Seriously though, no early reviews yet?

and another thing, is that Roth getting the blowjob in the thanksgiving trailer?

to be better than the film. I remember loving the marketing for HOSTEL 1, with all the proud prancing from QT, and all that. I hoped that the film might live up to the shock inducing propaganda. I saw WOLF CREEK a week before I saw HOSTEL, and that one shocked the hell out of me. If you haven't seen it, do yourself a favor and rent it. Everything that flopped in Eli's flick worked in WOLF CREEK...

But HOSTEL? What a disappointment. The special make-up effects sucked, the directing sucked, the story sucked ("Oh, look! There are all the bad people, conveniently lined up so I can run them over with my car!")... and worst of all, it was about as shocking as a FRIDAY THE 13TH flick.

I'm still wondering how Eli could fuck up such a great premise with all the money he spent. Can I hope this one will live up to the hype, finally? I love the marketing, again. So far so good.... Could the man actually deliver something good?

Might have to wait for the unrated DVD to find out, though. I don't know if I want to see it with the audience the flick will pull in. Talk about scary shit....

The headless girls in the poster you're talking about is Bijou Phillips, who has tits with more talent than her head has for acting... and that is her OWN head she's holding, which is one reason I love that poster. Fucking hilarious... but censored (censored right here in the land of the free - Fuck the MPAA).

Anyway, that poster may be Eli's first bit of inspired directing, if you ask me, and that's why I'm still gonna give the guy a chance to give me nightmares. Hell, Scorsese and Coppola did a Corman movie, and look where they ended up, right?

that guy is amazing...

I am not a spambot, I just love typing the words "online roulette"

I don't think he's the worst guy ever, he clearly loves horror films, and has just found a new niche, but I just find the hostel films SO boring, it's frustrating. I look at them as someone would look at a novel written entirely in text message lexicon. "ur 2 hot 4 skool" etc. etc. this sort of retardation of the medium of film, and even, of horror films.

not that anyone gives a gold.

when's the tutorial, asshead?

that being the case, your implication is that certain filmmakers should get special consideration because they're a little geekier than the norm.

I give Roth credit that he was on Bravo's scariest movie moments, or whatever shit. and what does that buy him from me, the typical talkbacker? a comment to the extent of, "he seems like a cool guy, buuuuuut...." (which I said above, more or less)

at some point, you have to be a good filmmaker, not just a geek with a microphone. art is not supposed to be cathartic, it's supposed to be good. I don't fawn over filmmakers whose works I love, but who I hate as peaople. but I still watch the films and enjoy them.

Roth, in my opinion, has found a niche, and is face-fucking it as hard as possible, for as long as possible. maybe when Cell comes out, he will prove me wrong. I hope so, because I dug the book.

but either way, the filmmaker can suck as many TBers dicks as he wants, he still has to produce.

and by the by? if you think Bryan Singer, the director of Superman Returns, gets a free pass from the talkbackers...or even more, as you wrote, is "treated like a king"....you sir, are confused beyond belief. AICN talkbackers HATE superman returns...

I certainly can't argue that, in general, there aren't a huge host of TB posts born from the "I could do that" mentality, as you said. you're absolutely right, it's true, and it's unfortunate.

that having been said, no one says that about a lot of other filmmakers, who recieve an equal amount of shit for their choices (look at the new Batman TB for an example). they bitch and moan about every little thing, but no one has quite that same mentality of "this guy is a hack, I could do that shit", that happens with Roth.

now, I went to film school, I've shot a lot of short films, I'm in festivals, blah blah blah. point is, I'm not a 14 year old in my mom's basement. BUT, do I think I could shoot a horror film tomorrow better than Roth? no way. I don't LIKE horror films. I unnderstand that you have to love a style before you can devour it and make it your own. true of Spielberg with family adventure films, true of Moore with Docs, true of carpenter with B movie funfests, true of Bertolucci with envelope-pushing dramas...

but my complaint is not with Roth's LOVE for horror, it's for his lack of respect for fans. he has cleary seen what fans will pay for and see, and he is going to make those types of films (I think I referred to it a little less gracefully as "face fucking") until the well is dry.

if you love John Carpenter's "The Thing", (as he does, and hs gushingly SAID he does) then MAKE ANOTHER ONE! I would love it! but I think he's taken all of these separate componenents, thrown them in a bag full of youtube and myspace, and figured out a good business model for horror in the 21 century.

and part of me thinks, "god bless him" suck that teet dry, Roth. there are worse out there.

but part of me thinks, "come on...you are BETTER than this!!!"

and part of me thinks, "come on, I could do this shit!!!" ;o)

You thought that was a good special make-up effect? I thought it looked totally fake. I thought all of Hostel's gags looked fake, although I admit, the set design and lighting was great. This is another reason it's a shame Eli couldn't make a better film out of a such a great premise. But I kept thinking "Where's Tom Savini when you need him?"

Anyone see WOLF CREEK, for crying out loud? That's a shocker because it concentrates on being realistic. The DVD contains a deleted scene which is all gore (the scene in the well). They took it out because it detracted from the realism in the film. The realism as portrayed by the excellent actresses is what made that film so hard to sit through. When it comes to shock, it's not about the gore, it's about the acting. Hear that, Eli? A.C.T.I.N.G. It's what a good director gets out of their meat puppets. Not that he cares, mind you, he's rich, now, and he's about to get richer off of bad audiences, if you ask me.

I would be pleasantly surprised if this sequel flopped. Now that would be shocking!