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Hostel: Part II (2007)

Director: Eli Roth

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Synopsis

In this violent horror sequel, three teenage American girls embark on the holiday of a lifetime backpacking around Europe. Their dream trip turns into a nightmare however, when they find themselves becoming the victims of rich and powerful men who enjoy administering pain and torture.

Movie review

From Time Out New York

Sure, these nouveau-horror films that titillate with gross bodily harm—what some wag referred to as “gorno” movies—can be reflections of a society’s ills. And some merely represent their creators’ desire to stage elaborate, excessive set pieces designed to nauseate the rubes. Despite one ingenious scene involving online bidding, Eli Roth’s sequel to 2005’s Hostel is strictly the latter; it repeats the first film’s premise—pretty young things are lured to Slovakia, only to serve as raw meat for rich sadists—yet quickly jettisons any notions of larger significance about Americans behaving badly abroad.

Simply dropping references to Katrina in between power-saw facials doesn’t mean you’ve made a political allegory. Let’s not kid ourselves: This isn’t about anything but jerking off viewers only slightly less jaded than the film’s degenerates. Which, frankly, Hostel: Part II doesn’t even do particularly well, despite delivering the requisite splatter: human muscle turned into impromptu prosciutto, torture sessions that are literally bloodbaths, an unfortunate encounter between a phallus surrogate and the real deal. Both nubile females and alpha-male douche bags are on the receiving end of pain (that’s supposed to nullify accusations of misogyny, is it?), but really, we’re all the victims here.

Author: David Fear 2007-06-21 22:13:19

Time Out New York Issue 611: June 14–20, 2007