Roth responds to Hostel 2 Box Office

Posted by: Tim

Eli Roth who is well known for his horror films and his over the top gore is responding to the lack luster response to Hostel Part 2 by fans by posting on his myspace blog. Eli Roth is by far one of the most charismatic directors in the business and has a die hard following. It has been a long time since a new director has garnered the interest that he has. I compare his fans to those of George Romero who has a cult following also and has for generations. Eli Roth is now calling on his fan base to salvage the faltering Hostel Part 2 from Box Office doom.

Eli Roth brings up some interesting items in his blog post written to his fans. He comes out against piracy, slams some horror critics and then asks the fans to get into the box office because its the last time we will see a Roth film for awhile. So lets have a look at what he has to say:

I want to thank all of you for your kind e-mails and incredible support for the film. However, piracy has become worse than ever now, and a stolen workprint (with uninished 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.

Horror fans are rabid. They are one of the best audiences to support film makers. So its great to see the fans supporting him with letters. Unfortunately Hostel Part 2 only made $8million its opening week, compared to the original which made $20million.

Why is this? Lots of theories. A pirate copy leaked out and fans are watching it online? Its the same story with a different twist, and not worth the ticket price? Not enough reviews on the horror outlets? ( Reviews are important, they re-assure readers to see a movie ) Could be any of these things. He then takes a stab at critics which i find interesting.

Not only that, critics have actually been REVIEWING the film based off the pirated copy, which is inexcusable. Some of these critics I have actually known for a few years, and while I wouldn't dignify them by mentioning them by name, I know who they are, as do the studios, and other filmmakers, and they will no longer have any access to any of my films.

I dont know any critics who review pirated copies of films. How on earth can you review a film based on a pirate copy? You really can't. As Eli points out its very rarely a finished copy. I can also say that we were not invited to screen the film at the usual LA Junkets, and we did not resort to trying to download it to review it. I wonder what critics were, and how Eli Roth knows who they are? In closing Eli also shared his thoughts on how to combat those pirates who are downloading his movie:

To counter piracy, fans can flood file sharing services with fake Hostel II downloads just so no one can ever actually get the movie, but the only thing that really makes a difference is supporting the movie in the theaters. Also - the theater OWNERS know this as well. If horror movies aren't bringing in customers, they're not going to program them. If we are going to send them a message, we have to do it with our wallets, and we have to do it now. I've done all I can to make a great film for the fans, as violent and bloody and fun as possible. The rest is up to you guys...

Althought I am not a fan of HOSTEL I agree with Eli Roth if you love his films you have to support them and go see them. If you love bloody and violent films then Eli Roth is your man and if you dont see his films your sending the message you dont want them.

Question becomes is that message being sent deliberately or are horror fans just being lazy? Lets see what the box office numbers do in the coming weeks. I enjoy R rated films and it worries me when the box office numbers are low, but I am one of those people who watches more on DVD then in theatres. It has nothing to do with the films, or anything else Eli brought up. I watch it on DVD because I can not justify spending $25 to go see a movie. Ticket Prices continue to be out of hand and until they come down I will continue to watch movies on DVD. I predict Hostel 2 will drop out of theatres in the coming 2 weeks and when it hits dvd it will sell like mad. I know that I will buy it and likely enjoy it for what it is. A horror movie that pushes the boundaries and rejects the PG13 mould that has become popular with horror films lately.