Arguably more than any other genre, horror loves nothing more than jumping on a popular bandwagon and running it into the ground. The Halloween-inspired craze for crafting direct sequels to classic movies is the latest, but the mid-to-late 2000s were dominated by torture porn, with Eli Roth’s Hostel pinpointed as the genesis of the fad.
Essentially a combination of splatter and slasher, the gruesome evolution of the artform placed an extreme focus on wince-inducing violence, torture, graphic mutilation, sadistic brutality, and high body counts that left various limbs and entrails strewn across the screen.
Torture porn quickly descended into something approaching self-parody in no time at all, but Hostel was an unflinching glimpse into the future, and a lot of people did not care for what they saw. Two best friends head off on a trip to Europe after graduating college, where things go awfully wrong once they decide to check out a near-mythical Slovakian hostel they’ve heard about.
An unqualified box office success story after earning $82 million on a budget of under $5 million, Hostel also fared surprisingly well with critics, currently sitting right on the cusp of a Fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes thanks to a 59% score. It’s not for the faint of heart, then, but we can infer that Prime Video subscribers are made of strong stuff.
As per FlixPatrol, the graphic descent into butchery has charted on the platform’s global most-watched list, so you’ve got to at least admire those who decided that Hostel was perfect weekend viewing when they decided to hit play.