8 Intense Real-Life Stories Behind Famous Movies

This is one of those movies you'd desperately hope to not be true, but unfortunately, the underground torture scene of European hostels is in fact rooted in a reality none of us want to face. Eli Roth's Hostel is the depiction of the Elite Hunting Club, where rich punters pay for a room in an abandoned warehouse decked out with a variety of torture devices they can use on kidnapped tourists.

In reality, Hostel's true story is pretty unsettlingly close to the events on screen. Roth explained how the concept came around himself in an interview, previously describing what 'sick things' he and journalist Harry Knowles had found on the internet. One offhand discovery was so bizarre it sparked off the whole film franchise in one go:

"[Harry Knowles] sent me a link to a site where you could go to Thailand and for $10,000 walk into a room and shoot somebody in the head. The site claimed that the person you were killing had signed up for it, and that part of the money would go to their family because they were so broke and were gonna die anyways. It was to give you the thrill of taking another human life.”

There's no way of knowing if these people were ACTUALLY willing, or if the buyers took it upon themselves to kill them cleanly or in exacting Hostel style, but still. No thank you.