“Splat Pack” maestro Eli Roth returns for another helping of Slovak slice and dice in a hastily commissioned sequel to last year’s torture porn extravaganza Hostel.
This time round it’s a trio of hot young American chicks - Beth (German), Lorna (Matarazzo) and Whitney (Phillips) – who are tricked into making a stop at the infamous hostel by a beautiful Bratislavan model (Jordanova).
Meanwhile, two rich American businessmen - Stuart (Bart) and Todd (Burgi) - are preparing for their first “Elite Hunting” experience, having paid $70,000 a piece to relieve the tedium of their everyday lives by butchering some babes with an array of rusty power tools.
They say:
Empire: “Roth’s slick shock ’em up sequel is a dispiritingly traditional splat of gristly Grand Guignol. It’s tooled up to outrage, but ultimately numbs rather than grips.”
Total Film: "Astute and subversive, its wily sexual politics paving the way for a killer climax. Significantly raising his game, Eli Roth has crafted a sequel to die for.
BBC: “Enfant terrible Eli Roth returns with more bucks but less imagination in a gory but hoary addition to the torture porn cycle.”
We say:
Despite being savaged by critics on its release (The Daily Telegraph’s Tim Robey said it was so bad that it “heralded the end of cinema”), Hostel went on to make an astronomical $150 million at the worldwide box office… not bad considering it only cost $4 million.
As such, Roth was invited to return to Eastern Europe to rerun the whole experience, although with a few key differences. Firstly, the budget has been bumped up, allowing for more lavish torture sequences and higher production values. Writer/ director Roth has ditched the irksome frat boys from episode one in favour of a likeable group of girls who generate far more sympathy from the audience.
There's also less of the gratuitous nudity that blighted/ blessed (delete as appropriate) the last movie and, rather than a succession of bouncing tits and pert behinds the only notable flesh on show here is a full frontal shot of a male model (as well as a severed penis, but we won’t go into that).
The final key difference in episode two is that Roth takes us behind the scenes of the “Elite Hunting” torture factory business, leading us from the initial auction to the final slaughter – you have to wonder about the minds that dream this stuff up, and it’s no surprise to see that this is a Tarantino produced film.
Roth injects proceedings with a knowing humour (check out the game of football with a severed head), Burgi puts in an entertaining turn as the obnoxious American out to “kick some ass”, and there are a couple of decent twists to keep you guessing in the final act.
However, for a horror movie, Hostel 2 is worryingly short of frights and the higher production values actually lessen the impact of the violence and make everything look a little on the ridiculous side.
While episode one pushed the boundaries of vileness, Roth now looks like he’s run out of places to go. Still, we’d be shocked if Hostel 3 isn’t commissioned by the end of the summer.
CAST
Lauren German
Roger Bart
Heather Matarazzo
Bijou Phillips
Richard Burgi
Vera Jordanova
Milan Knazko
Jay Hernandez
DIRECTOR
Eli Roth
TIME
93 mins
POSTED...
Wed 27 Jun 2007 at 9:48pm
