Hey Eli (May I call you Eli?)
Earlier this morning I was doing my daily reading around the web, and I came across this quote from you regarding the failure of Hostel 2 to meet financial expectations, and the idea that R Rated horror films are in danger. Just so we’re on the same page, here’s what you said:
“Piracy has become worse than ever now, and a stolen workprint (with unfinished music, no sound effects, and no VFX) leaked out on line before the release, and is really hurting us, especially internationally. Piracy will be the death of the film industry, as it killed the music industry, and while it makes a smaller dent in huge movies like Spider Man 3, it really hurts films like mine, which have far less of an advertising and production budget… Right now the R rated horror film is in serious jeopardy. Studios feel the public doesn’t want them any more, and so they are only putting PG-13 films into production. The only way to counter this perception is to get out there and support R rated horror. It’s the only message they’ll hear.”
There are a couple of misconceptions in your statement that I think should be pointed out. First I guess I should ask exactly when the music industry got killed? Last time I turned on the radio, there was still music coming out of it, and none of the big 3 music labels reports losses last year, so I’m not entirely sure where you read that obituary. But the fate of the music industry really isn’t the point of your statement, so I won’t spend any more time on it other than to point out that using inaccurate and misplaced hyperbolic analogies don’t help your case.
Now, the first point in your message is that piracy has hurt your film. I don’t think there is anyone who can deny that. But may I suggest that piracy isn’t the sole… or even main reason why Hostel 2 has only made $14 million in 2 weeks. I’d like to propose 2 other reasons that I believe had more of an impact on box office returns than piracy did.
1) You released this movie in the summer blockbuster season.
When the release date of Hostel 2 was first announced, a lot of people, including myself, thought it must have been a typo. “Why on earth would they release the film amidst the summer blockbusters” we all queried. People want light entertainment, laughs, action and fun in their summer movies. We all saw that when Hostel 2 came out, Pirates 3, Spider-Man 3, Shrek 3 and Knocked up would all still be in theaters, with Fantastic Four 2 opening up right afterwards. I mean… what were you thinking releasing a torture porn film in this season?
2) Hostel 2 was a bad film
Please don’t take that as a “slam”. The fact of the matter is that I count myself as an Eli Roth fan and I really look forward to seeing the stuff you do in the near future… but let’s call a spade a spade here. Hostel 2 was a terrible film. Word got out that it was terrible, and people acted accordingly.
But the main reason I’m writing this is to address your warning that R rated horror films are in serious jeopardy. I guess a lot of that would depend on what you mean by an “R rated horror film”. Depending on your definition, I would have to agree that they are indeed in jeopardy… but I would also add that this is a GOOD thing.
It seems like today many people are equating “R rated horror films” as being synonymous with movies like Saw 3 or Hostel 2. Films that are rated R just for the sake of being rated R. Gore and violence without purpose or meaning or lending any contribution to the film itself. Many horror fans lament the fact that great horror flicks like American Werewolf In London or Psycho are few and far between these days. Horror films with stories, with characters, with suspense, anticipation, fear and gut wrenching anxiety. Films where scenes of gore or violence contributed to the over all recipe of the film, rather than being the whole point of the film. Your first Hostel film showed signs of that… but sadly you misplaced it somewhere along the way to Hostel 2.
So are the type of R rated films like Saw 3 and Hostel 2 in danger? Maybe they are… but that’s a good thing. Let them die. Let them be burned in the effigy of the unworthy to make room for the types of horror films that we know young directors like yourself are totally capable of delivering to us.
We don’t just want to see a guy get tied down and take a chisel through his thigh. We want emotionally investable characters that we can follow that gets caught up in something dangerous, unknown, mysterious and scary. We want to see him battle those elements through twists and turns making discoveries along the way that leaves our hearts in our throats……….. and THEN we want to see him get a chisel through the thigh.
Just a thought, take it as you will.
