Hostel director Eli Roth reveals that he’s interested in returning to the franchise all these years later. First released in the U.S. in 2006, Hostel comes at the height of the “torture porn” era of horror. Roth’s horror film follows a group of travelers who inadvertently find themselves wrapped up in a disturbing scheme in which wealthy individuals pay to torture and kill random people. Roth’s sequel was released in 2007, with a third, directed by Scott Spiegel, coming in 2011.
Now, in a recent interview with CinePOP, Roth reveals that he’s eager to return to Hostel for a new chapter. The filmmaker also teases a potential return to Cabin Fever, his 2002 horror. Check out Roth’s full comment as translated by GamesRadar below:
“Hostel, there’s a lot more to do. I’d love to go back to Hostel at some point.”
“They’re a part of me. They’re like my children. I feel like I’ve ignored them for too long. And I’d love to go back to them in some way. I have ideas. I would direct it. I don’t want it in anyone else’s hands.”
Eli Roth’s Hostel Was Better As A Standalone Horror Movie (No Sequels)
Eli Roth’s Hostel (2005) spawned two sequels, but they weren’t actually necessary. Here’s why Hostel would’ve been a better standalone horror movie.
Should There Be More Hostel Movies?
The torture porn era of horror is far more niche now than it once was. At the height of the subgenre’s popularity, audiences got movies like The Human Centipede, Saw, Wolf Creek, and I Spit on Your Grave, among others, and a lot of them were hits at the box office. Most of these films, including the Hostel series, were not well-received by critics, but audience interest seemed to remain high for a number of years until somewhat dying off in the early and mid-2010s.
It’s this evolution of the horror genre that suggests Hostel 4 might struggle to find an audience. Plus, the Hostel franchise itself saw diminishing returns critically and commercially with each subsequent installment. That being said, it’s certainly possible, if Roth does return to the franchise, the series itself could evolve, switching up the formula of the first three movies.
Saw X‘s box office success suggests that there is certainly room for legacy torture porn franchises to evolve. The latest Saw installment features the same focus on gory and grisly traps as its predecessors, but it also puts a greater focus on character, ultimately earning the movie the franchise’s strongest reviews to date. It remains to be seen whether Roth will end up making another Hostel movie, but it certainly has a chance to succeed if the filmmaker can find a way to modernize the premise and story in a creative way.
