A worthy follow-up to the original, "Hostel Part 2" opens with a "Friday the 13th Part 2"-like cameo featuring Jay Hernandez, sole survivor of the first film, before introducing us to a new crop of ugly American college students about to be seduced into visiting the murderous hostel.
In this case, it's a trio of girls studying abroad. When they hit the Euro rails looking for kicks, only to find themselves being sexually harassed by unshaven Euro-guys, they're seduced by a seemingly friendly woman (Vera Jordanova) that previously served as their nude art model into heading up to a Slovakian hostel, where the greatest spa on the planet happens to be.
Gone is the mystery of the first film. We already know what the hostel is and what the girls are being led there for. Roth is able to keep the suspense up by introducing an interesting subplot: Two American guys heading to Europe to kill the girls. Showing more of how the murderous system 'Elite Hunting' Organization operates, Roth shows wealthy men participating in an online auction for the girls before heading out to Slovakia to take them on in the organization's death camp.
As in the first film, the American victims are for the most part stuck-up, self centered and sinful. The victimizers, as we get to know them, aren't unlike -- but they're older men. All of them are consumers in one form or another -- living off the economic hardships of foreigners. Roth seems to be saying that these girls probably have fathers like the men that are about to kill them. If this seems like I'm reading too much into the "Hostel" franchise, well ... there's a reason these films are so scary, and it's that they ring some truth. We live in a consumer-driven world that sucks the life force out of people. The "Hostel" films show that reality in an extreme way. So they ring true, and make a lot of money from consumers.
What's perhaps more interesting today than it was a year ago, is the fact that, indeed, Americans are hated around the world -- and seeing these clueless college girls gallivanting around overseas does make one genuinely fear for their safety. Heather Matarazzo, who was great in Todd Solondz's "Welcome to the Dollhouse," plays a journal-writing prude. Lauren German (last seen as the "teenage girl" in the "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" remake) is the rich girl who gets the major character arc in the storyline. And Bijou Phillips is the drunken sinner girl. The three are seduced into going to the hostel by an art subject they were painting in a class taught by legendary '70s horror/exploitation actress Edwige Fenech.
As sequels go, this is one of the best the genre has seen since -- well a few weeks back, "28 Weeks Later." But "Hostel Part II" is a great, great movie. Some say it's better than the first but the first was the first -- if you didn't know the story in advance the mystery unfolded in a way that was really amazing. This second film definitely shows Roth's absolute courage as a director. He didn't pull any punches with this follow up.
The film is rubbish. If the bad guys wanted money why did'nt they lure the rich sickos to their Hostel to torture them for their money directly.
At the end of the film when there is a stand off why didn't the bad guys just torture the women for her details instead of her asking for a PDA, so they could empty her Swiss bank accounts instead of her chipping in some money. Perhaps you should refer to Ridley Scott's quote when he said the Hannibal films were too interesting to be horror movies.
Posted by Screwed up on March 28, 2009
This movie sucks. And as sequels go it's on the level of Indy and the crystal skull. Stay away from this gore for the sake of gore, no point to the plot at all ,waste of time crap fest. Eli roth is also very overated only good movie he as done is cabin fever .
Posted by morgan on August 13, 2009
fuck you guys hostel part two is AMAZING!!!!
Posted by Setimr92 on November 16, 2009
The whole thing about the people in the movie is that they don't torture rich people for money, that'd be a one off payment. They provide rich people with victims to torture and get paid for it. In the end they make more money that way: rich people recomend them to their rich friends, if they killed/tortured rich people for money they would get caught (no-one cares for backpackers). The movie was an interesting commentary on capitalism and how america believes it can buy anything.
Posted by Jasmine on December 26, 2010
it was freaky I have to admit. I think that the movie was good. Douche bags
Rank this film on a '666 scale' of one to six (left to right). Based on 2265 votes.
