Punch the Director!

THERE are a variety of interesting observations that one might make about the trends in American popular culture that gave rise to Eli Roth’s Hostel: Part II, the latest in a spate of gruesome, torture-heavy horror flicks that includes the original Hostel, the Saw trilogy, the remakes of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and The Hills Have Eyes, and stand-alone efforts like The Devil’s Rejects, Wolf Creek, and Turistas.

Start with the obvious: that the Seventies are back. There’s something about rising gas prices, apocalyptic anxieties, and unpopular foreign wars, apparently, that makes filmmakers turn to brutal, nihilistic gore – just as they’ve turned once more to zombie movies, paranoid political thrillers, and gritty renovations of classic American genres (though this time around, those reinventions are more likely to come from HBO than the Hollywood studios).

About the Author

Ross Douthat

Ross Douthat is a former National Review contributing editor.

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THERE are a variety of interesting observations that one might make about the trends in American popular culture that gave rise to Eli Roth’s Hostel: Part II, the latest in a spate of gruesome, torture-heavy horror flicks that includes the original Hostel, the Saw trilogy, the remakes of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and The Hills Have Eyes, and stand-alone efforts like The Devil’s Rejects, Wolf Creek, and Turistas.

Start with the obvious: that the Seventies are back. There’s something about rising gas prices, apocalyptic anxieties, and unpopular foreign wars, apparently, that makes filmmakers turn to brutal, nihilistic gore – just as they’ve turned once more to zombie movies, paranoid political thrillers, and gritty renovations of classic American genres (though this time around, those reinventions are more likely to come from HBO than the Hollywood studios).