Hostel
After graduation, a pleasure-seeking European backpacking trip becomes a nightmare of abduction, torture, and commodified human cruelty.
Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Brisk
- Intensity
- Extreme
- Complexity
- Easy to follow
- Violence
- Graphic
- disturbing
- visceral
- paranoid
- late night horror marathon
- extreme horror viewing
What critics said
Critics broadly found the film technically creative and intensely visceral, while divided over whether its graphic torture was thrillingly effective or crass and exploitative.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
The film's climactic horror centers on paid captors inflicting graphic mutilation, including blowtorch, cutting, and eye-related violence.
The Elite Hunting organization sells access to captive victims, framing torture as a luxury marketplace for wealthy clients.
The travelers are lured to a supposedly desirable Slovakian hostel whose promise of sexual adventure masks organized abduction.
The film repeatedly uses severed toes, sliced ankles, burned flesh, and damaged eyes as defining images.
Films like Hostel, and why
Saw
shares torture horror, graphic splatter, captivity, and sadistic games
The Devil's Rejects
shares exploitative horror, transgressive sexuality, graphic violence, and moral degradation
Martyrs
shares survival horror, bodily mutilation, and relentless claustrophobic menace
Turistas
shares international travel paranoia, human trafficking, and brutal exploitation themes
Movie Details
- Director
- Eli Roth
- Release Date
- 2006-01-06
- Runtime
- 94 min
- Rating
- 6.0 / 10 (4087)
Cast
- Jay Hernandez
- Derek Richardson
- Eythor Gudjonsson
- Barbara Nedeljakova
- Jana Kaderabkova
- Jennifer Lim
- Jan Vlasák
- Jana Havlickova
- Keiko Seiko
- Paula Wild
Where to watch in United States
- Streaming
- MovieSphere+ Amazon Channel
- Rent
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
- Buy
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
Streaming options come from TMDB and change over time.
Common questions
- What is Hostel about?
- After graduation, a pleasure-seeking European backpacking trip becomes a nightmare of abduction, torture, and commodified human cruelty.
- What is Hostel like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of Hostel as brisk, its intensity as extreme and its storytelling as easy to follow.
- Is Hostel violent?
- Yes. Ember rates the violence in Hostel as graphic.
- What did critics think of Hostel?
- Critics broadly found the film technically creative and intensely visceral, while divided over whether its graphic torture was thrillingly effective or crass and exploitative.
- Which films are like Hostel?
- Films with a similar feel include Saw, The Devil's Rejects, Martyrs, and Turistas.
- How long is Hostel?
- Hostel runs 94 minutes.
- Where can I watch Hostel?
- In United States, Hostel streams on MovieSphere+ Amazon Channel.
