Exclusive Interview: Scott Spiegel talks Hostel: Part III

Hostel: Part III will be released on DVD next week and I recently had the opportunity to speak with director Scott Spiegel about the film. For those unfamiliar with Scott’s work, he’s no stranger to horror or the Hostel franchise. He served as producer on both Hostel and Hostel: Part II, was co-writer of Evil Dead 2 and has directed Intruder and From Dusk Till Dawn 2: Texas Blood Money.

Scott and I talked about moving the Elite Hunting Club to Las Vegas, Eli Roth’s earlier idea for a new Hostel film, my favorite death scene from the movie, and the possibility of Hostel: Part IV.

**Spoiler Warning- While the interview is mostly spoiler-free, the interview does discuss death scenes and minor plot items**

Was the idea for Hostel: Part III something you pitched to Sony or did they approach you?

Scott Spiegel: They came to me. They gave me a script written by Michael Weiss and revised by John Fasano and I thought it was really cool. I think at one point in the script it was called “Viva Las Hostel” or something like that, but that was quickly jettisoned. So I just kind of read this draft and then I gave them my bag of tricks. I had some revisions and additions, and they thought it was great and said “let’s go”. It was just smooth and fit together really well, and it was kind of nice how it all worked out.

Were there any other ideas besides the Vegas storyline being floated around for a sequel?

Scott Spiegel: I had previously talked about a different way to go with it and even Eli had a take. This was just between Eli and myself, but at one point Eli was going to follow the story of the bubblegum kids. It would have been really cool to keep it in the Czech Republic, but that almost sounds like a prequel perhaps.

There was the big "torture porn" aspect in Hostel and Sony really wanted Part III to be bigger on suspense and misdirection, so we pumped that up. The Michael Weiss script was really great in that arena and then I was able to add connecting bits and more twists.

I love the misdirection in the film. It’s cool to read a really great script and go “god, I know how I can pump this up”. It’s nice that you can work as director and co-producer and have that capacity because I had only 20 days and no second unit. All of these action/horror films thrive on 2nd unit, so it’s really kind of amazing and I’m happy to receive this kind of feedback. You’re working your butt off trying to make the best movie you can and honor the franchise, as I hope I can do here.

Hostel: Part III gives us a closer look at the Elite Hunting Club. One interesting aspect in particular was gambling with the Wheel of Misfortune. Was this something you added to the script?

Scott Spiegel: I actually came up with the Wheel of Misfortune, but of course, you’re always censoring yourself because you’re saying “yeah right, like they’ll let us use it…" Well, the next thing you know I was parking next to Wheel of Fortune on the Sony lot while I was editing Hostel: Part III. So, that was really cool to be able to use the name.

The Wheel of Misfortune was expanded upon even to the point of the visual effects company being able to take it a few steps further. One of my favorite scenes from Hostel: Part II is when our two guys are bidding on the girls and I think this takes it one step further. It was pretty cool to come up with the concept and we had some good feedback from the visual effects company. Most of The Wheel of Misfortune was put together in the editing room.

I loved Taken and I thought there were some elements of Hostel: Part II in there, in a favorable way, with their bidding sequence. It was really tough to envision the Elite Hunting Club in Las Vegas, because in the script, it was a little raw. The basics were there, but I had to visualize it a little more. I had to think about how it would look and for our budget. I almost was going to go more like the bidding sequence in Taken with one person isolated alone in a booth, but the plot dictated that you needed to have a crowd cheering. I was really lucky that I had a wonderful production designer, Rob Wilson King, who also worked on Hostel: Part II. We were lucky to get him for this one because of our tight budget. We had a lot of great people.

One of my favorite death scenes from the film involved skin peeling. Can you tell me a bit more about how that came together?

Scott Spiegel: It’s something that a director can’t quite express, but the visual effects company just did such a good job with the color of membrane. They got that so right. I used to work in a butcher shop growing up, so I knew all of that disgusting stuff and they really nailed it. I’m surprised that we got to leave some of that in, but I guess that is because it was unrated.

It’s like a win win for fans, because they get the gore and we didn’t have to worry about making cuts to the film.

Of all things, can you believe the client was Barry Livingston from My Three Sons? He was in Jerry Lewis movies and The Lucy show. He’s a pretty wacky guy and he doesn’t say a word in the film.

Moving forward, is Hostel: Part IV something you’ve discussed with Sony? Where would you like to take the Elite Hunting Club next?

Scott Spiegel: I’m just hoping that there is a Part: IV, but I don’t know anything at this juncture. Although, the response to this one has been pretty cool so far, so I hope that the momemtum keeps going. I have no idea where we’d take it. There’s a lot of stuff being bandied about. Do we move to a different city? Thailand? I’m just throwing stuff out there, but the door is wide open on it. I’m game and I’d love to be involved in a Hotsel: Part IV if there is one.

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I want to thank Scott for taking the time to talk with me and answer our questions about Hostel: Part III. The movie will be released to DVD on December 27th and we'll be posting our review of the film in the coming days. Here are links to our earlier Hostel: Part III coverage:

-Hostel: Part 3 Image Gallery
-Hostel: Part 3 Clip
-Hostel: Part 3 Trailer