When Hostel arrived in 2005, Eli Roth had already made a name for himself as a provocateur with Cabin Fever (2002) — a filmmaker whose gleeful embrace of gore and shock was as divisive as it was deliberate. With Hostel, Roth doubled down on his reputation, delivering a film that would help coin the term “torture porn” and spark heated debates over horror’s direction in the 2000s. The premise is simple: three backpackers, chasing hedonistic highs through Europe, are lured to a Slovakian city with the promise of pleasure but instead find themselves trapped in a brutal underground network catering to the darkest desires of the wealthy.

Roth’s work has always been a love-him-or-hate-him affair. His admirers cite his unapologetic excess, grindhouse energy, and enthusiasm for horror history. His detractors point to a tendency toward juvenile humour, one-dimensional characters, and shock value over substance. Hostel embodies both sides of that argument. On one hand, it’s hard not to acknowledge the film’s impact — it pushed the boundaries of on-screen brutality for a mainstream release, and in doing so, influenced an entire wave of ultra-violent horror. On the other, its character work is paper-thin, its cultural caricatures crude, and its fixation on suffering feels more like an endurance test than a narrative.

In the years since, Roth’s career has veered between horror provocations (The Green Inferno, Knock Knock), pulpy homages (Thanksgiving), and the occasional detour (Death Wish remake). Hostel remains one of his most recognisable works, though not necessarily his most accomplished. Two decades on, it’s less shocking than it was in 2005 — time and countless imitators have dulled its edge — but it still stands as a defining example of Roth’s polarising style: fearless, messy, and never subtle.

The Prognosis:

Whether you see it as a gleeful slice of splatter cinema or an exercise in excess without payoff, Hostel is pure Eli Roth. And with him, that’s always been either the best thing or the worst thing about the movie.

• Saul Muerte