Slash. Hack. Spurt. Gurgle... Forget the hype, the tireless self-promotion by the blabbermouth director – truth is, there’s little sophistication in Hostel, a backpackers-in-peril shocker that’s happiest pummelling the gut or tickling the groin, but never the brain.

Doing for inter-railing what director Eli Roth’s debut, Cabin Fever, did for Gillette razors, Hostel clumsily blends Eurotrip-style jock-com with Saw’s ordeal horror as Californian tourists (Jay Hernandez and Derek Richardson) uncover a Slovakian snuff ring.

The charnel house horror is refreshingly grim, but the pity’s in the puerility: Roth’s alleged Serious Point – horny Yanks treat girls like meat then end up in a real-life butcher’s shop themselves – is transparently false; an excuse for lingering over tits’n’ass.

DVD Extras:

But try telling that to Roth. In fact, try telling anything to Roth. Not once does he shut his gob on any of the four (!) commentary tracks, talking at buddies like internet beardy Harry Knowles (who discovered the online murder site that inspired the movie) and executive producer Quentin Tarantino (who upstages the whippersnapper with his own ideas for the toe-cutting scene). The three on-set featurettes give Hostel room service with lots of gloopy special effects, naked prozzie extras and asides on taking dumps in Czech toilets. Charmless.

Four commentaries
Making Of documentary
Interactive featurette
Trailers