Hostel: Part II

For me, someone who thought the first installment of hostel was great, I had to check out the second. I consider myself a fairly strong-stomached moviegoer, but I'm not ashamed to say this movie had me squirming in my seat.. Yet again! I would be hard pushed to argue this movie is anything but an excuse to once again try and push the boundaries of explicit violence and depravity, something that seems to be a bit of a trend these days. The narrative is fairly primitive, and in many aspects it is a replica of the first. American backpackers lured to a hostel in Slovakia where they are kidnapped and sold to the highest bidder to be tortured and killed. Only its girls this time. However this movie does take the viewer a little further behind the scenes of the 'business', and follows two rich 'clients' through the process of purchasing a subject right through to the torture chamber sequences. Something that was quite interesting if you enjoyed the first film. The first film I found fairly believable, and could actually imagine such a place in some remote part of Europe - which is party what added to my enjoyment of it. This installment not quite as well thought out and I did find the twist at the end totally impossible to accept. The shrouded secrecy of the business 'Elite Hunting' that was prevalent in the first film seemed to be totally thrown out of the window. But If you want to see more of the same you will enjoy this film - its great for what it is, but don't expect anything original!

Hostel Part II (2007) Hostel Part II is an even more morally repugnant,more intellectually empty and more misogynistic film. Sadistic violence, very strong language, torture, drugs, nudity and the shooting of a young child, Eli Roth tried everything in this sad and empty film. I thought to myself, if Mel Gibson was accused of Anti-Semitism for stereotyping Jews in 'The Passion Of The Christ', then Roth should be massacred with criticism for his portrayal of Slovaks and Eastern European people. He portrays them as sick, sadistic, backward, ugly, scruffy, perverted; this film is mostly aimed at audiences who can't point Europe on a map of Europe. The funny thing with Hostel Part II, is that the writers actually tried to craft a script with a deeper storyline, dark humour and moral choices and the essence of man and his behaviour. The attempt made this film even more laughable, because it was a ridiculous script that failed on every level. Hostel Part II is boring at times, it tries to develop a story but fails miserably. But this is a darker more perverse and even more sadistic sequel. In some ways it scores as a hardcore horror movie, but as a whole is extremely bad. What modern filmmakers lack, such as Eli Roth, is the ability to absolutely terrify audiences through tension and psychological terrorisation. Look at Kubrick's Shining, Polanski's Rosemary's Baby and even Friedkin's Exorcist; the ultimate masterpieces of terror, the stay in your mind after the film... the old 'less is more' does actually work in horror. Hostel Part II is in no way terrifying or haunting, just a sick perversion made for a narrow minded audience.

I'll just get it out of the way first off that the first thing this extremely entertaining sequel does is whip two dreaded slasher sequel clichés at us. After that, it does everything even better than the first one did it. The exposition of the first one and the unexpected switches of focus on characters done in the first film were fine, but the effect was light. Here, we are given very interesting broadenings of the story. The gore and violence in Hostel Part II is also far more intense than it was in its predecessor. The extent and situation of torture and murder are only part of its exceeding tension in this sequel. The other part is perhaps the thoughts and level of compassion of the people inflicting it, which is to say frighteningly, remarkably low. The first scene of violence keeps you gripping your seat so tightly that your fingers indent its arms, because it happens slowly and terribly. The other aspect is seen because in this film, the business exchange of kidnapping innocent tourists for appointments where clients torture them any way they want now has a face. We see people who handle the business end of it. We also see, in a wonderful montage, the bankers, lawyers, entrepreneurs, et. al. bidding unsuspectingly on their palm pilots for a fresh new victim. There is no line of morality that we are worried about the characters crossing. We are worried about how much further the line is crossed. The script is better, the horror film delights of violence more intense, and Eli Roth wisely creates sympathy for certain characters, then turns the monsters loose, therefore overall it's much more fun. Hostel Part II understands that character is plot, as each and every character is spot on in thorough definition and development. It's actually quite a shock how impressive the characterizations are. I think Eli Roth is done warming up now. I think his next film will be truly great work.

After Eli Roth's successful 'shock-horror' film 'Hostel', a rolling sequel was inevitable in today's 'franchised' Hollywood, however in 'Hostel 2' all the nastiness and aggression is substituted for out-of-time and disturbingly pathetic 'slapstick comedy-horror' leaving nothing more than a blank canvas splashed with bucket-loads of blood and prosthetic body parts. Roth's aim with both 'Hostel' and 'Hostel 2' was to push the boundaries of exploitative cinema, however the seemingly one-sided characters and incredibly wooden acting coupled with a repetitive plot and a lingering sense of deja vu that 'didn't I see this film last year and it was called Hostel?'. The sense of deja vu comes from the fact that 'Hostel Part 2' is basically a re-release of 'Part 1', but with three girls (Lauren German, Bijou Phillips, and Heather Matarazzo) as the lead characters as they are in Europe studying art and relaxing. Cue, the trusting, yet deviously psychopathic friend (the beautiful Vera Jordanova) to whisk the girls away to beautiful Slovakia, the gruesome hunting grounds of the cold torturers that await. While the film does intertwine the hunted (Lauren German, Bijou Phillips, and Heather Matarazzo) with the hunters (Richard Burgi, Roger Bart), trying to add a new dimension to the characters and installing a sense of humanity in the soul-less sadists, the little time spent with the characters shows little to the viewer a part from the 'dominator and submissive' approach between the two men. While Roth's approach to the 'snuff' and 'violent' aspect of the film, most notably the biggest selling point of the 'Hostel' series, I found myself disturbingly...bored, than anything else with Roth trying to force and create shock, which is seen in a seemingly pointless scene which involves the death of a child, the death itself isn't shown, but for a film like Hostel, trying to force viewers to use there imaginations to involve themselves and create an emotional and shocking connection, when the main focal point of the film is to drive home into the retina's the horror, pain and sadist nature of the tortured and torturers. In comparison to many films released this year; e.g. 'Captivity' starring Elisha Cuthbert, the sadomasochistic violence and misogynistic approach compiles and parades nothing new, as 'snuff' or extreme, unbridled violence and suffering is almost mandatory for most 'horror' films wishing to gain an edge above there competitors by exploiting the exploitation of violence. However there was one scene, which would make most men wince, yet that couldn't make up for a lacklustre second effort from Roth. The rest of the film itself had nothing special about it, a mediocre score added nothing to the suspense or disturbing nature of the film, the 'look' into the 'Hunting Club' itself was short and annoying as it gave little away we already knew and the opening scene itself, seems it was just added by Roth to bump the running time by an extra five minutes. The worst bit of brutality in 'Hostel 2'? The treacherous and severely painful ninety-three minutes running time. Let's just be glad, Eli Roth's agreed not to do a third. 3/10 Jordan

For anyone with a real objective taste in movies, including those based on terror, would know after watching hostel part 2 that it is way better than the first installment. Hostel 2 not only a better ending than the typical horror (is it really over) ending of part 1 but it also has a more consistent story line, better acting, descent lead character development and interesting plot twist. I would highly recommend this film to any fans of the handful of truly good horror/thriller movies out there such as (Saw1 and the Ring). If you watched hostel 1 and thought it was an over rated farce of a movie like I did, then watch part 2, you wont be disappointed.

I am a huge horror fan...G.Romero's Dawn of the Dead is one my favorite movies of all time. I am also a huge fan of Dario Argento's films (Creepers,Demons etc...) a lot of these two directors films are very bloody and very gruesome!...Romero's films have scenes of people getting ripped apart by zombies!! Eeeccckk!..... ..But I have never turned off one of their movies. Last night I starting watching Hostel 2 ( out of boredom..Hostel 1 sucked too) and when it came to the scene where Heather M. was being hung upside down and then gutted so a naked woman could bath in her blood below...I immediately stopped watching and was totally disgusted! If this is where horror movies are headed courtesy of the Hostel and Saw films.. I have to say a big no thanks to horror movies! I had to think why this scene bothered me so much... I think it was because of the sadistic nature of it....it really was like a snuff film... it was too real... and too sick!..If you watched this movie and liked it.. you should should probably see a psychologist! and I am really not joking when I say that. " Well aren't scenes of zombies ripping a human apart just as sick..?" well yah they are..but there is not a sadistic-torture elements in the zombies scenes... in this movie it's human on human..WITH A woman getting sexual gratification from having another woman bleed on top of her! .. its sick!...and it's not entertainment... SAY NO TO SICK TORTURE AS ENTERTAINMENT!

In Rome, the wealthy Beth (Lauren German) and her college friends Whitney (Bijou Phillips) and Lorna (Heather Matarazzo) decide to travel to Prague to spend a couple of spare days. In the train, they meet the model Axelle (Vera Jordanova) after an incident with rude natives of Prague and their acquaintance convinces them to take a detour to the beautiful Slovakia and lodge in a hostel. While partying in the village, they are lured and offered in an international auction to sadistic members of the Elite Hunting under a contract that does not allow leaving the torture chamber in a hidden facility alive. "Hostel – Part II" is a good sequel of "Hostel", disclosing the fate of backpacker Paxton that escaped alive from the facility in Bratislava, Slovakia, of the first movie and then following the tragic tour of three American friends. The story is quite similar to the first one, except the great twist in the last five minutes with the action and revenge of the clever and rich Beth. This violent and gore movie is recommended only for fans of the genre, and those that liked the first "Hostel" will certainly appreciate this sequel. My vote is seven. Title (Brazil): "O Albergue – Parte 2" ("The Hostel – Part 2")

OK, I was a fan of the first but now I'm starting to think I was a fan of my version of the first. All movies should have things that you think about when you leave the theatre. Hostel was one of them, by no means a perfect film but a very good effort. This however is so bad that it actually ruins the first. All the stuff you had in your head goes away, you see too much of the inner workings and it just doesn't make sense. The acting is awful with the exception of the lead girl (the one who lives). The character switch at the end makes absolutely no sense,The big guy knows they'll kill him if he doesn't finish her off and whats a bullet to the head when you've sawed her face off? The whole scene on the train is cringeworthy, the set ups look bad, the crowd of Italian soccer fans are all wearing fake jerseys for instance. And the end is crap, Don't get me wrong I squirmed in my seat when she had scissors wrapped around his nuts, decent horror moment and kind of funny. But one why the hell would you be calling her names - NO MAN WOULD!!! and two why did the evil group let her chop off the other girls head. The bubblegum kids don't work, it takes 40mins to actually see the torture place again. Jay Hernandez should have been in a more central role, although I did like his death scene. The bloodbath was good - the rest sucked - I've seen Last House on the Left and a woman bite off a wee willy, I don't really need to see it again. Although I think Eli Roth does again and again and again. The whole character switch thing is rubbish, one guy bottles it AFTER he puts a saw through a girls head and ther other goes a little mental when he looks at a picture of his wife, BS! I wanted to see them pick up all sorts of different weapons from the rack in the trailer like that bit in Kill Bill. I wanted more humour and more smarts. A man's * getting chopped off and fed to a dog was funny, sick and made everyone squirm but as for a "big payoff" it was a waste of time. Eli Roth is in fact a crappy film maker who got lucky and kudos to the guy for jumping on QT train and riding it all the way, I would too. In terms of being the horror guy of this generation - Aja, Marshall, Wan and all the other splat pack dudes are waaaayy ahead - even those who've only had one film! Another point - The MPAA should seriously be ashamed of themselves, they're a joke. Whats the point of them if they don't say - "No you can't show a man's * being cut off and fed to a dog - just cut away". This should be a NC-17, no way a Rated R. I'm not one for censoring films. Devils Rejects, SAW franchise etc all had good points in trying to push their films by the board but this is getting ridiculous, just scrap the MPAA. They don't do anything but get talked into stupid ideas.

This is a very cheesy, obnoxious, and predictable movie. Three American girls follow a young woman to Slovakia, but later find themselves being kidnapped and perhaps murdered. This film lacked character development, motivation, and overall uniqueness. I had a huge problem with some of the scenes in the film. For example, the scene where the woman is bathing in blood; it could definitely had been shorter if they would have cut down the men lighting up the candles. Also, when Stuart (Roger Bart) first untied Beth (Lauren German) but then re-tied her again. It made absolutely no sense. In addition, I believe that the entire begin was okay where we thought Paxton (Jay Hernandez) was trapped and killed, that is until he woke up next to a young woman (who by the way serves absolutely no purpose to the movie) and got killed for good. Another issue that I had with this movie was how predictable it was. The young American women were so naïve that of course we felt they had to be killed. Like, Lorna (Heather Matarazzo), didn't your mother ever tell you not to go alone with strangers? Again too pathetic. I say, don't waste your money, time, or effort to watch this film, you would truly be disappointed.

"Hostel: Part II" follows a group of American art students who are studying in Rome. Among them are good-girl Beth (Lauren German), wild Whitney (Bijou Phillips), and the soft-spoken Lorna (Heather Matarazzo). This group of girls end up on a train to Prauge, where they meet a model, Axelle (Vera Jordanova), who convinces them to go to Slovakia with her to a mineral spring spa. The girls arrive to Slovakia, where they enjoy spending a few days at the youth hostel. Little do they know, the girls have been auctioned off to wealthy tycoons who want to find the thrill in their murder - and at an abandoned warehouse, they can do that. Soon after, the three young women are taken off to the warehouse one by one, where their grisly fates await them - but can they make it out alive? To be put plainly, I didn't like the original "Hostel". The only reason I saw this was because a friend of mine convinced me to go, I would've rather seen something else. To my surprise, I enjoyed this movie a little more than I did the first, if that means anything. Story-wise, this movie is essentially a complete rehash of the events in the original, minus the fact that our main characters are young women rather than a bunch of hormone-crazed guys. There are some tweaks on the story as well, so it isn't a complete copy. Some of the writing is clever (and I thought there was a small bit more of depth, for instance the exploration of the "businessmen" themselves who were paying to torture), but it has it's fair share of problems as well. I thought the film got off to a decent start, but after sitting through the first thirty minutes my hopes for it diminished. Like in it's predecessor, "Hostel: Part II" contains some utterly ridiculous moments. At times I wasn't sure if the movie was going for a bad comedy or a horror flick - it balances on that line awkwardly, and it doesn't work out well. That was one of my biggest problems with the original, the humor just didn't work. Both of these movies could have been very suspenseful and terrifying, but the attempt at dark comedy and the over-the-top violence ruined it. As expected, the violence and gore is amped up for this sequel, and I was thoroughly grossed out on quite a few moments. But the problem is that that's basically all Eli Roth knows how to do. Sure, I may have squirmed - but was I scared? Of course not. The idea that the "Hostel" films are based upon is intriguing, but you need some solid suspense and terror to get a good reaction out of me, and this movie failed to do that. Call me old fashioned, but the majority of these gore-filled "horror" movies don't cut it for me. As for the acting, that was one thing I did enjoy about this movie - I personally liked the cast. Lauren German ("Texas Chainsaw Massacre" remake) plays our lead quite well, along with Bijou Phillips ("Venom") who turns in a good performance in the type of role she plays often. And Heather Matarazzo ("Scream 3") was excellent in her role as the quirky and naive Lorna. I have to admit, I did care about the characters in this movie, so in that sense it did something right in my eyes, but that is mainly due to the actors, and nothing else. As for the finale of the film, it ended with another ridiculous gag that was attempting to be funny, but I just thought it made the film seem even more unbelievable and stupid. Overall, "Hostel: Part II" is one gross flick, but the gore doesn't do anything for the story. It's awkward balance of humor and horror doesn't mesh, and the ridiculous gore gags in this film add to it's stupidity more than it's scariness. The cast was good, I'll give it that - but unfortunately they can't redeem it. I'll admit I enjoyed it a tad bit more than I did the original (and I was "entertained" throughout it), but that's really not saying much. If you didn't like the original, I wouldn't bother seeing this sequel. I could tolerate it, but it's nothing even remotely remarkable. 4/10.