Hostel, chapitre III

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.

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While the second movie did have a real tie in to the first (which as I have previously said, did not work out), this does not take any cues from it's predecessors. Which is a good thing and makes it slightly better for having a sort of spin off approach to it. There are false expectations and a lot of red herrings, some might annoy you, because you might see them coming a long time before they arrive, but overall, this achieves what it set out to do.

While not as great as part 1, it does achieve something that part 2 never had: A connection (even if it's a small one) with our main characters. Too many twists get that a bit out of control, but overall this is worth a watch, with a different director this time around to ensure a different result/approach

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.

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

I didn't hold out much hope for this sequel to what I thought was a pretty good movie the first time out. The second one was up there as well and I enjoyed them both. This one just didn't hit the spot and was a bit disappointing.

Unlike the first two being set in a foreign country this one is set in Las Vegas and that is, I think the first mistake. The second mistake is the lack of blood and gore and fairly tame violence up until the last 10 minutes of the movie.

There were a few twists that gave me a few enjoyable surprises. I especially liked the one in the first 6 minutes of the movie. The others while nice were not totally unexpected.

Some of the ideas were good, but I felt that the tame way in which some of the victims were killed just didn't fit with the Hostel theme that was set by the first two.