HOSTEL PART II
Behold! Beware! Blood Bath! Death a la carte, on the Hunting and Killing Menu
The Popcorn Reel Movie Review: "Hostel Part
II"
By Omar P.L. Moore/May 31, 2007
Lauren German as Beth (left), and Vera Jordanova
as Axelle, in Eli Roth's "Hostel Part II", opening on June 8 in North America.
(All photos: Rico Torres/LionsGate)
Eli Roth doesn't push the envelope of the R-rating with
"Hostel Part II" -- he leaps into the Grand Canyon without a safety net in order
to land on the postage stamp of the envelope lying at the very bottom of the
Canyon. Weak stomachs aren't an option. In "Hostel Part II" all the
stops (and other things) are pulled out, and at this point it is strongly
recommended that if you have a weak disposition or are adverse to intensely
graphic bloody violence and torture you are well advised to skip Mr. Roth's gory
feast. (The film was tough enough for a certain reviewer to leave his seat
three quarters of the way through but remain in the theater.) First and
foremost, Mr. Roth's new film is for horror fans and all the violence seen here
could not possibly be stomached without humor, which is consistently on display
in "Hostel Part II", which opens on June 8 in North America. The good
thing is that people do not have to see "Hostel", the director's original
worldwide hit film of 2006, to follow or appreciate "Part II".
"Hostel Part II" is the first sequel of the summer with guts, both literally and
figuratively. It is unremitting and unpretentious in its aspirations and
content. By film's end, the audience has had to process some unforgettable
images, some of them traumatic, some of them outrageously funny. While
more than a few may be in agreement that the best horror is that left to an
audience's imagination, "Hostel Part II" doesn't play by such rules or
conventional wisdom, though it contains telling moments of underlying subtlety,
distinct cues affording one last foreshadowing moment giving audiences a chance
to gasp, "oh no, big mistake."
Three American women in Rome travel to Slovakia for a trip to a weekend spa and
end up staying at a hostel, which appears to be a foreboding presence amidst
such an idyllic backdrop. Lorna (Heather Matarazzo) is a quintessential
little miss sunshine, an innocent and virginal young woman who will lose all
sense of innocence by the time the horrors of the hostel are complete. Her
companions Beth (Lauren German) and Whitney (Bijou Phillips) are led by the
mysterious and alluring Axelle (Vera Jordanova) to Prague's countryside, where
things just seem too good to be true.
Meanwhile, American businessmen Stuart (Roger Bart) and Todd (Richard Burgi) are
gearing themselves up to engage in the ultimate blood sport: killing the people
they have been bidding on in a 21st century slavery-like auction via an
EBay-type electronic chat room, except that no one is speaking -- only typing
feverishly to up the price in the bidding war for human flesh. You can
almost hear Inya -- sublimely played with perfectly icy detachment by Zuzana
Geislerova -- saying, "you want good meat? -- well here it is, prime, young and
tender American girls for your pleasure . . . ". Inya is the fashionable
manager of the discreetly-named Elite Hunting, the underground corporation that
controls the human slaughterhouse where bloody, fatal rendezvous are the stuff
of legend. Milan Knazko plays Sasha, the cold-blooded owner of Elite.
Knazko, formerly Slovakia's Minister of Culture, presides over stretches of this
film with his entrance alone, a grand, avuncular figure lending weight to the
story. And the hound dogs that accompany him!
The thrill of the chop shop: Stuart (Roger Bart)
left, and Todd (Richard Burgi). Between them in the background is Zuzana
Geislerova as Inya, with instruments of violence on the right, in "Hostel Part
II", opening on June 8 in the United States and Canada.
The performances in "Hostel Part II" are better than one might expect. Cheesy acting is a staple of many a horror film, but most of the performances in this sequel are north of respectable, which distinguishes the film in many ways from some of the traditionally bad predecessors in both the horror and action genres. Vera Jordanova plays duplicity delectably. The violence does not crash into the audience avalanche-style but in definite strikes and swipes, well-paced in between suspense and serene moments that "Part II" has to offer. There are some distinct changes in the film's mood and tone, and the Slovenian folk music score compounds the levity even in some of the more gruesome scenes. Legendary Italian cult horror director Ruggero Deodado is among those making cameos in the film, which was shot in Prague, Iceland, and the South of France. Filming began on September 11, 2006.
Here's one final disclaimer: if you couldn't stomach "Pan's Labyrinth", then you should stay away, but if you -- like the millions and millions of drivers in the world who slow down on the highway to peek at the aftermath of a calamitous car-wreck -- are merely curious, you are urged to satisfy your curiosity and enjoy and laugh at some of what you see. "Hostel Part II" is campy and enjoyable and funny for large stretches, and when the violence comes this reviewer challenges you to keep your eyes from closing.
For all the blood-drenched insanity and
discombobulating frenzy, Mr. Roth deserves a fair measure of credit for duping
the Motion Picture Association of America into tagging this film as an R and not
an NC-17. For non-horror fans, the scene involving Lorna is the major
tester: if you can stomach it and make your way past it, then you will likely
get through the remainder of the film. For horror buffs, the Lorna scene, which
will be much-talked about, will be the thrill of a lifetime. No matter
what, you can't
help but admire the passion of this film's director. Eli Roth knows what
he wants, wants what he gets, and, unlike nearly all the sequels so far this
summer, goes all the way to get it.
See no evil, hear no evil: Heather
Matarazzo as Lorna, in Eli Roth's "Hostel Part II", opening on June 8 in North
America.
See no evil, feel all evil: Roger Bart as Stuart,
with a hooded and chained Lauren German as Beth, in "Hostel Part II", opening on
June 8 in North America.
"Hostel Part II" opens in Argentina, Australia and
Slovenia on June 7, in the U.S. and Canada on June 8, Germany on June 14, and
the U.K. on June 30. In the U.S., the film is rated R by the Motion
Picture Association of America for sadistic scenes of torture and bloody
violence, terror, nudity, sexual content, language and some drug content.
There is male and female full-frontal nudity, and lots of blood and gory flesh
exposed.
Click
here for
"Under A Blood Red Eye" -- Director Eli Roth on "Hostel Part II" (feature story
interview)
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