Directed by Eli Roth, Written by Eli Roth
Runtime: 93 minutes, Released on: June 8, 2007
Review by: Ben Tay
I can’t believe I’m about to make the following statement, but here goes: Hostel: Part II is the most thought-provoking film I have ever seen. As I watched writer/director Eli Roth’s sequel, numerous questions ran through my mind, and many continue to stay with me. This time around, the doomed backpackers are three female college students studying abroad in Rome. Roth’s decision to cast female leads for the second installment initially struck me as interesting. As the film unfolded, however, it became increasingly clear that I had gotten more than I bargained for.
While I wasn’t the biggest fan of the original, I liked Hostel enough to add it to my DVD collection. Admittedly, Hostel: Part II is more efficient and well-made than its predecessor, and yet, I have absolutely no intention of owning it. Go figure. Going into the film, I knew that I was in for a sadistic bloodbath. What I didn’t expect, however, was the guilt and uneasiness I felt while watching this movie. As much of a double-standard as it may be, it was simply too upsetting to watch women being so mercilessly tortured. Women have long served as victims in the horror genre, but Hostel: Part II takes misogyny to a new and disturbing extreme. It doesn’t help either that the film feels far too real at times. In fact, I was forced to remind myself on several occasions that I wasn’t watching an actual snuff film. Perhaps this is what Roth was striving for when he made the picture. If so, he has certainly succeeded. Repulsiveness and brutality aside, Roth has an undeniable gift for delivering tension through truly terrifying visuals.
I am a huge fan of the horror genre. Just about anybody who knows me will attest to this. I’ve seen (and enjoyed) my share of gore-fests, but something about Hostel: Part II truly disturbed and prevented me from ever wanting to see it again. Perhaps I’m concerned where this world is heading, or maybe my taste in films is simply maturing. Truthfully, I’m still trying to figure it out.
| Mike Sez: I disagree. That the film made you feel something means that Eli Roth has succeeded. Stuff like the Texas Chainsaw remakes, the Saw films and House of Wax have featured similarly grizzly scenes of torture to females, but you didn't feel anything in those films because the characters were all interchangeable cardboard cutouts. Here, Roth actually takes some time to develop the characters, and while no one is going to confuse this for a Bergman film, they become people we know well enough that we actually care when the bad stuff starts to go down. Roth is also a very good director, and he knows precisely when to amp up the tension and when to give the audience a breather. I think he succeeds admirably here, and I quite enjoyed this film -- but then again, I had no problem distinguishing it as fantasy (this is a movie where characters play soccer with a dismembered head; gritty realism it is not).
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