The Hostel Movie: Must-Watch Or Waste Of Time?


Hostel Movie

Is the Hostel horror movie really based on a true story? How many parts are there? What are they about? And are they a must-watch for hostel owners?

Without further ado, let’s dive right into it!

General Facts About The Hostel Movies

Let’s start with the basics.

How Many Parts Are There?

The “Hostel“ movie is a film series and has three parts.

Even though you can find a trailer for Hostel part 4 on YouTube, it’s a fan-made trailer, i.e. fiction.

What Are The Hostel Movies About?

Spoiler alert: While the exact story differs from movie to movie, the basic idea remains the same.

Rich people pay a lot of money to get the chance to torture others for the “thrill” of killing someone.

The victims are typically travelers who get lured into a hostel where they get abducted. This is set up by an “Elite Hunting Club” which is basically an organized group of criminals.

The killing itself is beyond cruel. The murderers typically have an entire room with utensils they can use to torture their prey to death.

Is The Hostel Movie Based On A True Story?

No, the story behind the movie is pure fiction.

However, there have been reported incidents where organized criminals lured people away from their families by promising well-paid jobs only to abuse them later. But it has never been associated with a stay in a hostel.

What inspired the director was a website where you go to Thailand and can pay $10,000 to shoot somebody in the head – for the “thrill of taking a human life”.

Part of the money goes to their families because they were so broke and “we’re gonna die anyway”. No, I shit you not… 😳

Will There Be “Hostel Part 4”?

No. As of today, it doesn’t look like it.

The first two movies have been filmed in 2005 and 2007 by Eli Roth and are the most popular ones. Part 3 was released in 2011 and was produced by different people. It was also the least successful… and that’s eight years ago.

Furthermore, there have been no comments or whatsoever by the producers about a fourth part. Hence, I think it has come to an end.

Good for the hostel industry, bad for fans of the movies.

Are The Hostel Movies Connected?

Only parts 1 and 2 have a slight connection.

However, part 3 of the movie series was written, directed, and produced by different people and has no connection to the other parts. That said, the basic idea remains the same.

Where Does It Take Place?

Part 1 and 2 play – according to the movie – in a “Slovakian city”. In reality, they were filmed in Cesky Krumlov, Czech Republic.

Both the Czech Republic as well as Slovakia was utterly offended by the movie’s portrayal of their countries. The tourist board invited the director on an all-expenses-paid trip to their country since the movie showed high criminality, prostitution, and undeveloped lands.

It got to a point that Roth held a press conference in which he said:

“It’s very exciting for me to be here, especially since I know that there are some people from Slovakia who probably want to kill me for making this movie. […] I look forward to answering all your questions and hopefully I will not get tortured to death.” [Source]

Fun fact: Hostelworld lists 9 hostels in Cesky Krumlov where it was filmed and they have awesome reviews! 🙂

Part 3 plays in Las Vegas, USA.

What Do The Movies Have To Do With Hostels?

The movie is called “Hostel” because the victims are typically lured into one before they get kidnapped and killed.

However, the hostels that are shown have no similarities with “real” hostels:

There are no bunk beds, no social atmosphere, and they are rather presented as a brothel. It just looks like a sleazy accommodation in which people share their rooms. Furthermore, the proportion of “hostels” gets increasingly smaller from part to part.

In my opinion, true travelers are way too intelligent to cancel their travel plans due to some movie.

However, I do think that people who watched “Hostel” will visit the city in the Czech Republic with slightly different feelings. At least I would… 😋

Where Can You Watch The Hostel Movies?

The Hostel movies are not available on Netflix.

You can either buy the trilogy as DVDs on Amazon or rent the movies on Amazon Prime Video or YouTube.

Are They A Must-Watch?

In my opinion, if you’re not working in a hostel, there’s no need to watch them. I’d argue that there are definitely “better” horror movies out there if that’s the kind of genre you like.

For hostel owners, I think it’s almost a must.

Now, let me set the record straight: I normally NEVER watch horror movies because I typically can’t sleep afterward if they are “too sick”.

However, at the same time, I was just too curious what these movies are all about because I heard so many other hostel managers and travelers who mentioned it.

If you’re not used to such cruel movies, I recommend starting with the last one and watching it during the day instead of in the evening. In my opinion, that’s the least sick part of all… or maybe I got used to the cruelties? 😅

Anyway, I really had to force me to watch the entire first part. And I can’t remember any movie in the last few years that made me sweat so much – that’s for sure.

However, looking back on it, I’m glad I did it. Now I know what everyone else in my industry is talking about.

Hostel Movie Parts

WARNING: Skip the movie summaries if you plan to watch the movies!

Hostel Movie Part 1

Year: 2005 | Genre: Horror
Producer, Director and Screenwriter: Eli Roth
Actors: Jay Hernandez, Derek Richardson,
Eyþór Guðjónsson, Barbara Nedeljáková, Rick Hoffman
IMDb Rating: 5.9

Hostel Part 1 Summary

Do NOT read this if you plan to watch the movie yourself!

Three American backpackers in their early twenties visit Amsterdam to party and consume drugs.

In the middle of a party night, a man shows them nudist pictures of girls in a Slovakian hostel where there are apparently way too many girls and no men. So they travel to Slovakia to visit that hostel… what else would you do? 😅

When they arrive at the hostel in Slovakia, it turns out to be rather a flophouse. All in all, it doesn’t start as a horror movie. However, it quickly turns into “torture porn”…

After the first night of partying, one of the three backpackers is missing and apparently checked-out in the morning. After a second night of partying filled with alcohol and drugs, the second friend is being missed.

In reality, they both got brutally tortured to death by the man they met on the train during their way to Slovakia.

As the third one searches for his friends, he discovers the “human slaughterhouse” where he almost gets killed.

It somehow reminded me of the movie “Saw”: many chained people and lots of nightmarish butcher tools. It turns out that the psychopath paid a lot of money to live out his passion for “playing doctor”.

However, the last of the three American backpackers can escape and sees the murderer of his friends on the train on the way home. In the end, he kills him in the same cruel manner at a train station.

Hostel Movie Part 2

Year: 2007 | Genre: Horror
Producer, Director and Screenwriter: Eli Roth
Actors: Lauren German, Roger Bart, Heather Matarazzo, Bijou Phillips, Richard Burgi
IMDb Rating: 5.5

Hostel Part 2 Summary

Do NOT read this if you plan to watch the movie yourself!

The second part starts with the survivor of part 1 who has nightmares about the people who wanted to kill him. He refused to go to the police because he feared they could all be involved.

His girlfriend thinks he’s crazy… until she finds him beheaded in the kitchen.

The story itself is pretty similar to part 1: Three American girls get lured into the same Slovakian hostel while traveling. When they checked into their hostel, the receptionist scans their IDs. The photos of them got sent to a bunch of rich people who can bid to buy their kill.

One after the other gets kidnapped and tortured to death in a similar sick way as seen in part one. However, the third one can trick her killer and bought her way free.

The end of the movie is her revenge: She kills her rapist as well as the girls who lured her into the hostel.

Hostel Movie Part 3

Year: 2011 | Genre: Horror
Producer and Director: Scott Spiegel
Actors: Kip Pardue, Brian Hallisay, John Hensley, Sarah Habel, Chris Coy, Skyler Stone, Thomas Kretschmann
IMDb Rating: 4.6

Hostel Part 3 Summary

Do NOT read this if you plan to watch the movie yourself!

Four friends visit Las Vegas for a bachelor’s party. All actors are way older (early 30th) and different than in part 1 and 2. During their first night’s party, one friend disappeared.

What they don’t know is that he got kidnapped and tortured to death. This time, the “act” of killing the victims is much more modern:

They are chained to a chair on a stage in front of a rich audience who can choose the tools the killer has to use to torture them (e.g. drill, knife, etc.).

It turns out that one of the friends was jealous that the engaged guy was going to marry his dream woman and hence, lured him into this trap. Like in part one and two, the last living person can escape.

While fighting his way to freedom, he becomes a killer himself and ultimately kills the friend who betrayed him in a similar sick way.

STOP! 🤚

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16 thoughts on “The Hostel Movie: Must-Watch Or Waste Of Time?

  1. I watched Part 1+2, but didn’t know that there’s a third part out there. I already organized a movie night next Friday 😋
    Even though I didn’t particularly like them, I agree that you should watch them as a hostel owner.
    Hopefully, travelers finally forget about these movies…. As if hostels don’t have it hard enough with all the laws, permits, etc.

  2. Watched them. Hated them.
    Anyway, it’s a must-watch for someone who’s working in the industry IMHO.

  3. We have all three parts on DVD in our TV room. 😄
    I don’t think guests connect the movie to an actual stay in a hostel…
    And yeah, I agree. It’s a must for everyone working in the hostel industry.

    1. Hi Betty,
      I agree with “disgusting”. However, there are other people who like the movies because of it. 🤫

  4. Haha, I liked the movies to be honst … I just didn’t like that they are called “hostel”

  5. I’m operating a hostel for 17 years and I’ve never watched a single “Hostel” movie. I don’t want to support this movie in any way. They are just sick.

    1. Hi Jessica,
      that’s an interesting perspective.
      Thanks for sharing!

  6. Paying $10,000 to kill someone for the thrill of taking a human life?! You must be kidding… !!!
    Woah. What a sick world we live in.

  7. I watched about 45min of the first part… until I had enough. I’m just glad the series didn’t really become popular here in Australia.

    1. I never heard of the movies before I traveled to Australia! Haha 😅

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