Wednesday 14 January 2015

Hostel : Part 2 (2007) - Gruesome horror

Before I watched this, the thought immediately struck me that this film could have potential since the first was half decent. Thinking positively, ignoring any possible negative sights, I watched it right through to the end. There were some fantastic, gore filled scenes which made me shiver and cringe. However at the same time, the positives unfortunately didn't outweigh the negatives. Although I mentioned the positive gory scenes, there were too many poor moments in my opinion that either didn't fit in at all with the theme and overall mood, or they were simply boring and irrelevant. This occurred too many times as I watched, which let down the film so much. Across the web, it receives the following ratings:
  • IMDB - 5.4/10
  • Rotten Tomatoes - 44%
  • Meta Critic - 46%
I would definitely say this wasn't as great as it's predecessor. Unfortunately Eli Roth didn't pull the strings in this sequel, following the exact same plot/idea and following the exact formulaic approach - kill everyone.

Directed by Eli Roth, it lasts a fair 94 minutes which I would say is reasonable. Although, the gory scenes only last for a very short time out of the 94 minutes. Three female college students take a detour from their partying, enticed by a beautiful European woman who promises seclusion, safety and maybe even romance. What they get is a living hell where they are sold to the highest bidder who's fondest wish is to kill them slowly. Hostel 2 also follows 2 American men who, on the flip side of the coin, are willing to pay to join an exclusive club where a life will end at their hands...any way they like. 

The film consists of few positive aspects. The fear factor sits at an appropriate level as the film does contain very disturbing and very bloody scenes even at points exploring the guts of humans. SPOILER ALERT ( This film contains a scene known to be one of the most disturbing torture scenes of all time which is when the executioner at the end has his genitals cut off. Furthermore, his genitals are fed to a wild dog, while he watches, bleeding to death.) As discussed, it consists of brutal torture scenes - the blood bath especially - and many more which could give you the goose bumps. Another thing worth complimenting is the acting. The characters are average, whilst the acting is fairly good. We understand their character and personality at an early stage in the film, and therefore clearly understand their panicking emotions as they are near death. The cinematography of the factory the the club execution in is very eerie and dark which is successfully in creating an atmosphere and element of being trapped. Furthermore, there is a claustrophobic feel to the factory when the main characters attempt to escape, and they are shut down by the gates.

Whilst the positives sound appealing, they are unfortunately outweighed by the negatives. As mentioned above, this film is pretty much identical to the first part! The special FX/ cinematography team done well in expressing the factory as a trap leading to certain death, although Eli Roth made a poor approach. What happens in the first part? 3 Backpackers travel to a Slovak city in order to meet their hedonistic expectations. In the second, college students travel to take a detour and are tricked by believing they may encounter romance. Both parts consist of characters tricked through sexual desires. The film is very formulaic in both parts - in the first part the goal is to get the main characters to the hostel, and to be tortured to death - which is exactly what the aim is in the second part. Another negative aspect is that there are too many scenes that are very long and boring and seem to be executed poorly. There is also too much time wasted on the romance aspect of Slovakia, other than the horror aspect. Worst of all is the conclusion - without spoiling the end, all I will say is that a very gory and wild film is ruined by a pathetic comedy ending which definitely didn't fit for me.

Overall, there are positives to this average gore-fest, although the negatives definitely outweigh the positives. I would have thought that Eli Roth would have made some attempt to change the story/script rather than simply change the gender of the characters. It is merely as if she genuinely made the exact same film but changed the gender, so that there would be a version with a group of boys, and a version with a group of girls. Very poor Roth, but seriously, the ending is even worse.

As always though, comments are definitely welcome! I had some debates on Twitter about this film as some people disagreed with parts of my overall opinion, so please let me know what you think in the description!

Overall Rating - 5.2/10

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