Newly restored in 4k and available for the first time in North America, Austrian auteur Jessica Hausner radically upends genre tropes and preempts the resurgence of folk horror with her second and most formally audacious feature, HOTEL. The deceptively simple premise of a young woman who takes on a job as a night porter at a remote Austrian hotel and encounters unexplained phenomena amounts to a grand treatise on the inhibiting potential of imagination, the fine line between banality and terror and the looming specter of fate.

Allusions to local myth, mysterious disappearances and haunted forests eschew generic conclusions and serve to illustrate and complicate the inner life of a young woman reckoning with the essential ambiguities of defining one’s life. “An intelligent fable about fear and desire,” (Time Out) Hausner’s sophomore feature is a haunting metaphysical horror film unlike any other.

For thoughts on Hotel, please check out my thoughts on No Streaming Required:

Video Quality

Hotel comes to Blu-Ray in a fetching 1080p presentation derived from a new 4K restoration. With its North American debut, audiences are treated to a transfer that retains the natural film grain from the 35mm source. This grain resolves evenly without swarming around the screen or clumping together unnaturally. The story takes place primarily in the titular location with sporadic detours to the surrounding woods and the local dance club. The sanitized hotel common areas are not the most visually dynamic explorations ever put to film, but this new restoration brings out some unbelievable texture in the uniforms and elements of the production design.

Skin tones are similarly detailed and natural all around. The natural color palette fares well throughout as you get both rich shots of the forest along with some more clinically indistinct interiors which feed into the attitudes of the employees. There is nothing hyper-saturated here, but Hausner frames the natural world in a way that is just as rewarding. Highlights are handled with care and no instances of blooming, and the shadowy blacks do not suffer from crush or compression artifacts. Film Movement has done film fans a favor by releasing this one in high definition.

Audio Quality

The Blu-Ray disc comes with an LPCM 2.0 track and a Dolby TrueHD 5.1 track in the original German with optional English subtitles. Dialogue comes through perfectly clearly with exchanges never difficult to parse. The surround sound channels provide a subtle expansion of the interior soundscape with elements such as murmuring and phones ringing capturing this lifestyle. Environmental noises from the forest and other sound effects are rendered accurately alongside everything else. All sounds come through with consistently great fidelity. This track holds up with no obvious instances of age-related wear and tear. Film Movement makes sure the audio experience is up to the level of the visual one.

Special Features

Audio Commentary: Filmmaker Jessica Hausner provides a terrific commentary track in which she discusses the production of the film, the inspiration for certain moments, the impact of Maya Deren on her style, the impact of editing in her films, and more.

Trailers & Promos: This disc provides the minute-and-a-half-long trailer for Hotel. There are also trailers for Lovely Rita, Lourdes, and Club Zero.

Final Thoughts

Hotel is a chilling sophomore outing from Jessica Hausner that uses the simplicity of routine to lull you into a potential nightmare. Many newcomers will find the lack of a traditional payoff to the mounting dread a bit of a disappointment, but those who love a slow burn will experience a prolonged discomfort that is arguably more impactful. Hausner solidifies a potent sense of style that becomes more vital to the end product the longer her career goes on. The lead performance from Franziska Weisz is perfectly suited for this role, and it brings the movie together beautifully. This is Hausner at her most engaging. Film Movement has released a Blu-Ray that features a fabulous A/V presentation and a welcome new commentary track. Recommended

Hotel is currently available to purchase on Standard Edition Blu-Ray or with a Limited Edition Slipcover exclusively through Vinegar Syndrome.

Note: Images presented in this review are not reflective of the image quality of the Blu-Ray.

Disclaimer: Film Movement and OCN Distribution have supplied a copy of this disc free of charge for review purposes. All opinions in this review are the honest reactions of the author.