Tuesday, February 27, 2007

HOSTEL (2005)

I just stumbled upon the trailer for Hostel 2 yesterday and had no idea this existed since I rarely check out the current trailers of the Hollywood scene. I have to say I was curious about it, so I tracked down HOSTEL, the first part, directed by Eli Roth. Quentin Tarantino had something to do with this film as well, and you spot his influences in different parts of the film. Also, there's an interesting little Cameo with Miike Takashi, who directed cult favorites like Ichi The Killer, Visitor Q and the Dead or Alive Series. You can't help but think Eli Roth got a few cues from Miike, because the violence and gore equals that of Ichi the Killer, possibly even tops it.

You should definitely check this out if your fed up with the current slew of substandard pg13 teen "horror" films. The story is kinda stupid and slow at first, but you don't really care because there's tit's and ass all over the place to keep you entertained.

The story is basically about 3 horny backpackers in search of European tail who,while traveling through Europe, they get a "tip" from this guy with a weird lip to go to a Soviet Bloc-era town where the women are stunning and horny and will do whatever with foreign men, especially Americans. So, the whole dick happy trio takes off for this haven of horny, easy, beautiful women and soon after they arrive, the film gets into some nice soft-core porn sequences. But mix these with small sequences like the women talking to each with strange looks at the guys, speaking in their own language so the guys can't understand hints of the dread and uneasiness. There's a certain sense of decay to the town and its inhabitants despite the normal scenery.

So you soon find out that the girls will also sell these young Americans to a company that offers victims to anyone who will pay to torture and viscously murder for profit buisness were wealthy people can act out their sickest fantasies on captured victims.

Needless to say, the film is not for everyone. The torture scenes are very brutal and some people may actually get physically sick watching it. The first guy gets his leg and torso drilled with an electric drill and his achiles tendon cut.

Another guy gets taunted with scissors and hit witha small garden implement and his fingers are cut off buy a chainsaw. then accidentally cuts off his leg with the chainsaw. Another guy has his fingers cut off and his neck sliced.

In the films most gruesome scene a womens face is burnt by a blowtorch, causing her eye to dangle out of its socket. The eye is then snipped off by a pair of scissors. Later in the film, when she discovers how bad her face looks, she jumps in front of train, which was a very well-done scene. I've never seen a train suicide up close, but I know it's probably a pretty unsettling thing to see. Happens in Japan on a weekly basis.

Anyway, if you can handle the sickness, it's a lot of fun. Go to http://www.hostelfilm.com/

Tuesday, February 20, 2007

County Medical Examiners - Olidous Operettas

Well, this is a pleasant surprise. I just picked this one up on an impulse more or less because of the package design and the note on the sticker from Jeff Walker of Carcass. I thought the "WARNING: Corpse-scented disc inside" was just a joke, but sure enough, I smelled the it and it smells like a fucking mortuary.

Anyway, The County Medical Examiners are a trio who claim to be actual working pathologists with medical degrees. One guy is 63 years old. They have never played live, so the whole story could be fake, but it's definitely an interesting gimmick. The band started as a Carcass tribute group, so they sound a lot like old-school Carcass. So much actually that I'd be hard-pressed to tell the difference if no one told me. Some of the riffs even, are obviously lifted from Carcass songs, just mixed up a bit. But hey, don't let that turn you off. They'll be the first ones to admit it.

All 3 of the band members do vocals which is pretty cool, with a combination of low pitched gurgles and higher pitched rasps and screams. If you're into Carcass this CD is definitely worth checking out but any extreme metal fans in general will appreciate it.