10 Horror Movies That Lose You In The First 60 Seconds

6. Hostel: Part II

Urban Legends: Bloody Mary
Lionsgate

For those who watched the truly harrowing antics of Eli Roth's Hostel back in 2005, it was impossible not to become invested in Jay Hernandez's Paxton as he overcame the odds to escape the clutches of the nefarious Elite Hunting Club.

Having seen his best friend and several others tortured and killed, Paxton closes out Hostel by outwitting the Elite crew, hops on a train out of Slovakia, manages to kill the unnamed Dutch businessman who'd offed his pal Josh, and was on his way home to the US.

When it was announced that Hostel: Part II was on the way for 2007, the confirmation of Hernandez's inclusion in the sequel had many expecting Paxton would again find himself engulfed in the eerie web of the Elite Hunting Club. While that did indeed happen, it was a far shorter battle than anyone would imagine.

Rather than spending a solid amount of Hostel: Part II's 94-minute runtime with Paxton trying to evade the EHC, the film instead opted to have Hernandez's character hunted down in the opening minutes, where he's promptly decapitated.

Hostel: Part II and its trio of central protagonists - a group of three young American women - did manage to get most audiences back onside, but the immediate death of Paxton definitely lost horror hounds for a spell.

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Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main dayjob, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg.