Director Eli Roth (“Cabin Fever”) sets a new standard in dreariness and depravity with “Hostel”. It’s like a teen sex comedy combined with “Saw” and “Texas Chainsaw Massacre”. The movie also upset Slovakia’s authorities with its inaccurate depiction of their country as war-torn and impoverished (more like a 90s Bosnia than anything else).

In “Hostel”, a group of backpackers are going around Europe. While in Amsterdam, they are told that they can find the best women in Slovakia. Based on the recommendation, they decide to go and stay in hostel just outside of Bratislava in the hopes of having their filthiest sexual desires fulfilled. However, they find themselves facing the most brutal torture at the hands of a sinister organisation.

The main characters in this film are so unlikeable. They are just out to get sex with as many girls as possible. I didn’t care about them at all so I wasn’t remotely shocked or distressed by the unpleasant hell they find themselves in. The women in this film are frequently shown with little to no clothing. The nudity is gratuitous. The despicable folks behind the torture are pretty boring. There’s just absolutely no creativity with the characters in this movie.

“Hostel” is a very sick and twisted movie. However, it is not a scary movie by any means. I just could not get invested in what was going on so it made impossible for me to actually be scared by what I was seeing. Like Clive Barker (“Hellraiser”) and Tobe Hooper (“Texas Chainsaw Massacre”) before him, Eli Roth is a director that has established himself as somebody that is not afraid to push the boundaries of violence in entertainment. “Hostel” feels less like an actual movie and more like an exercise in trying to show as many nude breasts and sliced flesh as possible.