I rated this as an "8" - GREAT - only because of the torture scenes. A lot of the movie was just boring and uninteresting (the lead-in) and IMO overkill on the back story. And the back story was needed, yes... the affectionate little pat on the leg on the train ride, meh...doesn't seem like a big deal until later in the movie; I just felt like they wasted too much time on too much backstory. Once you get into the actual killing/torture scenes, though...as a fan of "gorror" movies, I have to give this at least an 8. To my recollection, I think this may have been the first torture-porn movie I watched and it definitely did its job in scaring/freaking the bejabbers out of me. Watching it again, however, I was pretty bored until they actually got into the brutal scenes. I guess the one scene I may never get out of my mind was the Achilles' heel scene...although I think I have since seen that done in other "gorror" movies. As a American who's never been to Europe, I couldn't tell you jack about the authenticity of the geography, language, culture, etc; but it made for a good movie to someone who doesn't know any better, while simultaneously making me far less eager to vacation in Europe. I suppose the thing that disturbed me the most about this movie is the knowledge that this kind of stuff probably DOES go on, somewhere. People with excesses of money get bored with the same old stuff, and eventually begin to explore just what sort of "excitement" their wealth will buy them, when bigger houses, faster cars, and trophy wives can't satisfy that primal rage within. I can absolutely see this sort of stuff happening in some remote region, and no one the wiser as people just disappear from life, never to be heard from again. If you're really into the torture porn stuff, this _should_ hold your attention if you can last through the first half of the movie. It's slow getting started but has a decent conclusion. I'll probably watch it again at some point...