Eli Roth

Seastar_97

Hey guys, Just wanted to start a discussion about Eli Roth and his films. Quality of films, acting, etc. Let's have a good discussion! Post away.

nance

i kind of dig eli roth, actually. yeah, he's a glad handing, celebrity coattail-riding uneven filmmaker a lot of the times, but i appreciate that he's a true fan of the genre, which i think he reflects in his movies. the original cabin fever and hostel and hostel 2 i think are excellent movies, and display a nice level of humor, meanness, and appreciation for genre conventions, while also having some fun. he's smart, and an entertaining interview. i think he's good for the genre, frankly. honestly, i wish he'd keep up the directing. while i haven't seen any of his recent stuff (green inferno, death wish), i'm glad he's working behind the camera again, and not being an exective producing douche bag quentin tarantino sycophant.

Blast Harder

Count me in as a fan. I've liked all of his films (except Knock, Knock which I have not seen) I enjoyed his remake of Death Wish FAR more than I anticipated.

House with a Clock in its Walls looks fun too.

Midnight-Kroovy

Cabin Fever - Fucking great indie horror and it put Eli on the map.
Hostel 1 & 2 - While polarizing they at least provoked a reaction. I liked them.
Green Inferno - Couple of great scenes but otherwise a missfire for me.
Knock Knock - Oddball, intentionally bad movie but it kinda falls to the side.
Death Wish - Need to see.
House with a Clock in its Walls - Interesting.

After Hostel 2 he started to slip for me. I assume his acting and celebrity perhaps made him lose focus as everything since then never reached its potential imo. At least he's still a genre guy, I'd just like him to make something special. Until then I just have him down as a hit or miss cheap thrills director.

Atmosphere

I'm with the general consensus here, his movies have been too inconsistent to make a conclusive judgement. I, too, am glad he appears to have unpierced his tongue from Tarantino's ass hole in recent years, it wasn't a good look for him. But the work is just all over the shop. I think he has promise as a director, but he should probably start working with scripts that aren't his own. Things are looking up though. Death Wish was surprisingly not as terrible as it first seemed; fairly well balanced politically, and had one of Bruce Willis' more nuanced, better performances in recent memory.

House with a Clock in its Walls looks very Goosebumps, but that could be a smart career move. It's the first major Amblin-produced movie in years that Spielberg isn't at the helm of, and it's bound to rake in some of that family-friendly dollar which made Goosebumps an overachiever. It could be a big advancement for him into the big leagues in Hollywood.

Se7en

He's a likable douchebag who makes movies that don't really get made anymore. I'm with it.

gunsrazorsknives

Eh, he's alright. He's hit and miss. He just needs to drop the douchebaggery from his movies.

Seastar_97

Great posts all of you, I agree with almost everybody here! I would like to see another Cabin Fever, Hostel era Roth film personally. Still craving to see his trailer from Grindhouse made into a full movie. A thanksgiving slasher flick? I'm in.

vigour-mortis

I agree with nance. He's definitely a fan of horror and I am glad he's around.

Glass Eater

Hostel 1 and 2 are both great flicks on their own right, and I like his style personally. Totally fits the slasher genre with all the racist/douche bags in em. Need more.

Atmosphere

What is Eli Roth's "style" though? Does he have a style? Because I kind of don't see any connective tissue between any of his films, other than shlocky, B-movie content. But that isn't style, that's content.

Willowfang

I doubt if anyone is really devoid of style. You do what you are or focus on something. So different films by the same person should bear some some similarities.

In part, you got the material too, like a Star Wars or James Bond film should be more it than the director.

Just thinking for a minute here, Eli does seem to do "people out of their element or the things they know" and could be the character or the audience even. I'd say that's his style. Off Rails, but not Gonzo

Se7en

I assume he means aesthetic or formal style. There's not much consistency film to film other than them being exploitation flicks. There's very little that defines him as a director.

I'll never watch a film and be reminded of Eli. His films themselves are reminders of other works. His style is the style of whatever type of movie he happens to be making.

Blast Harder

@gunsrazorsknives

I just talked to Eli. He said he'll do it IF you drop the douchebaggery from your posts.

Post Ghost

I first heard about Roth from the horror underground, which hated him with the white-hot fire of a thousand suns. Privileged hack riding Tarantino's coattails, seemed to be the general consensus. I wanted to decide for myself, watched Cabin Fever and thought, "Wait, that actually wasn't that bad." I shared this opinion with my peers and was met with scorn, but I've watched every Roth movie since then, and each time I've thought the exact same thing: "That actually wasn't that bad."

Plus you got to admire his lulz. A torture movie in the time of Guantanamo Bay, a movie where social justice warriors get terrorized by cannibals, a violent gun movie in a gun-grabber climate, not half bad for a mainstream type. My favorite Roth movie was the one about the two sirens, but then again I am a mark for Keanu Reeves (loved his work since Bill and Ted honestly).

If I had to pick the most inspired thing Roth's ever done as a director, in my opinion, I would pick using the Creepshow theme from Something To Tide You Over to add atmosphere to the short film Thanksgiving. Inspired move.

Se7en

The SJW thing is dumb, those kids were out in the field standing up for what they think is right.

FormaldehideNSeek

Knew this was going to be quite a controversial discussion. there are some very fair points against him and for him i think. He's a real fan which is always a good start if you want the horror community on your side and he seems to really have fun with his work but i got tired of seeing his name attached to projects he didn't really have anything to do with. Have not seen much of his recent work aside from Green Inferno which i somewhat enjoyed. I think his humour is that of a 15 year old with the "fag" and "Pussy" Insults but apart from all that he's a dude that caught my attention with some decent movies and will continue to as long as they are actually his peices.

Seastar_97

@FormaldehideNSeek I'm with you. I'm 21 so he has put a big impression on me because when I was younger I loved a good gore ridden film. And being younger when I saw these films the humor "humored" me, as I was around that age where those things were funny. I will always be a Roth fan in one way or another. Not sure if you have seen the film "Clown" which Roth acted as a producer on, its relatively decent. And the story of how he got attached to the project is very interesting and funny. Roth has a special spot in my heart because he was one of my first directors that sparked an interest to teenage me. I'm glad I started this thread as it's producing good conversation and thought.

FormaldehideNSeek

@Seastar_97 yeah kinda added a more detail to how i feel for him, Not gonna bash on him for the douchebag humour he liked to use a lot, mainly at the start of his career cause i was like that with my buddies when we were like 11, everything was Gay and everyone was a homo. I'd really like to see something fresh from him a totally new turn like it's a new nine inch nails album. Don't mean producing (cause quite frankly i don't actually know what that brings to a film if a big name is producing, writing however catches my eye) He can now stop proving himself as a horror fan cause we were with him at Hostel. New movie, written and directed by him something totally fresh.

Seastar_97

I saw an interview with Roth where he said his parents cried at the premier when they saw him shooting Hitler, and them being "old school jewish" (as Roth put it) it meant a lot to them. Haha that's awesome.

FormaldehideNSeek

He was actually in works for "The Meg" a few years ago but left due to creative differences, He wanted a hard R but WB said it had to be pg 13 which im guessing it still is? He also wanted to write and direct which may have been interesting to see but he went too far by wanting to star as the protagonist, nahhhhh couldn't see him pulling that off at all.