Hostel 2 Review

I was lucky enough to get an early review of the much anticipated (by me at least) sequel to last years horror hit, Eli Roth's Hostel. I know there are a lot of Eli Roth haters out there who either think he's overrated and has never lived up to the hype or they seem to be jealous for his good looks and early success hes had so far, or maybe its a combination of the both for some people? I personally as far as talent wise stand in the middle having loved Hostel 1 but just mildly enjoying Cabin Fever. Did I enjoy the movie as much as Hostel 1? In a simple word "No". I do think its a solid sequel that I enjoyed very much but its a much different animal than the first movie. The production is bigger, the cinematography a little better and the movie moves at a brisk pace clocking in at 1 hour 33 minutes of actual movie time. A lot of complaints I heard was the first movie focused too much on the central characters before they actually got to the factory and the torture started. I actually liked that about the movie since it gave you a chance to identify and care about the characters so it heightens the intensity of what they went through. The sequel focuses far less on the three main characters and shows more of the whole process of capturing and bidding on the potential victims.

The movie stars Lauren German (The Texas Chainsaw Massacre), the overrated Bijou Phillips, and ugly ass Heather Matarazzo (Welcome to the Dollhouse, Scream 3) as three college friends in Italy that decide to take a trip to Slovakia for a weekend getaway. Of course before too long they become victims of all the sadistic rich fucks that are there to get their jollies off. The quantity of the gore did not increase but the few sick things they do show are overall more shocking than the original. Without giving away too much you get to see one paying client literally take a blood bath, some hair ripped from a scalp, a hannibal lector wannabe and one ultra graphic and sick cutting of... (Im not giving this one away)!

Some of the other things that worked were the orchestral and choir based score fit perfectly and the whole back story of the hound tattoos and the set up of the whole operation was interesting. In choosing to do this it takes some of the mystery out of the whole thing which added to the tension of the first movie. Also I didnt care for any of the three main leads which hurt the movie some. Unfortunately there wasnt as much nudity as the original and the only lead that takes it off was the nerdy Heather Matarazzo the least likely of the three you would want to see.

As far as connections to the first movie, it does takes place in the same town but i assume the majority of the torture chambers are in a new wing of the factory? A lot of the rooms were a lot bigger, well lit and cleaner than in the original. Jay Hernandez is back for just a short brief time at the beginning of the movie. The Hostel clerk is back as is the gang of those damn little kids.

Thankfully what helps this movie tremendously is the strong semi twisty ending. Some of the villains and even a victim do a total role reversal which was quite unexpected. I do have to give props to two of the torturers that are both ex Desperate Housewives alumns. They both did an excellent job and help set up their characters well.

Overall I give it a thumbs up and expect for a lot of division of peoples feelings of this movie as was with the first one. There will be a lot of people that like it better but I personally like the character development and acting of the main leads better in the original. Still on a scale of 1-10 I give it a solid 7.8