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Horror film from 2005 dubbed ‘most disturbing film of all time’
Published 13:43 6 Jul 2023 BST
Updated 13:53 6 Jul 2023 BST
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The movie was even raised during a UK parliament debate
A movie from 2005, which is banned in one European country, is being dubbed the "most disturbing" of all time.
Unilad made the claim Wednesday, but did not in any way detail who had awarded the movie, Hostel and its sequel, Hostel II, the title. (Collider this week listed 17 horror movies "too disturbing to re-watch". Hostel did not make the list)
However, the films featuring kidnapping and torture, have caused a stir like very few other movies ever have. The horror movies were even raised during a debate in the UK Parliament.
The first two films in the franchise were banned in Ukraine and the uncut version of "Hostel: Part II" is banned in Germany and New Zealand.
In October 2012, the horror movies came up during a discussion about the possession of extreme pornography, with Conservative MP Charles Walker using the then-latest, film as an example, IGN noted at the time.
"There is some horrible, nasty and unpleasant stuff. Clauses 64 to 67 are not as good as they could be -- there is potential for contradiction; for example, in the case of a film called Hostel: Part II, which I have not seen but that has been reported on by a number of people I trust. From beginning to end, it depicts obscene, misogynistic acts of brutality against women -- an hour and a half of brutality -- yet that film has been passed by the British Board of Film Classification for public release to people aged 18 and over.
"I understand that, although the Bill will not make that film illegal, it could make it illegal for someone to take stills from that film, because they could be deemed to have a purely pornographic nature. If it were deemed that stills from a film such as Hostel: Part II were of a pornographic and unacceptably violent nature, it seems madness that that film should be allowed on general release."
Eli Roth directed the first two Hostel movies. The plot is pretty simple, and it gets very dark very quickly.
The original follows college students Paxton and Josh as they explore Europe. While in Amsterdam they meet a man who convinces them to go to Slovakia which is a fatal mistake. Josh gets maimed. A drill us used on his body. His achilles tendons are slit - then his throat. Then it's Paxton's turn.
The gorefest topped the box office with a $20 million opening weekend, Reuters reported at the time.
In the 2007 sequel, the plot follows three American female art students in Rome who are directed to a Slovak village where they are eventually kidnapped and taken to a facility in which rich clients pay to torture and kill other people. Quentin Tarantino served as one of the executive producers.
Looper has ranked the "most disturbing moments" from the film, here, if you want more gory details.
Hostel also didn't go down well with Slovak and Czech citizens for how it depicted Eastern Europe.
Much of the backlash was over the movie's depiction of the nation as poor and crime-ridden, with a member of the Slovak culture ministry, Linda Heldichova, alleging that it "damaged" the image of the country.
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