Customer Reviews

Hostel Part II [UMD for PSP]

5 star:		(32)
4 star:		(35)
3 star:		(27)
2 star:		(17)
1 star:		(36)

 

 

I enjoyed this movie, it was a bit more interesting the first one. I was disappointed that Jay Hernandez gets killed right away, but it also it makes sense since no witnesses/survivors can be left or else the whole operation is at risk.

What really put a new light in the movie were the two male characters who are new to the club. There we get to see two different characters at play, one who is eager to taste evil and one who has to be dragged into the situation. The one who is eager has fantasies of how killing somebody will make him gain a characteristic that will intimidate others, a characteristic that does not need to be mentioned yet perceptible. What he fails to consider is that the characteristic that he years for, might not come from killing an innocent and defenseless victim, or killing without need or killing out of curiosity. The other clients of the club are truly evil, they indulge in their dark pastime as the goal, for pleasure, and that is how and why they can kill not only without remorse but with pure pleasure. At the end I did feel sorry for him, very little effort was needed (even a simple matter of just sit and wait) to complete his contract and he would have survived.

For Stuart, the character who has to be dragged into the situation, on the other hand, he does not want to be "that guy" yet slowly but surely when presented with the proper opportunities and motivations, he turns out to embrace the darkness and evil. Stuart's repressions and frustrations come to surface and he will project them into anybody who is in front of him. His transformation from the hesitant/undecided guy is extreme and very convincing. This also left me thinking about his friend, maybe his friend couldn't transform because he did not have any repressions or frustration. Being a wealthy and physically attractive man who probably got his way most of the time, there was probably very little to brew evil feelings.

The transformation to evil is also extreme for the surviving girl, Beth, who turn herself into a ruthless killer, too. But at least she did have a very good reason for that. Payback is a bitch, indeed.

I guess it was good for Stuart to embrace evil, the audience had to abandon any sympathy for this character for the ending to work. There was really no way out of that room without somebody murdered and had Stuart remain his old self and tried to save the girl, they both would have died.

Probably what I have mentioned was not the main idea of such a movie, but it was interesting to me.

Not only did Eli Roth bring in his two brothers to work on this, he had his parents defend this piece of garbage film in the special features section. Yes, that's right - his parents! Big, hotshot director had his mommy and daddy explain why his film doesn't suck. His mom talked about how torture has been in artwork before and his dad talked about how governments institutionalize torture as if this film had some redeeming social quality. Of course, nothing could excuse this lame attempt to capitalize on the first movie. Eli doesn't seem to know the difference between a horror movie and a snuff film. Hostel is simply the later. Roth explained that all horror films make a social commentary. Horror films can entertain. Eli's torture porn just makes the world a darker place. As Roth put it, "In the end, people just want to watch Hostel to see other people get f****d up really bad." If that's the case, I feel saddened that people would want to watch innocent people get tortured to death in excruciating detail.

I watched the unedited version of this on ppv. It stunk to high heaven. The first one was a 10 star compared to this and the first one was a glorified B flick. No more Hostel movies please.

Hostel Part II (Eli Roth,2007)

The second film in the Hostel franchise is a difficult one to review, and that's pretty obvious given that reviews of the film have been split almost right down the middle. The problem is that while it's enjoyable (assuming you like that sort of thing), this is a movie that could have been so very, very much more than it was.

After a quick, and morbidly amusing, stop in to see Paxton (Jay Hernandez), the sole survivor of the first film, we immediately get back to teenagers in peril. This time it's a trio of American girls, Beth (A Walk to Remember's Lauren German), Whitney (Bijou Phillips, recently of Havoc), and Lorna (Welcome to the Dollhouse's Heather Matarazzo). You know what's coming. An alternating storyline also focuses on Todd (Richard Burgi), who buys one of the girls as a present for his friend Stuart (Roger Bart; both guys normally do time on Desperate Housewives). And that's where the germs of brilliance that could have grown into a full-blown virus lie in this movie-- the idea of taking the same scenario from the original and turning it on its head, giving us the dirt from the perspective of the killers. And we do get some of that, but it's not the focus of the film. That would have been genius.

The strongest point of the movie is that Roth dropped the softcore angle and went for the straight gore-- which has the effect, of course, of heightening the ugliness of scenes where sexuality does play a role. The greatest of these is truly brilliant, and displaces the infamous leg-shaving scene in Cabin Fever as the best single scene Roth has yet committed to film; you'll know it when you get to it, and it would be worth the price of admission alone. It is a profoundly discomfiting piece of filmmaking, and shows that Roth, when he brings his A game, is truly capable of being on the level of the guys he idolizes (another one of whom turns up for a brief cameo in this movie; I was floored, but no one else in the audience recognized him. Don't look at the cast list before you go, and see if you catch the cameo before the end credits).

All that said, the movie is rife with inconsistencies and plot holes, but that may be by design; from the opening scene, it's obvious that Roth intended this movie as a rather vicious parody of the horror film sequel formula; if you can look at the odd lapses as satire-- and Roth's own body of work, which is usually tight as a drum, lends credence to such an interpretation-- they're forgivable. The movie also contains a surprising amount of grim humor; it's a rare thing when an otherwise straight horror film has the audience walking out of the theater laughing hysterically. If the original Hostel was Roth's take on Takashi Miike's Visitor Q, this one is Ichi the Killer. with a dose of Flower of Flesh and Blood thrown in for good measure. Roth continues his one-man quest to drag Hollywood into the same space Asian horror filmmakers have been inhabiting since the late eighties, and he's turned in a movie in service of that goal that, while not living up to its potential, remains the most fun I've had seeing a horror film on the big screen in a whole lot of years. *** ½

Romero's Dawn of the Dead symbolized American's consumerism turning us into zombies and here Roth uses consumerism and our e bay addicted society to turn us into monsters. The cool part about George A. Romero's great classic is that it's poking fun at our society and were not actually going to turn into zombies. Hostel Part II goes right for the jugular, or some other private area in the most brutal and realistic castration scene since Cannibal Holocaust. The film asks the question could this really happen? In the age of the internet where everything is available at our fingertips and perhaps what shocks you today you'll be far to desensitized to be effected by in time. Basically Hostel II is a brutal horror film wrapped in that same message a classic like Dawn of the Dead had without using satire or subtly it reflects the ugly side of mankind where as the Wu Tang Clan said C.R.E.A.M (cash rules everything around me).
As I said the film is far superior to the original and takes off literally where the first one left off. This time we have three female college students, who are led astray by another girl they meet and end up at a spa in Slovakia. As soon as they arrive at the Hostel the online bidding begins all over the globe to see who gets each girl. There are twists and turns and it is not your typical torture porn. There is a plot, we have effective character development; meaning we actually like some of the girls and care if something happens, and there are actually no kills for the first forty minutes. The villains in this movie look like me and you. As they make there descent down the elevator to do their horrible deeds they act as if they are gladiators and it angers us because gladiators did battle in an arena and didn't kill someone that was tied up.
A lot of criticism for this film will come for the simple fact that it's a new movie and doesn't have the benefit of other films now considered classics that were probably hated upon in their initial release as well.
The mere hatred for the film reflects America's hypocrisies as well that people are so angry about entertainment yet if you turned on the news it's far worse then Hostel I or II combined; are the same people writing letters and participating in sit ins?
The dvd quality was great and rivaled some Hd dvds I've seen and the soundtrack was equally amazing I had to keep my receiver about 6-8 decibles lower than usual for the same effect.
I wasn't a big fan of Hostel I although I didn't hate it and if you read any of my lists to see my tastes I'm really not into the goriest horror. A lot of my favorites include Jacques Tourneur's Night of the Demon, Something Wicked This Way Comes, Kwaidan, Nosferatu (1922), The Exorcist, Wolfen, The Shining, Misery, Don't Look Now, Night of The Hunter, Halloween, Fall of the House of Usher (epstein), To name serveral, to give you an idea of my likes.
I don't think we live in a dreadful society with no hope, however this is a horror film and does reflect mans ugly side and if you look at the news we do have an ugly side. Hostel II is one of the best horror films in 2007 and deserves a watch.

For those of you who loved the original, Hostel 2 is definitely a worthy sequel. If you are like me & weren't particularly crazy about the first one, you might still enjoy it. I waited for DVD on this one & actually watched it twice on the same day.

I don't know where to begin on this one. For so many different reasons, Hostel 2 was a vast improvement over the first & I could easily watch it again. Roth had a great premise the first time around but really delivered the goods this time such as atmosphere, character development, & I like the overall flow much better. Lastly, the casting is damned near perfect. The leads work well together but I had to give Roth props for giving us the cameo appearance of Deodato as the Italian cannibal. Top notch!

In addition to really giving us more insight on the main characters, Hostel 2 also sheds more the light on the underground torture ring. It wopuld seems things have changed a bit since Paxton (Jay Hernandez) escaped. Now they have cameras in every torture cell & the entire Slovakian factory is not as easy to access. This time around, bids are placed worldwide for the soon-to-be tortured Americans which is a interesting twist as well.

Naturally, Hostel 2 does deliver the violence & gore as one would hope but the first forty minutes or so focus more on the developement of three college girls taking a trip to Prague & simply wanting to escape the encroachment of obnoxious guys on the train & elsewhere. What makes the sequel even more intriguing would be grand focus also on the two businessmen who have just shelled out thousands of dollars to shed some innocent blood. We eventually find out which one is the real monster when it comes time to kill the young women.

Although Hostel 2 does reflect the ugly side of the world we live in, Roth also gives us a liberal dose of black comedy which makes his films all the more digestible. I do love the film even though I think the ending is a bit anti-climatic. Overall, I hope this is the last we will see of this series. If Lions Gate knows best, they will leave it alone for now.

I love horror flicks, I especially enjoy horror flicks that don't have the budget, so they use a creative story in place. Hostel was one of those unique movies. The idea of tourist on vacation being kidnapped, and becoming victims of an underground elite killing club is enough to make you think twice. The idea alone is what makes the movie interesting. A bunch of people traveling carelessly on vacation, then all of a sudden find themselves in a place they'd rather not be. I love the concept of it all. Hostel 1 kind of dragged on a bit longer than it should have, but the twist in the story salvaged it.

Now here is my problem with Hostel 2. The movie makes seeing the first one absolutely pointless. It takes the original movie and defecates all over it.
**(spoiler coming)** I have no idea who thought it was a good idea to kill the main character that survived from hostel 1 in the beginning. You don't do that! You don't make an entire movie about one man surviving it all then kill him to start off a sequel! That's just wrong. Imagine if you just finished watching die hard, then you picked up die hard 2, and after watch Bruce taking names and kicking ass all through die hard 1 for 2hours they kill him off in the first 5 minutes of die hard 2 after he is ran over by an elderly woman while he crossing a street. There lies the bad ass action hero who killed 30 terrorist by himself now dead after a hit and run accident. Yes that is the perfect way to start a sequel folks...kill your main character.

When I saw them kill of the surviving character form Hostel 1 I knew this movie was going to be a s**t storm, and it was. Already knowing the plot from the first movie what could they possibly do to make the movie seem fresh and new? Well this time instead of guys they added girls. The same typical girl group they use in EVERY movie. The nerdy girl, the party/slutty girl, and the conservative chick. Yes, finally a group I haven't seen before and completely unpredicatable! YES!.....NO! you could probably tell exactly what's going to happen to all of them as soon as you see them. The girls are traveling in Italy, they meet some Model who befriends them. The Model takes them to a town to relax, and you already know the rest. The only twist in this one is that the girl captured turns out to be billgates daughter and buys her freedom, and then becomes a member of the club herself. Suprise! That's the end of the movie. It's bland, and nothing worth talking about. From a guy that enjoys watching B horror films this doesn't even make the grade as a C grade horror film. The original brought something new to the table, but the sequel, should have never been made.

Bottom line... watch it if it's on but not worth owning or renting.

Well the movie hostel is back with a sequel. With a surprisingly good reaction from the first one hey decided to make a second one. I must say while the first one was better than the second the second one was not that far off. In fact I felt they set this movie up perfect with following up with the first one. The one guy that was able to escape the chamber has been alive for awhile but has been paranoid that people were coming to kill him from the chamber. Sure enough when his wife woke up the next morning his head was cut off. It had a similar storyline from the first one but it was not as exciting. There were a lot of brutal killing scenes that added to the movie and I must warn you ahead of time that if you don't have a strong stomach that you should not watch this movie because it can be hard to watch at times. Ultimately a good movie and I will give it 3.5/5 stars.

I'm tired of the horror movies that have to insert comedy (not in all cases though Scream made Horror/Comedy work) into the film. Hostel II does pretty much what the original did, this time with women being the victims. I've seen the film plenty of times (thanks to Netflix), but I just recieved the DVD today so the extras will be reviewed in a future edit. This is mainly about the film itself.

If you like to watch horror movies that make you jump, have some gore (I'm not a big fan of gore but Eli Roth & Tarrentino use gore in a different way than some, that comes off better than most gory movies). I guess when the movie itself is good enough you can look past the gore. Again Roth won me over with this sequel. There is just something different about Hostel II that even paired with the original is different from a lot of horror movies in recent years, with the possible exception of the SAW series. Even then there are major differences. In the SAW movies you had one man who was psycho and he found others to do his work to test bad people and most of them failed the tests, mazes etc. In Hostel II you have the same place basically, but the motivation is something more realistic. I wouldn't be surprised if such a place existed in a cruel world like ours.

If you want to sit down with a spouse, date or even alone this is a good film to spook you. If you're a critic of horror movies (& gore in particular) this might not be for you. If you are the type to simply give a movie a chance and you love horror movies check this one out.

The women in this movie are very attractive, for the most part likeable. Just like the characters in the original, you end up liking them. If you like the original Hostel then you will most likely enjoy this one. I did and like I said, I am not a big fan of gore, but this won me over like the original did.

Short and to the point, Hostel II is creepy. Those who have seen the first movie know the basic plot: Gullible kids, mostly Americans, allow themselves to be tricked into vulnerable situations where they are kidnapped. Soon thereafter a rich person pays to torture and kill the helpless kid.

Hostel turned heads for its shock factor, with realistic gore, torture, and close ups of some really brazen death scenes. Eli Roth provides it all for the sake of pure horror. There are no ambiguities or false pretenses; people are going to be graphically tortured and murdered. If you don't like it, don't watch. Hostel II is no different in this respect; however, it is different in the build up.

Picking up where the first one left off, a few bits of unfinished business take place. Whereas the first movie didn't really suck me in, or make me like the characters at all, a better job was done this time to create viewer empathy (except for Heather Matarazzo, who I hate as an actress). Apathy, or possibly ambivalence, ruled the initial movie, but genuine terror oozes out of this session of tensely persuasive torture porn, especially during a depraved bathroom scene with a scythe that provides enough blood to make Carrie jealous.

With a subtle, contemporary tribute to the classic The Most Dangerous Game, it's a sickeningly sadistic look at morality, or the lack thereof in our culture. If not for the somewhat campy ending, there would have been a sustained uneasiness from beginning to end, and it would be a five-star horror flick.