Hostel

Aroview: A rather grisly exercise in 'torture chamber' suspense, in which two American backpackers head for Slovakia, hoping to crash a legendary sex scene at a backwater hostel, only to find they have been lured into a 'snuff' scenario where rich clients pay to carve up the guests.

Evoking on the one hand the quasi-nightmare credibility of urban legend, dir. Roth (CABIN FEVER) on the other imbues proceedings with a bluntly satirical edge, making a rather unflattering statement about the proclivities of Americans abroad. However, it is the nastily-handled gore scenes which will probably stick in the mind of most audiences and executive-producer Quentin Tarantino probably had a hand in lifting this above the usual horror dross. Japanese director Miike Takashi puts in a small cameo.

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