HOSTEL Part 2
© Sony Pictures and Lionsgate
Mania Grade: B+
Rated: NR
Cast: Lauren German, Roger Bart, Heather Matarazzo, Bijou Phillips, Richard Burgi, Vera Jordanova, and Jay Hernandez
Writer: Eli Roth
Director: Eli Roth
Distributor: Sony Pictures and Lionsgate
Original Year of Release: 2007
Extras: Deleted Scenes, Hostel Part 2: the Next Level Featurette, The Art of KNB Effects Featurette, Production Design Featurette, Hostel Part 2: A Legacy of Torture International TV Special, Blood & Guts Gag Reel, The Treatment Radio Interview with Eli Roth, Multiple Commentaries
Rated: NR
Cast: Lauren German, Roger Bart, Heather Matarazzo, Bijou Phillips, Richard Burgi, Vera Jordanova, and Jay Hernandez
Writer: Eli Roth
Director: Eli Roth
Distributor: Sony Pictures and Lionsgate
Original Year of Release: 2007
Extras: Deleted Scenes, Hostel Part 2: the Next Level Featurette, The Art of KNB Effects Featurette, Production Design Featurette, Hostel Part 2: A Legacy of Torture International TV Special, Blood & Guts Gag Reel, The Treatment Radio Interview with Eli Roth, Multiple Commentaries
HOSTEL Part 2
By: Robert T. TrateReview Date: Wednesday, October 24, 2007
Eli Roth has returned to make the sequel to his “torture in a foreign land” film ‘Hostel’. This time around, instead of three horny guys, we follow three girls who are looking to get away from the guys and find an escape and a real vacation away from their studies. Beth (the Tom boy) played by Lauren German, Whitney (the hottie) played by Bijou Phillips, and Lorna (the mousey virgin) played by Heather Matarazzo meet Axelle (the smoking hot foreign hottie) played by Vera Jordanova, who saves the girls from a few sleazy Italian guys and then tells them about this wonderful hot spring near just a train away from Prague. The girls agree and once they check into the Hostel we see all the same trappings of the previous film. This time, however, a few more characters and players are revealed and we see just how connected everything in the village really is. What is even more sickeningly sweet is the EBay type bidding which goes on for our doomed heroines.
Enter Stuart (Roger Bart) and Todd (Richard Burgi), two wealthy Americans who have joined the Hostel bloodhound club and have won the bidding. Once there the two men joke, workout and psyche each other up for what they are about to do. They believe they will get a new sense of confidence after they have killed someone. This is their lure to the Hostel and their reason for killing someone. Yet when the moment arrives each is faced with their humanity and how far they are will to go to lose it. Not what I expected based on seeing the previous ‘Hostel’. Stuart and Todd both are full characters and not just nameless twisted torturers. Seeing their side and the girls’ really put a different twist to the movie and made it more than just a gore fest.
In actuality, a lot of this film wasn’t what I expected. I was thoroughly entertained and not rolling my eyes at Roth for taking the scares, or the gore, too far. It really showed a maturity to his work. Don’t get me wrong, ‘Hostel: Part II’ isn’t for the week of heart, but in the original ‘Hostel’ the guys seemed cliché and the situations stereotypical, making the audience salivate for their deaths. In ‘Hostel: Part II’ the characters are developed better. Roth has assembled a great cast of ensemble players in: Stanislav Ianevski, Luc Merenda, Edwige Fenech, and Ruggero Deodato all of who are better known in Europe, but give the film something that the first one didn’t have and that is class. The build up this time is worth it and there are not nearly as many T&A shots as there were in the first one, though when the film begins its bloody blood bath the “theme” rooms offer an interesting look into the psyche of the torturers instead of having the cement cell and barber chair. Ruggero Deodato’s (director of ‘Hannibal Holocaust’) room is probably the most twisted and devilishly clever considering who the man is.
******************* SPOILERS*********************
When the individual confrontations/ tortures occur each is different and each has unique setup. Lorna our mousey virgin (Heather Matarazzo) has a torture room we haven’t seen yet in the Hostel. The scrapping sound of the sickle on her skin was worse than what happened next to her. Roth used the sound for the scare knowing it would drive people crazy.
Whitney our hottie (Bijou Phillips) actually goes to two different rooms. The first is a sadistic make up chair to get her beautiful for Todd (Richard Burgi). That scene alone shows that Whitney is ready to fight to stay alive and more than the “hottie” she appears to be. When the torture confrontation does happen it isn’t what is expected adding to the unexpected gory thrill ride ‘Hostel: Part II’ was.
My biggest complaint, probably my only, is that Stuart (Roger Bart) flips too quickly from “This is not the man I am” (meaning he is going to let her go), when he is about to torture Beth (Lauren German), to seeing what happens to his buddy Todd and then becomes this sadistic madman. It happened a little too quick, making the whole scene feel rushed. Roth probably wanted to get on with it to get the scare in and get on with the tension. Then why have him act like he was going to let her go? Like I said it was probably the only moment in the film I didn’t like. Now what happened next was worth this strange peculiar moment and lead to perhaps the best Mexican stand off in movie horror history.
******************* SPOILERS OVER*********************
When I sat down to watch ‘Hostel: Part II’ I thought it was going to be a big budget splatter fest with throw away characters and a lot of senseless nudity and gore. What I watched instead was a well crafted film that was both horrific and bloody but had characters that I actually cared about. I put myself in that situation and wondered would I be strong enough to survive or strong enough to do torture someone? What is the price we put on our own humanity and is it something we can easily part with?
Special Features
There is an incredible goody bag of DVD special features that any horror fan or movie aficionado can appreciate. The documentary by Eli Roth’s brother Gabriel Roth, ‘Hostel Part 2: the Next Level’ is an in-depth personal look at the making of ‘Hostel: Part 2’. It gives you the experience of being there on set and a great look at the camaraderie Roth has with his cast and crew. The deleted scenes are necessary cuts and nothing that really will be missed in the final cut. There is one scene with Lauren German and Bijou Phillips where they enact an after school special moment that is perfect and really funny in a sick and twisted Hostel way. The Gag Reel is also worth the watch to see just how difficult it is to work with dogs and how sweet those Bumble Guy Kids really are. The three different commentaries offer great insight into the making of the film, but it is Roth watching the film with executive producer Quentin Tarantino that is the true treat.
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