Rob Zombie Says This Popular Streaming Torture Franchise “just isn’t my thing”
Rob Zombie is well-known for his graphic depictions of onscreen violence. His entire film career revolves around shocking and revolting audiences. Yet, interestingly enough, even Zombie has his limits.
When the former White Zombie frontman was doing the press rounds for Halloween II, Collider asked about his thoughts on the Hostel and Saw franchises. Zombie’s response was more than a little surprising. Given the musician-turned-filmmaker’s taste for ultra-violence and the macabre, one might expect him to say he’s a fan of the torture porn subgenre. However, Zombie revealed he’s not at all enticed by it.
Zombie’s response reads: “It gets weird because I really want to go to Eli’s [Roth] movies to support Eli. Saw—I saw the first one but haven’t seen the other ones. It’s not my type of thing. Even if they are awesome, it’s just not my type of thing.”
I suspect Zombie’s distaste for the torture porn flicks of years past may lie in the nuance. Zombie makes gritty and violent films. However, I wouldn’t necessarily label his output torture porn. There’s less focus on torture in Zombie’s films than you’re prone to see in the Saw or Hostel series. And he’s less likely to linger on the aftermath of the onscreen carnage than some of his contemporaries. I suspect that seemingly subtle distinction makes a world of difference to Zombie.
The setup for Hostel is this:
Josh (Derek Richardson) and Paxton (Jay Hernandez) spend the summer after graduation backpacking across Europe. After meeting like-minded Oli (Eythor Gudjonsson), the bachelors investigate rumors of a Slovakian hostel populated by lusty women. However, they find themselves drawn into a deadly game.
The plot crunch for Hostel II goes as follows:
Beth (Lauren German), Lorna (Heather Matarazzo), and Whitney (Bijou Phillips) are traveling abroad when they decide to take a weekend excursion. Lured from their intended destination by an acquaintance (Vera Jordanova), the women become pawns in a grisly game of death.
If Zombie’s reservations about the torture porn sub-genre have you keen to revisit the Hostel series, you are in luck. The first two Hostel films are available to stream for free (with ads) on Plex as of the publication of this post.
That is everything we have for you at this juncture, dear reader. Stay tuned to the site in the near future for more hot takes from filmmakers in the genre space as we successfully unearth them. If you’re keen to keep up with my comings and goings, feel free to come find me on Threads @FunWithHorror.
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