Movie Review: ‘HOSTEL: PART III’

I will mention first and foremost that I have never been a fan of this series. When Eli Roth was at the helm, I thought Hostel was gimmicky and cheap, playing off the success of gore driven movies like Final Destination and Saw. I have always liked the idea of the Elite Hunting Club and the kill scenes were very good, but I just thought the movies had little substance. Obviously most of you don’t think the same or the films would not have gotten the blockbuster success that they have. Even with all that, it was no surprise that Roth would leave the franchise and the next film would get a straight to DVD release.

The next installment, Hostel: Part III stars Kip Pardue (Remember The Titans), Brian Hallisay (Bottoms Up), and John Hensley(Nip Tuck). Directed by Scott Spiegel (Intruder), Hostel: Part III involves Pardue taking Hallisay on a bachelor retreat for fun in Palm Springs with a little R&R and golf. Little does Hallisay know, Pardue (Carter) is taking him to Sin City for a wild bachelor weekend he will never forget.

The film opens up with a young man stumbling into a hotel room occupied by a young couple from the Ukraine, and you soon find out that this young man is not who he seems to be. The young couple is taken to an unknown location  and left in cages. The young lady of the couple is later taken into a a viewing room where she is tortured in front of wealthy viewers who place wagers on the way she will die and the things that will occur during the process. Side bets if you may.

We shoot over to Scott (Hallisay) being picked up by Carter thinking they are off to play some golf in Palm Springs for his bachelor party. Carter has other intentions and he is not alone. With other friends Mike and Justin, they hire escorts to lure Scott to an abandoned warehouse outside of the Vegas Strip and set him up for the time of his life with one of the escorts named Kendra. The next day, someone goes missing and it’s up to the rest of them to track them down.

They are taken into the world of the Elite Hunting Club, and we find out that one of the friends is not only being taken as a hostage but he is also a member of the club himself.   The rest of the film is a cat and mouse game filled with twists and turns as they try and escape Las Vegas in one piece.

Without spoiling anymore of the film, I would like to focus on the good and the bad of the film. I will start with the good.  I thought the cast was picked very well and the story line moved at a good pace, not leaving much to the imagination.  I was really surprised this did not get a theatrical realease with how well known the cast is, and overall, I thought the film’s concept was good.

The bad about the movie is the horribly executed kill scenes. This was  a huge downer for me because there is no point of continuing the franchise with watered down deaths. For example: what’s scary or even gross about being shot by arrows at point blank range?  Who thought of that concept? Hostel stuck out in the minds of most because the characters involved in the club were some of the most sadist people you have ever seen. The guys that work in the Dick’s sporting goods department are scarier than these guys, and I believe they used props from the sports department to make this movie. I mean arrows, really? The Elite members that were present had little to do with how the characters were killed off and had me wondering if this was even a sequel to the previous Hostel films.

I didn’t hate the movie but by no way did I love it.    As usual, there were glimpses of potential in the movie. With some films, when certain events happen, the film can take a direction that will have you glued to your seat. This is not one of those films. I will say that if you are a fan of the previous two films you might as well check it out to see how the transition from Eli Roth to Scott Spiegel goes terribly wrong.  I’m curious to see if the franchise will continue. For their sake I hope it doesn’t.