Every generation has seen the rise of new sub-genres of horror films. The 70s gave us plenty of psychological torment, the 80s brought on the gore for added frights, and the 90s gave us the self-aware cast full of witty one-liners and references. You can debate the merits of these ‘developments’ all you want but they all, in one way or another, advanced the horror genre. The first decade of this new millennium will, sadly, be remembered for the decline of horror to its most repugnant form- torture porn. It’s an audio-visual assault designed solely to test your limits for gore and terror. Hostel: Part II scrapes down to some of the sub-genre’s lowest possible levels, managing to create a film that’s even worse than its predecessor.The film begins by showing us that no one can escape the long arm of Elite Hunting, a European-based company that auctions kidnapped tourists to wealthy people who want to kill another human being. Paxton (Jay Hernandez), the only survivor of the first film, is tracked down and decapitated by his former abductors, his head to become some kind of trophy for who I assume is the CEO of the outfit. Paxton’s girlfriend Stephanie makes the grim discovery one morning and from here the movie goes all wrong.
I would love to tell you that Stephanie gets the authorities involved and she helps lead a top-secret, international investigation into the sadistic owners, methods and clientele of Elite Hunting. Instead, writer-director Eli Roth takes the laziest approach possible to a sequel. He shrugs off any likeable characters and possible plot development and gives us a nearly complete retread of the first film with a new set of dim-witted, beautiful American victims.
In the first installment the main characters were male college students on the prowl for loose European girls- not exactly a group worthy of audience concern. This time the main characters are female, an instantly recognizable attempt by Roth to manipulate viewers into caring about this trio right off the bat. After watching hundreds of films, it seems that human beings are hardwired to show de facto concern for both women and children thrust into dangerous situations (unless of course you are a sadist or misogynist, which strike me as the key demographic for torture porn). This works for a few minutes, as the three ladies are innocently tricked into taking holiday in Slovakia with a pretty model they met in their art class.
The illusion of their innocence is broken when, while on the train to Slovakia, they try to score drugs off a few sketchy-but-handsome looking Euro boys. The stupid decisions just roll on from there and you care less and less about the fate of these three nitwits as the movie plays on. Along the way we meet a string of over-the-top characters, some of whom work for Elite Hunting and some of the demented souls who pay for the chance to take a human life.
The only worthwhile components of the film are the fleeting glimpses into the operating structure of Elite Hunting, something that was totally absent from the first film. When the girls check into their hostel in Slovakia, the caretaker takes their passports into a back room and scans their pictures into a database. Those pictures quickly go online and we see several well-to-do business types across the globe engaging in a fierce auction battle via computers and cell phones. It’s a chilling display of 21st Century technology and the only genuinely frightening part of the film.
Hostel: Part II also takes time to focus on two of the girls’ would-be-killers. Todd, a hyper-masculine he-man ‘buys’ two of the girls so he and his friend Stuart, a decidedly wimpy kind of guy, can fulfill some kind of alpha male fantasy of domination and power. I found myself feeling bad for Stuart most of the film, as he is generally opposed to the whole idea of killing someone and repeatedly tries to back out of the arrangement. Roth rewards you for this early sympathy by having Stuart go off the deep end, far surpassing Todd’s demented psychosis.
Then again, the people who pay to see films like this aren’t really looking for depth and meaning. They just want to see people get cut up into bloody little pieces. For the immature and biologically illiterate, the Hostel films might get the job done but anyone who knows anything about the human body can tell you that the gore in these films are nothing short of laughable. The inaccuracy of the gore is laughable, that is. The actual depiction of it on screen is still fairly unsettling when it doesn’t completely confuse you.
So why isn’t this film rated lower? Because I still believe that the concept of a company auctioning kidnapped people for slaughter at the hands of the highest bidder is an intriguing idea for a horror film. In two tries Roth is incapable of executing the true terror of his concept. Instead of taking the time to work on a decent story, he floods Hostel: Part II with gallons of blood to appeal to the lowest form of horror fans. His attempts at subtle emotional manipulation and exploitation stick out like sore thumbs.
Hostel: Part II tries to be edgy, creepy and disgusting. Only the latter applies, though it can also be labeled as sophomoric, perverted and trivial. I was fortunate enough to catch this film via my On-Demand cable feature, so I didn’t have to pay for it. Perhaps if and when all the current torture porn junkies grow up they will realize that little separates the killers in this movie- who pay to torture and kill young women forced to dress in sexy outfits- and themselves- who paid to watch it from a third person point of view.
I would love to tell you that Stephanie gets the authorities involved and she helps lead a top-secret, international investigation into the sadistic owners, methods and clientele of Elite Hunting. Instead, writer-director Eli Roth takes the laziest approach possible to a sequel. He shrugs off any likeable characters and possible plot development and gives us a nearly complete retread of the first film with a new set of dim-witted, beautiful American victims.
In the first installment the main characters were male college students on the prowl for loose European girls- not exactly a group worthy of audience concern. This time the main characters are female, an instantly recognizable attempt by Roth to manipulate viewers into caring about this trio right off the bat. After watching hundreds of films, it seems that human beings are hardwired to show de facto concern for both women and children thrust into dangerous situations (unless of course you are a sadist or misogynist, which strike me as the key demographic for torture porn). This works for a few minutes, as the three ladies are innocently tricked into taking holiday in Slovakia with a pretty model they met in their art class.
The illusion of their innocence is broken when, while on the train to Slovakia, they try to score drugs off a few sketchy-but-handsome looking Euro boys. The stupid decisions just roll on from there and you care less and less about the fate of these three nitwits as the movie plays on. Along the way we meet a string of over-the-top characters, some of whom work for Elite Hunting and some of the demented souls who pay for the chance to take a human life.
The only worthwhile components of the film are the fleeting glimpses into the operating structure of Elite Hunting, something that was totally absent from the first film. When the girls check into their hostel in Slovakia, the caretaker takes their passports into a back room and scans their pictures into a database. Those pictures quickly go online and we see several well-to-do business types across the globe engaging in a fierce auction battle via computers and cell phones. It’s a chilling display of 21st Century technology and the only genuinely frightening part of the film.
Hostel: Part II also takes time to focus on two of the girls’ would-be-killers. Todd, a hyper-masculine he-man ‘buys’ two of the girls so he and his friend Stuart, a decidedly wimpy kind of guy, can fulfill some kind of alpha male fantasy of domination and power. I found myself feeling bad for Stuart most of the film, as he is generally opposed to the whole idea of killing someone and repeatedly tries to back out of the arrangement. Roth rewards you for this early sympathy by having Stuart go off the deep end, far surpassing Todd’s demented psychosis.
Then again, the people who pay to see films like this aren’t really looking for depth and meaning. They just want to see people get cut up into bloody little pieces. For the immature and biologically illiterate, the Hostel films might get the job done but anyone who knows anything about the human body can tell you that the gore in these films are nothing short of laughable. The inaccuracy of the gore is laughable, that is. The actual depiction of it on screen is still fairly unsettling when it doesn’t completely confuse you.
So why isn’t this film rated lower? Because I still believe that the concept of a company auctioning kidnapped people for slaughter at the hands of the highest bidder is an intriguing idea for a horror film. In two tries Roth is incapable of executing the true terror of his concept. Instead of taking the time to work on a decent story, he floods Hostel: Part II with gallons of blood to appeal to the lowest form of horror fans. His attempts at subtle emotional manipulation and exploitation stick out like sore thumbs.
Hostel: Part II tries to be edgy, creepy and disgusting. Only the latter applies, though it can also be labeled as sophomoric, perverted and trivial. I was fortunate enough to catch this film via my On-Demand cable feature, so I didn’t have to pay for it. Perhaps if and when all the current torture porn junkies grow up they will realize that little separates the killers in this movie- who pay to torture and kill young women forced to dress in sexy outfits- and themselves- who paid to watch it from a third person point of view.
RATING: 1 out of 5
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