How entertaining? ★★☆☆☆
Thought provoking? ★☆☆☆☆ 27 June 2007
This article is a review of HOSTEL: PART II. |
You think we’re sick?” Stuart (Roger Bart)
“We’re the normal ones.” Todd (Richard Burgi)
Eastern European tourist boards must be tearing their hair out at their countries’ portrayal in cinema recently (e.g. SEVERANCE), as a hotbed of psychotic nutcases preying on visitors. I doubt the Slovakian Embassy in particular will be inviting writer-director Eli Roth to a party of Ferrero Rocher hors d’oeuvres.
“We’re the normal ones.” Todd (Richard Burgi)
Eastern European tourist boards must be tearing their hair out at their countries’ portrayal in cinema recently (e.g. SEVERANCE), as a hotbed of psychotic nutcases preying on visitors. I doubt the Slovakian Embassy in particular will be inviting writer-director Eli Roth to a party of Ferrero Rocher hors d’oeuvres.
Roth has really divided film lovers with his last two offerings: CABIN FEVER and last year’s HOSTEL. Some regard him as a breath of fresh air in a tired genre, while others, like myself, don’t see what all the fuss is about. CABIN FEVER underwhelmed and HOSTEL was an excellent idea poorly executed.
HOSTEL felt like sleazy soft porn mixed with grandiose bloodletting and body horror. The dialogue and acting were awful. However, the idea had promise (for a horror movie) - an organisation, Elite Hunting, caters to the rich, who pay huge sums to torture to death college students staying in a Slovakian youth hostel.
In HOSTEL: PART II some of the criticisms seemed to have been answered. Gone is the clunky soft porn, and the violence has been tempered with a little jet-black humour. In addition, the intriguing Elite Hunting is delved into further, by not only having the perspectives of the victims but of the perpetrators too. There is a great split-screen moment were four rich men and women are bidding against each other across the globe on PDAs and laptops for the pleasure of the kill. There is also a flip to mirror the first film by having the three targets women, instead of men as with the first movie.
Roth, though, has still not improved as a writer. The dialogue and characterisation is clumsy and cringe-worthy, while the performances are just as annoying as the first film. So when the victims are dispatched, you again just don’t care.
PART II is an improvement but still not satisfying.