Catharina_Sweden
I think this movie was quite good in parts, because it had atmosphere. Also, I could relate to the main character, Irene - a young woman who starts working in an isolated hotel. I was quite like her when I was young; well-behaved, nice and neat - yes, I even wore glasses! :-) - so I recognize the unpleasant situation, when you have to associate with fellow school- or work-mates that are of another kind. Stupid, vulgar, rude, not so well-brought up... I am sure you know what I mean. I also became lonely and left out in that kind of company, so I felt very sorry for Irene who had to both work and live with them! But the ending was a big disappointment. Nothing is explained. What happened to Irene? What happened to Eva, the former employee who had disappeared from the hotel..? Was it the witch, or was it a human killer..? What was that smell in Irene's (and formerly Eva's) room..? What was the point with the change of glasses..? Was the cross a protection, and did Irene's work-mate borrow it on one occasion, and steal it on another, out of malice..? Because she hoped for Irene to be killed without it..? Was she even an accomplice in the crime (IF there was a crime), in some way..? No questions are answered, and because of this I find the whole movie quite meaningless.
Daniel_Roos
I saw that movie at a film festival in Januray 2005. On my personal record, it was the second best out of the 10 movies I had seen there. The film does polarize very much - either you like it or you hate it. Especially the end is very controversial. "Hotel" is not a conventional horror movie and it is certainly not meant to be shown at the big block buster cinemas. It is much more a low budget, minimalist, purist version of a scary movie. The film has very subtitle, psychological horror! If you liked "Blair Witch Project", you will enjoy this movie too.The Austrian accent of the most actors give the soundtrack a special note and make the already very reserved atmosphere between the characters even more chilly. By the way: No one left the cinema or fell asleep during screening as reported in other comments on this site ... <:
John Sundell
If you ever see this movie, prepare for the dullest, least interesting, most event less, technically faulty movie maybe you'll ever see. This movie is, with all due respect for the author, crap. The outline for the movie sounds pretty interesting, but don't be fooled. It's about a German girl who gets a receptionist job at a hotel, and that's all there is to it. On the back of the DVD case it says "Thriller / Horror - Age rating: 15 years" (at least in Sweden it did), which just seems like a desperate attempt in convincing you to rent this awful movie.During the film, nothing of interest happens. There is no horror at all (besides a few crappy attempts on making illusionary scenes), the love story included is so dull and unskillfully executed that you just don't care and the characters have absolutely no depth. Believe me when I say that this movie contains worse acting, lightning, story, camera and characters than ANYTHING you'll ever see on public television. It's an utter disaster.More on the characters, the main character is so incredibly dull that you have absolutely no sympathy for her, the side characters add nothing to the story and the dialog in between characters would've been better removed.To conclude, I hate ordinary Hollywood movies (with a few exceptions of course) that are filled with clichés and bad movie-making. I guess that's why I rented this movie, to experience a different kind of hotel horror movie, but anything cliché and made-only-for- the-money would've been waaay better than this. I advise you to stay as far from this movie as you possibly can.
JohnnyLarocque
HOTEL is about a young girl who is hired as a receptionist in an isolated, apparently inaccessible hotel in the Austrian Alps. Her co- workers are not responsive to her arrival, and to make matters worse, the girl she replaced was said to have disappeared. This description reminded me of the only film to truly scared me, Stanley Kubrick's The Shining. Second time director Jessica Hausner however, is no Kubrick.The characters in this film are very one dimensional. Even the main character Irene, who finds herself in some situations that might scare a normal person, does not react at all. As a direct result, neither does the audience. The environment was also very bland. You would think the director would scout a location with some atmosphere for a psychodrama, but instead we're shown a very boring well kept hotel. This film is shot without any style whatsoever. The director must have thought a few of the scenes were terrifying (walking down a hallway, or looking into the woods), as she showed them over and over again. The conclusion was uninspired and predictable.Note to amateur filmmakers everywhere ... If I can't put myself in the place of one of the films characters, and the situation isn't unusual or intense, and the environment does not seem unwelcoming, THERE IS NOTHING TO BE AFRAID OF. Your psychodrama will not work. Geez, I thought that would be obvious. (3/10)
AD
