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Hostel II

Written by Taryn Shick

Monday, 11 June 2007

Starring: Lauren German, Roger Bart, Heather Matarazzo, Bijou Phillips, Richard Burgi, Vera Jordanova, Jay Hernandez, Jordan Ladd
Written by: Eli Roth
Directed by: Eli Roth
Hostel II is as the title indicates the sequel to Hostel. Both films were produced by Quentin Tarantino and written and directed by Eli Roth, who also holds a producing credit. Hostel & Hostel II both follow friends in college taking a vacation to Eastern Europe. They stay in a hostel that leads them to have to fend for their lives.

I hadn’t had high hopes for Hostel II after seeing the first Hostel. I found that film to have taken too long to get to the horror part of the story and found there to be more gore than characters or story. I still liked Hostel overall, really. But sequels tend to be even worse than originals, so I wasn’t expecting much.

But then I saw Grindhouse . Grindhouse is the double feature by Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez with trailers by Rodriguez, Rob Zombie, Edgar (Shaun of the Dead) Wright and Eli Roth. I have now seen Grindhouse six times. Tarantino’s feature is my favorite of the two, and of all the trailers, Roth’s is by far my favorite. Given this, I was now thinking maybe Hostel II would be better than previously anticipated. So I saw the infamous sequel, and I must sadly admit, that I did not think it was great. But I do think Mr. Roth learned a little from previous criticisms for the first Hostel.

One of the biggest criticisms was that it took too long for anything horrific to occur. We do get a couple shocking moments right away in Hostel II. But then it lags for awhile until the next terrifying moment, and again until the ending of the film. I did think the horror that did occur was awesome – totally. But it did seem to be too far apart. Nevertheless, I thought the story was pretty solid.

The three things I look for in a good horror movie are good scares and gore, a strong story and likeable characters. Hostel II delivers the scares and gore and the story but not the characters. I found this to be the same with the first film. Maybe Mr. Roth will fix this issue for Hostel III?

The problem is that the characters are spoiled rich kids. I doubt you’ll find too many horror fans that fit that description. Perhaps we’re supposed to want the spoiled brats to get offed. But that doesn’t seem to be the case. It seems as though the characters are presented in such a way that we’re supposed to like them. But in order to like a character, you have to be able to relate to them. There is nothing that would get the average audience to feel anything for these characters. The villains are developed well enough that when a few meet their demise, it feels very justified. But I just didn’t care enough about the supposed heroes, or in this case, heroines.

Nevertheless, I still think Hostel II is a pretty decent horror movie and will be a lot of fun for most horror fans.

Grade: B

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