Eli Roth's Hostel Part II - Review

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Length: 93 min

Rated: R

Distributor: Lionsgate

Release Date: 2007-06-08

Starring: Lauren German, Roger Bart, Heather Matarazzo, Bijou Phillips, Vera Jordanova, and Jay Hernandez

Directed by Eli Roth

Produced by Chris Briggs, Mike Fleiss, and Eli Roth,

Written by Eli Roth

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Reviewed by Jason Morgan : 2007-06-09 18:29:52

For whatever reasons, 2005’s Hostel garnered an air of infamy for its extreme torture sequences in the final third of the film. Perhaps those last 30 minutes clouded the memory of the intense boredom that saturated the first hour. Luckily, Hostel Part II sets out to remind how boring the concept of paying to torture people can truly be in the hands of director Eli Roth. Like the first, the characters are merely meat for the grinder and, other than the prospect of violence, there’s very little reason to watch. Relying purely on violence to create the terror, Roth’s filmmaking is no better than his villain who holds a gun to the head of a child – and pulls the trigger.

The return to the Bates’ Hostel picks up right where the first left off. In a silly recap of the first film, survivor Paxton is quickly dismembered and the film follows three young and supple female art students heading for a relaxing weekend at a Slovakian spa. And where better to stay than an inexpensive hostel? The movie drags on for about an hour before the three girls are finally abducted and taken to the torture house. Of course, you don’t care about the three one-dimensional caricatures, so the setup is void of any tension.

In a somewhat interesting side plot, Roth introduces the other side of the torture business as we follow two friends who have paid to maim and kill. Unfortunately, this story line isn’t give the screen time or thought it deserves and comes off just as empty as the three girls’ Euro-trip. The reason the men want to murder is quickly chalked up to power and testosterone. Instead of investigating the nature of violence and power, these motives are simply a side bar to unrestrained violence.

If Roth had the desire to make a film that truly terrified audiences, rather than schlock-shock, he could have told the entire story through the torturer point of view. Why would a person want to torture another? How does torturer feel about the entire process, from the opening bid on the victim to the gruesome end? How does it change a person? These are questions that Hostel Part II has no interest in asking. Instead, it answers the questions of “How do you set up a movie to cut a man’s balls off?”

From ritualistic killing to murdering children, Hostel Part II is caught up in the franchise’s own mystic and tunnel-visioned into taking its violence to outrageous ends that it fumbles the story and creates a film that feels more like an extreme I Still Know What You Did Last Summer. The gore in the first Hostel played out like tongue-in-cheek B-movie violence, stirring the media into a frenzy and helping to coin the term “torture porn.” Ironically, Hostel Part II finally delivers on what the media promised. While some may toss around the clever “torture porn,” there is a simpler for Hostel Part II -- trash.

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Shaun
February 26, 2008 at 14:19

HEY! Let's now be honest. In a world of violence, in which we live.. Sorry to say. We have all been used to the "tastless" Scream, and I know what you did last summer types. Let's face it, the SAW series which is still running strong with it's current relaease of part IV, and Hostel take the cake. True Horror fans want just that... Horror. Eli Roth even says, when people sit down to watch Hostel, they want to see people get f***ed up.

Welcome to the 21st Century. Sorry but screaming girls running around a house, going outside, and getting killed is ole fashioned. Eli Roth has taken us to a new level. We all wish we could understand what a serial killer thinks about, how he/she feels before and after.. Guess what, we still don't know. So why should Roth try and explain something, nobody can figure out. Instead he shows a messed up side of human nature. Two upper class, middle aged men, american, with families, and a very dark side. This explains all as far as I am concerned. We all could be living next to a killer and not even know it. Think about Columbine, Va Tech, Dahmer, now N. Illinois. These were your everyday normal human being with a dark side to them.
This movie shows us the sick twisted dark side of Humans in today's world. These girls have no idea what is about to hit them, what's in store for them. Who could? Can anyone honestly believe someone can do this to another human being?? Hostel is different, and terrifying. Maybe not to americans who have no plans to visit Europe. Sorry I live here, been to Prague, been to Slovakia. It gives me the creeps going to Bratislava. I can gurantee one thing. Watch it again and come to Europe, walk down the street, and tell me how you feel?? Feel safe now?? I doubt it..
SO for the typical american with a one sided mind, I can understand the negative feedback. You feel safe in america, knowing you will never travel to these places. SO i can see how the movie may bore you. Trust me, it's a whole new world over here, and Eli Roth gets an A+.

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luke mechan
August 27, 2007 at 22:18

Roth is bringing the horror genre back in fresh way. Hostel part 2 was not trash. Instead, it was an interesting and ambitious character study about waht makes sadists tick. Jason Morgan, get over yourself

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Michelle
July 10, 2007 at 18:27

Disregard my last comment. I understand now. I miss-typed and gave Josh credit for Jason's review of Hostel part II.

Sorry about that!!

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Michelle
July 10, 2007 at 18:27

Erm, actually, I wrote that review from June 12th. Unless this "Jason" is actually a Michelle...

Not sure if "Jason Morgan" is claiming as his own or if I'm misunderstanding the posts, but I left those comments a couple of days after I saw Hostel part 2.

If someone is claiming my comments/review, that doesn't make me very happy.

Thanks

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Fluffy
July 4, 2007 at 11:24

Who wrote this review? because they are right on the money they should have just named the movie "Give me 8 bucks and I'll waste your time for awhile" In fact we are just like the people being tortured except we are paying them to toture us.

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Jim Wright
June 13, 2007 at 10:07

"and that would've made the movie very interesting if Roth did so and delved into the questions Josh raised in his review"

The review was by Jason Morgan.

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Jason Morgan
June 13, 2007 at 10:04

I wrote this review.

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Michelle
June 12, 2007 at 23:16

I went and saw this movie Sat night, and it wasn't that bad. Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not claiming that it was best movie I ever saw or even good enough for me to say that I liked it, but there were parts I liked and parts I didn't. Some parts didn't make sense, either to the story or even why Eli Roth decided to go in a particular direction. For example, why set up a man whom I interpreted to be the CEO of the torture company-a Torture-For-You, Inc., so to speak-to shoot a child point blank? I vaguely see this man wanting to scare the pee out of the child gang, but was killing a child this way really essential to Roth's overall point or vision for the movie? I think not. Also, the whole "with an ending you won't believe" kind of thing that the trailers all insisted... when the audience is left with a man's penis and balls being cut off and fed to the proverbial angry German shepards. This "surprise twist" ending was a big let down.

I was hoping that Hostel part 2 would be all from the torturers' point of view, and that would've made the movie very interesting if Roth did so and delved into the questions Josh raised in his review (Why would a person want to torture another? How does torturer feel about the entire process...etc.) Unfortunately Roth did not do this and really produced a mediocre movie. The torture scenes were vaguely brutal, but so what? That's the whole point behind the movie and the whole reason for fans of Hostel 1 to go spend $10 to see Hostel 2. Overall I thought Hostel part 2 was pretty ordinary, which was quite disappointing compared to Hostel 1.

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Stuart
June 10, 2007 at 20:45

"Torture porn" is an excuse for lazy new horror movies.

Regards,

A horror fan

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jakew
June 10, 2007 at 11:37

Torture porn is such a lazy 'buzz word' now for horror movies. Hostel's plot is: rich people pay to torture people, the tables are turned, the hunters become the hunted, etc. So essentially 'torture porn' was coined to sensationally describe Hostel's plot. Suddenly, every lazy critic is calling every horror movie they don't like 'torture porn' ... I'm sick of hearing the phrase (and from what I've read, so is Eli Roth)!

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Rich
June 10, 2007 at 00:16

Hmmm...I actually liked it. Like the original Hostel, and like Cabin Fever, Eli Roth combines the ultimate mix of gore and humor (Cabin Fever was actually the late Mitch Hedburg's favorite film). I like how corny and stupid it was, and really feel that that was its charm. Don't look at it as a horror film (or even trying on its clothes as a horror film) and see it as mindless fluff, and you'll have plenty of fun with this one here. Good stuff.

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