(Long Island, N.Y.) In 2005, Eli Roth’s Hostel was released and managed to spark some controversy with its brutal subject matter. It depicted a depraved underground organization in the European country of Slovakia that specialized in luring young people backpacking across Europe into staying at an obscure Hostel (a low-cost boarding house of sorts). In turn, they would be kidnapped from the Hostel, taken to a grimy, abandoned factory, and
provided to paying clients to sadistically maim and kill. Obviously, it pays to avoid the Economy Tour when traveling abroad.
Hostel gave birth to a “torture” sub-genre of horror which has seen numerous imitators released into theaters in recent years. Now, if you’re a regular reader of my column (and really, who isn’t?), then you probably know that I’m an avid horror fan. Blood, gore, violence, that’s all cool in my book. However, what I’m not a fan of are films where people are tied into chairs and mutilated while crying and begging for their lives. There’s just something about it that makes me feel a little dirty. I mean, against someone like Jason Voorhees they at least have a chance- well, okay, they still have no chance, but at least they can still run away and survive a few extra seconds. That’s fair, right?
But other than that unpleasantness, I thought the original Hostel was a pretty good movie. It had some nice character development, a little bit of mystery, and a fairly satisfying ending. It was a good follow-up for fledgling director Eli Roth after the success of his debut film, 2003’s Cabin Fever.
Of course, successful movies breed sequels, and Hostel is no exception. Thus, we now come to the subject of today’s review: Hostel Part II. Picking up right where the first movie left off, we learn the ultimate fate of Paxton (Jay Hernandez), the sole survivor of the first film. After that is dispensed with, we are introduced to Part II’s dual set of protagonists. The first group is a gaggle of young American girls taking a break from their studies in Europe- Beth (Lauren German), Whitney (Bijou Phillips), and Lorna (Heather Matarazzo). They’re innocently looking to blow off some steam and in search of some harmless fun- you know, drinking, drugs, sex with strangers, etc. As in the original movie, they are eventually drawn in through a web of deception until they are in the vile clutches of the clandestine association introduced in the original movie.
Now, the bidding begins. Pictures are circulated to prospective “clients” via the internet and an auction of sorts ensues. It is at this point that we are introduced to our second group of protagonists,
Stuart (Roger Bart) and Todd (Richard Burgi), two American businessmen who think it’d be really cool to chop up pretty girls. Stuart doesn’t appear to be gung-ho at the prospect, but Todd (seemingly a real Patrick Bateman-type), bullies him into it like they were high school kids. Soon, their private jet is touching down in Slovakia and they
are whisked away to the factory for some impromptu brain surgery with the captive girls. Blood will flow, true natures will be revealed, and tables will be turned.
Overall, Hostel Part II fails to impress. The
premise of the sequel sounded interesting on paper, as they were planning on delving into the inner workings of the organization that runs the evil snuff factory introduced in the first movie. But
in the end they revealed little of consequence, and overall, nothing at all was really different from the original Hostel- except that all the mystery of the first film was lost because they used the same tactics to lure people in and you saw everything coming from a mile away. The way the organization solicited its clients was silly as well, as people all over the world are shown competing in Ebay-style auctions for the various girls up for grabs.
And where the original
was disturbing, Part II was more on the cheesy side. The kills were far more cartoonish and over-the-top and as a result, lost their realism and impact. In a way, I suppose this is a good thing, as I was not a fan of the carnage of the first picture.
But this change also caused the grittiness and tension (so prevalent in the original) to vanish as well. I think the fact that the main characters were far less compelling and likable (despite being attractive women) than the trio of victims in the first movie contributed to this as well.
As for the depraved people out there who loved all the blood and skin in the first Hostel, you’ll be saddened to learn that the sequel is FAR tamer- way less gore, way less female nudity, and way more male genitals (huh?).
Taken on its own, Hostel Part II is a slightly below-average film at best. But movie sequels should
always up the ante and outdo the previous film. If it’s just more of the same, or in this case much less of the same, there’s just no point in bothering. Don’t go out of your way to see it, even if you were a fan of the original.
