'Hostel' tells a very hostile tale

The writer-director received support from Quentin Tarantino.
By DANIEL FIENBERG
Zap2it.com
LOS ANGELES -- The story of "Hostel" probably has to begin with a subplot about how the success of "Cabin Fever" nearly stalled writer-director Eli Roth's career.
Produced on a budget of only $1.5 million and building its buzz largely through the Internet, "Cabin Fever" -- the heart-melting story of a flesh-eating virus and the nubile youngsters it devours -- made more than $30 million worldwide, took in even more money on DVD and transformed Roth from outsider to go-to young director in a matter of months.
What followed is a typical tale of death-by-opportunity -- Roth became attached to a slew of remakes ("The Bad Seed") and sequels and nothing could get made. The necessary creative laxative came courtesy of friend and colleague Quentin Tarantino, who listened to Roth's studio-based plans with apathy before hearing one of his original ideas.
"I told him the idea for 'Hostel' and he was like 'Are you kidding me? That's the sickest idea I have ever heard,"' Roth recalls. "He's like 'Eli, you've got to do that. Do it low-budget' and I have a horror company called Raw Nerve, and he was like 'Do it with Raw Nerve, do it for like 3 million bucks. Just go to Europe and make it as sick as you want to make it.' He's like 'This could be like, your Takashi Miike film. If you did this this could be, like, a classic American horror movie."'
Beginning
The genesis for "Hostel," opening Friday, was a conversation between Roth and online movie gadfly Harry Knowles about the proliferation of deviance and deprivation on the Internet.
"He sent me a link to a site where you could go to Thailand and for $10,000, walk into a room and shoot somebody in the head," Roth says. "And the site claimed that the person you were killing had signed up for it and that part of the money would go to their family -- they were so broke and they were gonna die anyway and they wanted to do this.
From that site and Tarantino's encouragement (he also served as an executive producer on the film) came the story of a group of young backpackers who accidentally cross the line from hedonism into sadism (and worse) in Eastern Europe. The movie was made without stars or studio backing and, like "Cabin Fever," the Internet chatter far outweighs any kind of momentum the film could get from mainstream moviegoers.
"Now, I'm spoiled," Roth admits. "I have done two movies in a row that I got to write, produce, direct, completely control and I was involved in the marketing of the movies and the poster ideas. It depends what project it is. Obviously, if someone said 'We want you to do 'Indiana Jones 4' or even, 'Porky's 4,' I'd be like, 'All right, great.' That's not your own thing. But I kinda feel like, if this movie does well, it just reinforces my confidence that maybe I should just follow my own ideas."
Other ideas
The writer-director's ideas aren't just restricted to the realm of blood, puss and other natural and unnatural bodily fluids. He's quick to list Peter Jackson and Sam Raimi as his major influences, both directors who were able to transition from ultra-cheap gore flicks to uncompromised studio blockbusters.
"I'm now at the point where I want to tell stories -- like if it's a scary story, I'm gonna make a scary story, but if I feel that way about a dramatic story or science fiction, I want to throw myself into it, Roth says. "Those are the directors that I love and admire and ultimately want to be like. The idea isn't just to scare people, it's just to tell stories that you really believe in."