Writer: Jonathan Sullivan
There's a trend in horror known as "torture porn", where it's not really about the scares so much as it's about the murder and the gore. I love this stuff. I guess it's the creep in me, but I'm a sucker for these movies. The Saw series, House of 1,000 Corpses, you name it. That brings us to this weeks Watch This! induction, in celebration of Halloween...Hostel Part 2.
The original Hostel, released in 2005, was nothing to write home about. It spent the first half of the film boring me so bad that the second half, while cool in concept, did not make up for it. I wanted more about the Hostel/underground murder club, and less about the douchey American guys. Hostel Part 2, released two years later, gave me just that. Of course, there are the people in peril, just as before: this time, it's three American girls (played by Lauren German, Heather Matazarello, and Bijou Philips) who are the ones being lured into the Slovakian underground. However, the film also has a sub-plot: two American businessmen/thrillseekers (played by Roger Bart and Richard Burgi) find out about the club and decide to go to Slovakia and partake in it.
What I loved about this film was they actually got into a bit more on how the club/business worked: the people at the hostel would scan the passports of the people staying there, and would be put into an online bidding war. When someone won the person, they would be captured and the person who won would get to do whatever they pleased with them, as long as it ended in death. The club, just known vaguely in the first one, actually gets more depth to it and you understand the rules, the main one being once you agree to kill someone, you have to do it.
The kills, obviously, are what bring you to the show and they are done viciously and actually pretty creatively, the best one being the Elizabeth Bathory bath. For those of you who don't know who she is, you won't get how cool that was. For us creepy people who like to learn about this, we think it's awesome. Unless a hot girl doesn't think it's awesome, then I totally don't think it's awesome. I don't think I said awesome enough. ANYWAY, between the bath and all the chainsaws, torture, etc. you get the blood and guts you want from a movie like this.
What I enjoyed most was even though it was still somewhat unsettling to watch (the idea of a murder club this intricate is frightening), parts of it were actually pretty funny. The movie, while taking itself seriously, doesn't take itself seriously and there are some fun moments that Eli Roth threw into the mix, especially the end, which I won't spoil but had me laughing my head off in amusement.
Point is, Hostel Part 2 delivers on every level that the first should have and is the rare "sequel better than the original". It's got some great gore, some funny moments, and a really interesting concept and story that will both frighten and intrigue you. Because, deep down, we're all crazy.
The original Hostel, released in 2005, was nothing to write home about. It spent the first half of the film boring me so bad that the second half, while cool in concept, did not make up for it. I wanted more about the Hostel/underground murder club, and less about the douchey American guys. Hostel Part 2, released two years later, gave me just that. Of course, there are the people in peril, just as before: this time, it's three American girls (played by Lauren German, Heather Matazarello, and Bijou Philips) who are the ones being lured into the Slovakian underground. However, the film also has a sub-plot: two American businessmen/thrillseekers (played by Roger Bart and Richard Burgi) find out about the club and decide to go to Slovakia and partake in it.
What I loved about this film was they actually got into a bit more on how the club/business worked: the people at the hostel would scan the passports of the people staying there, and would be put into an online bidding war. When someone won the person, they would be captured and the person who won would get to do whatever they pleased with them, as long as it ended in death. The club, just known vaguely in the first one, actually gets more depth to it and you understand the rules, the main one being once you agree to kill someone, you have to do it.
The kills, obviously, are what bring you to the show and they are done viciously and actually pretty creatively, the best one being the Elizabeth Bathory bath. For those of you who don't know who she is, you won't get how cool that was. For us creepy people who like to learn about this, we think it's awesome. Unless a hot girl doesn't think it's awesome, then I totally don't think it's awesome. I don't think I said awesome enough. ANYWAY, between the bath and all the chainsaws, torture, etc. you get the blood and guts you want from a movie like this.
What I enjoyed most was even though it was still somewhat unsettling to watch (the idea of a murder club this intricate is frightening), parts of it were actually pretty funny. The movie, while taking itself seriously, doesn't take itself seriously and there are some fun moments that Eli Roth threw into the mix, especially the end, which I won't spoil but had me laughing my head off in amusement.
Point is, Hostel Part 2 delivers on every level that the first should have and is the rare "sequel better than the original". It's got some great gore, some funny moments, and a really interesting concept and story that will both frighten and intrigue you. Because, deep down, we're all crazy.