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Overall Rating : 6/10
Directed By : Eli Roth
Lauren German (The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003) )
Roger Bart (The Producers (2005) )
Heather Matarazzo (Welcome to the Dollhouse)
Bijou Phillips (Bully)
Supplied By : Sony Pictures
Film Reviewed By : Rick L. Blalock
Date Reviewed : October 9, 2007
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| PLOT Three young Americans studying art in Rome set off for a weekend trip when they run into a beautiful model from one of their classes. Also on her way to an exotic destination, the gorgeous European invites the coeds to come along, assuring them they will be able to relax and rejuvenate. Will the girls find the oasis they are looking for? Or are they poised to become victims for hire, pawns in the fantasies of the sick and privileged from around the world who secretly travel here to savor more grisly pursuits? |
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| THE REVIEW In HOSTEL : PART II, three friends whom are from America, Beth, Lorna, and Whitney, are all in Rome studying art. In hopes of finding a great party they all collectively decide to travel to Prague. But while on the train, they are confronted by a female model, which they met during their class. She convinces them that there is no better party hot spot other than Slovakia, in which their are parties and spas aplenty she promises. Even though the young model is a bit strangely suspicious, they take her advice and change their commute into one that would land them in Slovakia. They then end up in the very Hostel in which the trouble originated for the victims in the first film. What they happen to be unaware of is that Axelle, the beautiful model that led them there did so with purpose, as she has ties with the human hunting group Elite Hunting. Soon our 3 friends, who were just looking for a little fun, unwillingly and unknowingly become auction items and are sold to the highest bidder - and what the winning bidder gets is the right to torture and kill their purchase. I have seen the original HOSTEL only twice, with the most recent time being a few days before this review. Neither time, did I really enjoy it, and still can't understand all of the acclaim it gets. I thought the original film was a bit dull, with the first half of it being really drawn out, and being more of a soft-core teen comedy. People always cite HOSTEL's gore and gritty relentlessness, but to tell the truth, in my opinion, it just wasn't that special - you had all of this comedy and build up, and then suddenly it leads up to only about 5 minutes of any real tension? So, the only thing I was really hoping for with this sequel is that it had a better story, and less of the unnecessary fluff the other had, and for the most part, I was just hoping to enjoy it overall. It turns out that I liked this film, a whole lot better than the original, and felt it was a more complete story. It seems as if the people that really liked the first one, generally hate this one and those that didn't enjoy the first, found something to like in the sequel and I seem to be right in the mix of that. In the first film, we just knew, that some sort of organized group was arranging the killings of innocent people(mostly tourists) for money. Sure we learned the identity of the group, and it was made known that they all shared a distinct tattoo of a bloodhound, but we were kind of left in the dark as far as the group's secret operation went - just how do they sort through and pick their victims, and how much are each of the victims actually worth? All of these questions are answered, making the story far more interesting. We watch as people from all over the world getting into bidding wars over innocent victims who are being auctioned off without their knowledge, this concept alone is just bizarre thinking about it, let alone seeing it. In my opinion, the gore in this film is a lot heavier than the original, and for the fact that all of our victims are female this time around, well that aids the film in being a little more disturbing as well. As for those female characters, I found that they were more interesting than the male victims in the original, and when it got down to them being tortured, they were more sympathetic. Are you really going to feel sorry for a masculine character? Well maybe a little, but not as much as you would a woman, who stereotypically, are often seen as fragile. As trouble befalls upon the females, one of them begins to emerge, as the most developed character of them all, that being Beth(Lauren German). German, went from being a lesser role as the Hitch-hiker in the 2003 THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE remake, to being a determined to survive heroine in HOSTEL : PART II, and she does it well, Heather Matarazzo(Lorna), and Bijou Phillips(who never seems to last long in Horror films) are ok as the supporters, Matarazzo more than Phillips as she seemed to give more character(and also gives us a surprisingly good nude scene) - the character of Whitney just seemed to "be there". which is really unfortunate for Bijou Phillips, as she is a pretty good actress in my opinion. At first glance, a viewer may feel as if they are watching HOSTEL all over again, spare the gender switch and all of the gratuitous nudity, as it seems to play out in the same scenario as the original film in the first half. But it isn't long before we are led in a much different direction, with this time a lot more explanation. Also worth noting is that, instead of the almost experimental feel of HOSTEL, HOSTEL : PART II, seems to be more polished and artistic this time - and in the end, I found this latest entry(and supposedly final, at least, as far as Eli Roth is concerned) to be more complete overall. |
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| GORE
METER 5.5/10 Some beheadings, bloody slashings, a slit throat, and a saw to the face, are all among the gory gags provided by KNB EFX |
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| MUSICAL
SCORE 2.5/10 I don't remember much about the films score other than a few foreign language songs, to me it wasn't really that memorable. |
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| OVERALL
IMPRESSION OF THE FILM Honestly, when going into this one, I thought I wouldn't like it, much like I do HOSTEL, but honestly, this one was more interesting, and most of all, it was more fun. Not only focusing on the victims in this film, Eli Roth chose to take us deeper inside the Elite Hunting organization, giving us two perspectives of the story this time, and to me it made the sequel a much better film. While still not as good as Roth's first film, CABIN FEVER, I would gladly watch HOSTEL : PART II again over HOSTEL any day. Definitely worth checking out! This DVD will be released on October 23, 2007 |
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