by events of torture and extreme misfortune at the hands of the Elite Hunting Club.

The 'fun' begins when one of the four bachelor party friends is abducted from an out-of-control party. He is taken to some remote yet high class facility that has state-of-the-art torture rooms equipped with classy looking tables and display walls filled with random torturing tools. Outside the room watching behind a large glass pane are a group of high class business men and women who use hi-tech betting equipment to play 'Wheel of Misfortune' – a gambling game where they can bet on everything such as what a tortured individual might yell out when at the height of their pain.

Meanwhile, the remaining friends begin a desperate search to find their missing companion. A search that will land them in the same torture room subjected to the gruesome effects of the sadistic game.

Directed by Scott Spiegel, Hostel III has no resemblance to the previous Eli Roth creations. The new setting might bring the series into a more modern world, but it was the dark, dungy backdrop of Slovakia that made Hostel that much more frighteningly believable.

Screenwriters attempted to fill Hostel III with rudimentary twists in an attempt to try and out-smart their audience, but they were generally unnecessary and hardly OMG material. Couple that with some extremely unfunny lines ("Is this a joke?" one about to be tortured man screams answered by "Oh yea, and the punchline is a killer") and characters that as wooden as an Ikea bedroom furniture set and you get the gist of this unworthy third entry.

Of course, billed as a horror film, it is the torture (or torture porn) and bloodletting that will make or break the film with franchise fans and Hostel III can't hold a candle to the two Roth installments. Even with a state-of-the-art torture facility, the kills are truly uninspired and lacking in any true 'I can't watch' scenes of extremedom (I just made that word up). And nudity? Well, let's just say that Hostel III can border on the PG-13 edge of nudism.

With an opening scene that did nothing more than offer a chuckle to an ending that was just plain stupid, Hostel III proves that the franchise is now dead and those that have been tortured the most are us saps that paid money to soothe our curiosity with Part III.

www.killerreviews.com

Let me start by saying I'm a huge fan of Hostel 1 & 2 along with the Saw franchise etc. OK so i first saw Hostel 3 available in my local Tesco store on DVD. I couldn't believe my eyes... another Hostel film?! Why hadn't i even heard about this. Being an avid IMDb user i immediately looked it up when i got home and was gutted to see so many bad reviews about it. I was instantly put off and thought "ok i won't bother with this one." Hearing Eli Roth had not directed it either was a major blow to me and i instantly forgot about it. A few days later i came across a Hostel DVD box set of all 3 movies for a tenner. I was gob smacked seeing that 3 had only just recently come out and was £13 in my local Tesco store! I snapped up the box set off of Amazon and thought well at least iv'e got all 3 of them for a tenner and one day i might watch part 3.

When the box set arrived i still didn't check out part 3 due to the bad reviews i have heard and the amount of slating going on about it. It was a week later on a boring rainy afternoon that i thought what the hell let's see how bad this really is. I said to myself i'll watch half hour and if it really is that awful i will turn it off and never go there again.

Hostel 3 in my opinion given the chance will keep you watching beyond the half hour point. The movie opens up with a twist fairly near the start that i didn't see coming for such an "awful" movie. I actually really enjoyed the first half hour and didn't think about turning it off. The first say 45mins of the film is all leading up to that big first kill... i expected a kill a lot sooner but never the less the story and build up kept me hooked.

The first kill was Hostel worthy without a doubt.... I've seen this first kill get slated on other reviews saying it was unrealistic or not gory enough etc I disagree and think it would meet the needs of those looking for that Hostel style kill.... i say no more about that.

My gripe is with Hostel 3 is that i wish Eli Roth had directed it... if he had taken this idea on and executed it his way then i wouldn't have found the 2nd half of the film as disappointing as i did. I loved the first half of the movie and the first kill but it seemed to go a bit downhill from there. The second kill was weak in my opinion and it's the twists and turns in the movie's second half that kept me interested rather then the kills. I gave this movie an honest 6 but i did enjoy it. It's hard when your competing against the first 2 Hostels but i certainly think it deserves more then 5 for the effort. The storyline is engaging, there's twists and turns you wont see coming and there's a gory kill (the first one). I think the ending along with the second half of the movie was a let down gore wise and after all this is what Hostel is supposed to be about... imaginative gory kills. But don't completely write it off as i did. It's deffo worth a watch if your a Hostel fan. ;0