Studio: Sony Pictures Home Ent Release Date: 10/28/2008 Run time: 95 minutes Rating: Ur
With repulsion levels at least comparable to Cannibal Holocaust, Herschell Gordon Lewis' Blood Feast, and other gory slasher landmarks, Eli Roth's Hostel 2 reconfigures ideas of violence to test how down and dirty a horror film can get. The film raises the stakes, leaving those who wish to make a sicker film out in the lurch for the time being. This sequel, like the first Hostel, is set in and around a Slovakian factory where European students are kidnapped, tortured, and killed by rich businessmen who pay enormous sums to experience death firsthand. An international elite, all tattooed with a bulldog insignia, bid on young people to slaughter in a mob-organized, high-end, sex-slave trade catering to those with a death fetish. In Hostel 2, three girls from Rome, Beth (Laura German), Whitney (Bijou Phillips), and Lorna (Heather Matarazzo), are lured to Slovakia by a sultry, vampiric hottie (Vera Jordonova) who modeled for them in figure drawing class. Sidetracked and disoriented by some Pagan Slovakian festivals and luxurious hot springs, the girls slip away one by one, until the film moves inside the torture chambers. One client sits in a bathtub beneath her victim, who she slices with a scythe to bathe in blood, Elizabeth Bathory-style. Body parts fly as clients entering the facilities select their weapons of choice in a room full of knives, power tools, and rubber clothing. As ridiculous as it sounds, haunting soundtrack and cinematography set a disturbing mood. Morbid humor, for example when a chainsaw unplugs centimeters from a victim's face, pays homage to Hostel 2's schlocky predecessors. Fortunately, one survivor remains, providing an ounce of vengeful, and sexy, satisfaction. As in the best exploitation films, gratuitous sex and violence are the norm here. What will be a warning to some to avoid this gruesome movie will be to others a cue to head straight to the theater. --Trinie Dalton
Customer Reviews:
Avg. Customer Rating: 3.0 / 5.0
BETTER THAN EXPECTED! NOT NEARLY AS GORY AS IT'S REPUTATION!:
There's a new monster in horror! Forget the misunderstood variety, like Frankenstein's monster, forget the Atomic bomb causing bugs to grow to enormous size and forget the relentless slashing madmen, like Michael Myers! Today, new horror fans have a new terror, it's the rich self absorbed A-Hole who is bored with his life and wants to torture and kill innocent people....why?... because he can! Hostel II has been labeled one of the goriest films ever made, but it's really a self parody that is pretty... more info
It sinks too far:
My problem with the first Hostel was the exact opposite. The beginning of that film was what I'd call pointless drivel, up until we were exposed to a dark world and a vicious, unnerving ending. Hostel: Part II opens just as we left the ending of the first film, and there's a really interesting opening, which actually builds up a half-decent tension and shows us a bit more about the mechanics of what's happening. However, once we get into the ending, the entire thing takes a twist and goes from being... more info
Bottom line, Enjoyable flick, not as groundbreaking as the first entry.:
Definately not as good as the first film, but still good film making. Roth was in an awkward position with this movie, since everyone allready knew the big plot twist, there was nothing left to shock the audience(other than bringing the blood, which he did) Bottom line, Enjoyable flick, not as groundbreaking as the first entry. Video and audio quality on the blu disc are nothing short of amazing. If you liked the movie, this should be a definite buy.
Thinking Person's Horror:
I enjoyed the first Hostel movie due to it's entertainment/shock value. It was actually pretty funny, but at the same time it had very ominous undertones. Hostel 2 however, is a much better movie in my opinion. Director/Writer Eli Roth really put a lot into this movie. This movie had smarter characters, smarter plot points, and it was executed better. Roth made the smartest decision of all when he decided to continue the storyline started in the first Hostel. Too many movies have attempted to do too much... more info
