The darker, gorier side of European backpacking

Two young American men (Jay Hernandez and Derek Richardson) set out on a backpacking trip looking to hook up and trip out in the European countryside, only to find themselves held captive and tortured in a seedy, debaucherous youth hostel in Slovakia. Produced by Quentin Tarantino and directed by Eli Roth, "Hostel" is a warts-and-all gorefest whose Unrated DVD incarnation pulls even less punches in the torture department than the already blood-soaked theatrical cut.\nWhat Roth and company have made here may be a fairly new concept in mainstream American cinema, but Japan has been doing it far longer (and better), regardless of how much cinematic-cool cred Tarantino brings to the project. The film's young actors are essentially human punching bags, and the screenplay is mediocre at best, but Roth stages all his violent vignettes so assuredly that those quibbles can be forgiven by hardcore horror fans.\nFeatures on this release are essentially limited to a throwaway behind-the-scenes featurette and four feature-length commentary tracks. To the disc's credit, the majority of the commentary tracks are either involving or beneficially humorous, given the mostly dour subject matter of the film. \nThe first commentary features director Roth on his own, the second finds executive producer (and madman chatterbox) Tarantino joining him, and a third features Roth and his documentarian brother Gabriel. The final track is Roth accompanied by some of the films actors, as well as geek-god Harry Knowles of the online entertainment news warehouse Aint It Cool News. After about the third hour of hearing the director speak on these commentaries, it's easy to tire of his voice, but Tarantino and Knowles add some fresh insight and entertaining commentary to make their tracks worth a listen.\nUnlike most modern horror movies, which tantalize genre fans with the promise of a return to the gory glory days of Lucio Fulci and those in his company only to barely deliver on any level, "Hostel" succeeds in bringing the shock, even though the plot is somewhat farcical. Avoid "Hostel" if you're one of those who still thirsts for a horror movie that delivers smarts with its scares, but if gore and genuine brutal shocks are what you're looking for, by all means pick up "Hostel"