YMMV / Hostel

• Alternative Character Interpretation:
  • The guys in the first one, but mainly Paxton. Unlikeable self-centered douchebag or genuinely brave and heroic guy, going so far as to risk his life for a complete stranger, even if he is a bit of a douche at first?
  • The first film leaves Josh's sexuality open, as he shows reluctance to have sex with a prostitute and reacts with hostility when the Dutch Businessman makes advances on him (and the man seems to think he's gay too). But he is just out of a bad break-up and at times seems quite into Natalya and Svetlana - and not wanting to sleep with every girl in sight doesn't translate to being gay. Or else he could be bi, but naturally wouldn't have many opportunities to explore it with a friend like Paxton around.
  • Svetlana. Her reluctance to accompany Paxton and Natalya to the factory was seen by some viewers as sign she is morally conflicted about what she does while others see her as a villain with no remorse at all.
  • Did Paxton's torturer remove Paxton's ball gag after his Vomit Indiscretion Shot out of a brief moment of pity, or did he do it to prevent Paxton from drowning in his own vomit with the intention of killing him himself?
  • Beth in the sequel. Did she perform Stuart's castration solely to escape the facility, or did she truly evolve into a murderous monster just like the other Elite Hunting members? Or, alternatively, did she do it as both revenge and a “fuck you” to Stuart?
• Aluminum Christmas Trees: 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.
• Americans Hate Tingle: Given how the region is inaccurately portrayed as a poverty-stricken, crime-ridden hellhole permanently stuck in the 1980s, it's understandable that this film got absolutely slated by Czech and Slovakian critics and audiences.
• Anvilicious: The bidding war montage in the second movie makes a strong point how wide-ranged Elite Hunting's clientele actually is. For bonus impact, several of the fat cats casually place their bets while hanging out with their families. We get it, every loving wealthy family man could be a murderous psycho.
• Applicability: The scene between Paxton and the American Businessman. A metaphor for what would have become of Paxton and his friends if they had continued to be nothing but Jerkasses that want nothing but party and have sex, which would get to the point of them getting bored of it and then resorting to entering the Elite Hunting club and killing innocent people to get any sort of thrill, or just a pathetic attempt by Eli Roth of making the audience feel any sympathy toward the main characters by making an even worse person than them?
• Audience-Alienating Premise: A movie where innocent people traveling through Europe are captured, sold to the highest bidder and then tortured to death. The potential Squick and Nightmare Fuel is enough to keep many viewers away.
• Broken Base: The originally planned ending to the first film, with Paxton abducting the Dutch businessman's daughter in revenge for Josh's murder. Some see it as effective Laser-Guided Karma for the Dutch businessman since he'd potentially have to spend the rest of his life never learning what happened to his child, while others find themselves glad it was scrapped from the theatrical release, viewing it as too dark and/or finding the prospect of Paxton successfully getting away with the kidnapping to be unlikely; as one commenter on YouTube put it:
  baller84milw: You can see people in the windows literally right next to them who would've immediately became suspicious of a young Mexican-American man holding his hand over the mouth of a scared little Dutch girl. He would've made it like 100 yards before they stopped the train and arrested him.
• Catharsis Factor: Paxton comes across Natalya and Svetlana on the street, along with Alexei (confirming he set them up to be killed) and hits them all with the car. Upon seeing that Natalya is still moving, he goes back and literally drives the car over her. A very satisfying death for an utterly rotten character.
• Contested Sequel: Judging by the online comments, both sequels have their detractors for reasons of both plot and setting (particularly the third movie with its shift to America). The second, however, has been praised for improved production values and better character development.
• Crosses the Line Twice:
  • The children playing soccer with a severed head at the end of the second film. It's made easier to watch because the person deserved it.
  • In the first movie, Paxton's captor slipping on Paxton's ball gag and getting his leg cut off with his own chainsaw? Bloody Hilarious!
• Ensemble Dark Horse: While the third movie is fairly divisive, Kendra (a Good Counterpart of sorts to Natalya and Svetlana), Justin (a generally Nice Guy who chooses to Face Death with Dignity) and Victor (for a good The Dog Bites Back fight scene) received some positive mentions from fans.
• Fanon Discontinuity: Some fans who came around to Paxton by the end of the first film weren't OK with him dying at the start of the second. The final shot of the first film, him sitting inconspicuously on a train in a suit allows those who wish to imagine he'd escaped Elite Hunting.
• Genre Turning Point: It can be argued that the success of this and Saw (and arguably Wolf Creek) is what prompted 2000s horror to become Bloodier and Gorier, with an emphasis on Realism-Induced Horror. If someone ever discusses Torture Porn, Hostel is usually considered the jumping-off point, regardless of whether its fans think it counts.
• He Really Can Act:
  • The scene where Paxton runs into the American Client is considered one of the most chilling scenes of the movies by some people, due to Rick Hoffman's Affably Evil psychotic excitement about torturing Kana and Jay Hernandez's silent, but horrified reaction.
  • In the sequel, combined with his expertise in comedy like Desperate Housewives, The Producers and the most recent A Series of Unfortunate Events (2017), Roger Bart proves he can deliver a chilling and depraved performance as an Ax-Crazy villain who can venture into Evil Is Hammy in his more No Indoor Voice moments.
• He's Just Hiding: For some, in the third movie Kendra's death by gunshot comes across as somewhat ambiguous, or at least less clearly fatal than most deaths in the franchise.
• Hype Backlash: The first movie is a notable example of how having high expectations and praise can greatly mislead others into thinking that a film's content is more serious than it actually is. Plenty of viewers were disappointed upon release that the movie wasn't pushing the boundaries of mainstream violence as they heard and anticipated.
• Informed Wrongness: Josh flipping out at the Dutch Businessman for putting his hand on his thigh is something he apologises for later, and it's meant to be a sign of his internalised homophobia. Except a complete stranger making obvious advances on him is a perfectly valid thing to be annoyed about, regardless of sexuality.
• Jerkass Woobie:
  • Several, though Paxton is likely the most prominent example. While he starts as something of an obnoxious Jerkass, it is very hard not to feel sorry for Paxton when he's at the mercy of a psychotic German man who can't be reasoned with. Not to mention the loss of his friends, the trauma of nearly being killed, and even his backstory about watching a little girl drown as a kid and feeling guilty for it. To make it worse he dies in the sequel.
  • From Part 2, Whitney. Like Paxton, she can be somewhat obnoxious and immature, but she certainly did not deserve to be horribly tortured, kidnapped and murdered either.
• Les Yay: Between Axelle and Beth.
• Love to Hate: Natalya is a mysterious presence for most of the film, but she reveals her villainy in a particularly chilling scene, and Barbara Nedeljáková lets out a magnificent Evil Laugh.
• Narm:
  • Josh's screaming sounds way too much like Mr. Bill.
  • Some of the torture scenes can come off as real eye-rollers to some viewers in just how relentlessly gory they try to be.
• Moral Event Horizon:
  • Natalya laughing at Paxton's horrified reaction to see his friend Josh having been killed immediately begs someone to give her hell.
  • In the sequel, Stuart loses all sympathy when he murders Whitney in cold blood.
• Nausea Fuel: To the point where even the protagonists just can't help it.
• One-Scene Wonder: Alexei only shows up in one scene, besides a brief appearance towards the end, but is very much a Small Role, Big Impact; Lubomir Bukovy's speech about the hotel and the girls there already setting the audience up that something very creepy is going on.
• Paranoia Fuel: As mentioned under Nightmare Fuel above, many critics have commented that this movie did to backpacking in Europe what Psycho did to showering in motels.
• Polish the Turd: Every single trailer, tv spot, and cover advertised as if Quentin Tarantino had a large or important role in making the movie. In reality, he was only an Executive Producer, which really isn't a highly integral role in the filmmaking process. It's obvious they were trying to sell the film as much as possible by using his name.
• Questionable Casting: The Big Bad Sasha is played by... Milan Kňažko, former Slovak Minister of Culture.
• Ron the Death Eater: Paxton's behaviour in the first act tends to be grossly overblown by the movie's detractors, who paint him as an out and out Hate Sink. While his chauvinism and homophobia hasn't aged well, the point of the movie is that he's an "Ugly American" Stereotype who then suffers Break the Haughty. Even so, he displays obvious concern for Josh, Oli and Kana and is given a Freudian Excuse to explain some of his Jerkass behaviour. His decision to go back and rescue Kana, someone he barely knows- despite nearly escaping scot-free- is also a throughly selfless and heroic act.
• Signature Scene:
  • The eye-snipping scene in the original.
  • The Blood Bath scene in the sequel.
• Special Effect Failure: When "two of Paxton's fingers" gets sawed off with the chainsaw, you can blatantly see that it actually cuts through half of his hand. Both this, as well as the medically fake depiction of seemingly gallons of blood pouring out of his hand totally show how poorly obvious the prop is.
• Squick: Any scene from all three movies is fair game, but special mention goes to a certain eye-snipping scene in the first one.
• Too Bleak, Stopped Caring: Although it's not as defined in the sequels, some people find it extremely hard to connect with the main characters, considering how the more sympathetic ones are killed right off the bat, and how straight up thick-headed and hedonistic they are. And that's for people not already turned-off by the whole Torture Porn shtick.
• The Woobie:
  • Poor Josh... Sexually inexperienced and possibly gay man who's yet to explore his sexuality due to a fear of losing his closest friend. Not only that, but Josh is also the nicest person in the series and suffers one of the most horrific and painful deaths.
  • Kana as well, considering she ends up mutilated so badly that Paxton has to cut her eye off. When she sees a reflection of herself, she opts to jump in front of a train.

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