While on a tour of Europe, Beth and Whitney (German and Phillips) break away from their group, reluctantly taking the loser Lorna (Matarazzo) along to visit Prague. On the train, they run into Axelle (Jordanova), who seductively convinces them to visit a Slovakian spa town, booking them into the hostel that we know feeds a torture ring where rich men and women buy the chance to inflict suffering and death away from their civilised lives. Two such men, Stu and Todd (Desperate Housewives' exes Bart and Burgi), have appointments with Beth and Whitney.

The first different perspective is having women as the victims, which is hardly original for the horror genre and makes the film feel thoroughly misogynistic, especially when the actresses are often either wearing bikinis or nothing at all. The second change is to see the torturers' point of view, which does add some intrigue, especially as Stu is being reluctantly pushed into this by Todd. And then there's the vampish woman (Fenech) who, quite literally, wants a bloodbath.

The level of nastiness reaches unbearable levels in that particular scene, as well as a few others, and viewers who get their kicks out of sadistic brutality might find this entertaining. For the rest of us, this film has little to offer: it's not scary or suspenseful, the black humour is funny but rather cheap, and the subtly interesting elements (such as showing the clients in their everyday lives) are never meaningfully followed through.

It's a mystery how Roth attracted such solid actors, there's not much to the script. His earlier films subverted expectations and kept us entertained with clever wit, but this film does neither. It even has a much more straightforward visual style. So it feels simplistic and rushed, with corny references to Pulp Fiction and Borat, lots of teasing red herrings and then, just as things start to get provocative, a series of twists and turns that give the film a bit of a kick, but never bring it to life.

themes, extreme violence, language, nudity

25.Jun.07