Hostel: Part III

It's always a mixed blessing when a horror movie franchise transitions from theatrical releases to direct-to-DVD ones. On one hand, it's nice--most of the time--to see series continue that otherwise couldn't, given the lackluster box office take of the last installment. On the other hand, the end result is almost always a letdown.

How big of a letdown depends on the intent of the filmmakers. Are they looking to make a good film or just keep the trademark alive for the studio? Generally speaking, I think the former is usually the case, although you look at something like what the Hellraiser series became, and it's easy to cynically start to believe the latter. Unfortunately, the economic realities of making a direct-to-DVD genre film means that even when intentions are good, the final product is not.

Hostel: Part III is, for the most part, a good film in the sense that it's competently made, seamlessly fits into the series in terms of both plot and visuals, and there are a couple of neat twists. Unfortunately, it also has a distinct lack of ambition and in at least one instance, the lack of any real budget turned what could have been a great scene into a terrible one.

Spoilers follow...

The decision to move the action from Slovakia to Las Vegas wasn't a terrible one, although I think they could have squeezed at least one more film out of the original setting. The problem with the story is that it doesn't build on the really interesting mythology of the first two films. While Hostel: Part II provided more detail about the Elite Hunting organization, Part III barely makes an effort. Sure, I guess it's nice to know they have an American branch, but aside from the tattoos, there isn't much of a connection. The bit where the audience wagers on the results of the torture sessions is more silly than anything else, and seems like a bit too much of a departure from the concept of Hostel: The wealthy paying to torture and kill people for fun. Simple yet brilliant.

The death scenes were surprisingly tame. Not that they needed to be especially elaborate, although I did get a kick out of the over-the-top stuff like the cannibalism and blood-bathing scenes in Part II. Maybe I'm just jaded, but someone getting his face sliced off just doesn't do anything for me. Unfortunately, the death scene with the most potential was evidently done in by not having enough money with which to film it properly: A girl has several (presumably carnivorous) insects poured over her, and all it results in is some horrendous CGI work as the insects improbably stream into her open mouth before a fade to black. Kind of disappointing for gore aficionados. After all, you can never go wrong with someone getting eaten alive.

Hopefully, there'll be a Hostel: Part IV. There aren't many horror franchises that still have so much material left to mine three films in, but there's still a lot of life left in this one. It'll be especially nice if the filmmakers concentrate more on the story than the death scenes, especially if they don't have the money to do them well.

Script: B-
Acting: B
Gore: B+
Overall: B