History Film / Hostel

* TheyLookJustLikeEveryoneElse: The most scary part of the Elite Hunting group is that most of the torturers are perfectly normal people, who have a life and loved ones. Especially made clear during the auction scene, where some of the bidders are shown.

* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: In-universe. Even though we know the fate of Oli, Paxton and Josh are left in the dark on whether he actually "went home" or not. The same applies to Lorna in the sequel.

* KickTheSonOfABitch: [[spoiler: After running over Natalya, Svetlana and Alex in the street, Paxton sees that Natalya is still alive, so he goes back and drives the car over her to make sure she's definitely dead]].
* KidsAreCruel: The Bubblegum Gang, the group of kids in the village that mug people for money or candy. [[spoiler: They have no problem with violence, playing soccer with a decapitated head in one fairly [[PlayedForLaughs humorous]] scene.]]
* MultipleEndings: The director's cut has a much darker and more ambiguous ending where [[spoiler: instead of killing the Dutch businessman, he kidnaps his daughter]], but perhaps through either ExecutiveMeddling or test-audience scoring, the other ''Franchise/{{Rambo}}''-style conclusion made it to theaters.

* RevengeByProxy: [[spoiler:The alternate ending has Paxton exact his revenge on the Dutch Businessman by leaving him be, and kidnapping his daughter.]]

** [[spoiler:Paxton seeing Natalya, Svetlana, and Alexi in the road - and promptly running them over with his car - can also be said to reference Butch running over Marcellus Wallace.]]

* JapaneseTourist: Kana and Yuki, though the girl that played Kana was actually British.

** When the men arrive at the hostel, the lobby TV is playing a dubbed version of ''Film/PulpFiction'', which was directed by the same Quentin Tarantino that encouraged Roth to make the film and produced it.

* UglyAmericanStereotype: Paxton embodies this at first - complaining that a foreign dub of ''Film/PulpFiction'' doesn't have subtitles, and travelling to Europe solely in the pursuit of drugs and sex. That being said, their Icelandic friend Oli is no different.
* VillainousBreakdown: [[spoiler:In the alternate ending, the Dutch Businessman has a fear-induced one when his daughter gets kidnapped by Paxton, panicking trying to find her before [[ScreamMyName screaming her name]] in anguish to a point it made him UnintentionallySympathetic as an AlasPoorVillain moment for him, hence the ending change.]]

* ActionGirl: Beth is more badass than any previous protagonists by a fair margin -- [[spoiler:she gives Stuart, her torturer, a brutal GroinAttack with garden shears, joins the hunting club, and beheads the woman who tricked her and her friends into going to the hostel in the end. Oh, and she becomes one of the club members... i.e. the villains of the movie.]]

* Asshole Victim: [[spoiler:Mike]] is the first of the core group to die. Considering how much of a jerk he was, it's safe to say no one will miss him.

* CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass: We think the dork-looking guy at the beginning of the film is a victim of Elite Hunting Club. [[spoiler:But in an interesting [[[BaitAndSwitch subversion]], he is actually a member.]]

''Hostel'' was Roth's first project following the success of ''Film/CabinFever'', and was assisted in no small portion by the aforementioned Tarantino, a big fan of the film, who pushed Roth to create an original story as he was receiving various directorial offers on horror remakes. All three films utilize the same style, containing Roth's [[SignatureStyle pre-established likings]] for prominent {{splatter|Horror}} elements and the occasional BlackComedy, this time presented through the world of extreme torture. In fact, it was the first film that was among the flock that [[TropeCodifier directly inspired]] the coining of the term "TorturePorn". While its actual applicability to this series is a mildly contentious subject, all three films are definitely not to be watched while [[NauseaFuel eating a bowl of spaghetti]].

* ArtisticLicenseGeography: The Amsterdam featured in the film's opening doesn't much resemble the actual Amsterdam. And the less said about the film's portrayal of Slovakia, the better.

The series centers around Elite Hunting, a secret society of torture clubs, which use Eastern European hostels (basically cheap dorm-style hotels for tourists) and [[HoneyTrap local women]] to capture victims for the wealthy to kill and torture at their leisure. Each film features similarly unwitting American protagonists who wind up in the clutches of the society while embarking on hedonistic journeys; while the first and second use college students backpacking through Europe, the third centers around a bachelor party in Las Vegas.

* DeathBySex:
** Averted. The only survivor of the first movie [[spoiler:is Paxton, possibly the horniest of the main characters, while Josh, who was quite reluctant about their... activities is killed slowly and painfully. It's not an aversion as it's part of Eli Roth's overall themes as a writer; in his horror films, the virgin always dies horribly while the slut/manwhore is usually the last man standing.]]
** In the second film, the [[spoiler:only survivor is the sensible one who avoided hooking up with any guys. Then again, it may also be an inversion of BuryYourGays due to Beth's LesYay subtext with Axelle.]] However, it somewhat subverts this as [[spoiler: while the survivor is the one who avoids hooking up with any guys, she is not a virgin and it is the clearly virginal Lorna dies first.]]

* {{Gorn}}: Possibly more so than the first film. Todd's corpse is mangled as he is eaten by dogs, Lorna is exsanguinated by Ms. Bathory, not to mention having her throat slit to put her out of her misery, an old man eats one of his live victim's legs on a plate in the background, Stuart's penis, the entirety of it, is ripped right out from between his legs, whole, by Beth, and Beth severs Axelle's head in front of a group of kids. Should we go on?

* SlashedThroat: How Ms. Bathory finishes off [[spoiler:Lorna]].

* {{Gorn}}: Possibly more so than the first film. Todd's corpse is mangled as he is eaten by dogs, Lorna is exsanguinated by Ms.Bathory, not to mention having her throat slit to put her out of her misery, an old man eats one of his live victim's legs on a plate in the background, Stuart's penis, the entirety of it, is ripped right out from between his legs, whole, by Beth, and Beth severs Axelle's head in front of a group of kids. Should we go on?

* AluminumChristmasTrees: Despite claims to the contrary, the idea of the hostel requiring patrons to leave their passports at the desk is actually closer to reality than some think - a number of hostels in Europe require a piece of ID (or a deposit) upon check-in.

* AluminumChristmasTrees: Despite claims to the contrary, the idea of the hostel requiring patrons to leave their passports at the desk is actually closer to reality than some think - a number of hostels in Europe require the a piece of ID (or a deposit) upon check-in.

''Hostel'' was Roth's first project following the success of ''Film/CabinFever'', and assisted in no small portion by the aforementioned Tarantino, a big fan of the film, who pushed Roth to create an original story as he was receiving various directorial offers on horror remakes. All three films utilize the same style, containing Roth's [[SignatureStyle pre-established likings]] for prominent {{splatter|Horror}} elements and the occasional BlackComedy, this time presented through the world of extreme torture. In fact, it was the first film that was among the flock that [[TropeCodifier directly inspired]] the coining of the term "TorturePorn". While its actual applicability to this series is a mildly contentious subject, all three films are definitely not to be watched while [[NauseaFuel eating a bowl of spaghetti]].

** [[spoiler:In the III part]]the bald guy that accompanies Kendra disappears suddenly

In the II part, we don't know the whereabouts of Beth.
In part III, the bald guy that accompanies Kendra disappears suddenly

* {{Fanservice}}: Its exploitation by way of the HoneyTrap and other methods is the driving force of Elite Hunting.

* FatalFamilyPhoto: Both [[spoiler: Oli and the Dutch Businessman]] on the train.

* KickTheDog: Natalya laughing at [[spoiler: Paxton's]] reaction to [[spoiler: Josh's body]].

* VillainousBreakdown: [[spoiler:In the alternate ending, the Dutch Businessman has an AdultFear-induced one when his daughter gets kidnapped by Paxton, panicking trying to find her before [[ScreamMyName screaming her name]] in anguish to a point it made him UnintentionallySympathetic as an AlasPoorVillain moment for him, hence the ending change.]]

* {{Gorn}}: Possibly more so than the first film. Todd's corpse is mangled as he is eaten by dogs, Lorna is exsanguinated by Ms.Bathory not to mention having her throat slit to put her out of her misery, an old man eats one of his victim's legs on a plate in the background, Stuart's penis, the entirety of it, is ripped right out from between his legs, whole, by Beth, and Beth severs Axelle's head in front of a group of kids. Should we go on?

* MultipleEndings: The director's cut has a much darker and more ambiguous ending where [[spoiler: instead of killing the Dutch businessman, he kidnaps his daughter]], but perhaps through either ExecutiveMeddling or test-audience scoring, the other ''Film/{{Rambo}}''-style conclusion made it to theaters.