Love it or hate it Eli Roth’s “Hostel” created a footnote in horror history in 2006 by being both an unheralded financial success and landing horror violence in the media hot seat for the first time in years. “Hostel” was shot on a four million dollar budget and premiered at number one with an opening weekend gross of just under 20 million dollars. While gorier and more despicable films have existed before and since then, it was the film’s financial success that put it, and more importantly its outspoken director in the firing range. With their guns cocked and loaded the media has this month’s release of “Hostel: Part Two” lined up in their sights with their finger on the trigger. Thankfully Roth refused to back down and with “Part Two” has released one of the more disturbing films to garner a major release in years, and surprisingly also one of the best.
“Hostel: Part Two” picks up directly from the final shot of its predecessor with Paxton (Jay Hernandez) waking up onboard a commuter train a few fingers shy of a handful. He’s then transported to a hospital where the viewer is given a refresher of what happened in the first film. Paxton escaped an organization known as Elite Hunters, a group that uses hot young men and women to lure unsuspecting travelers to an Eastern European hostel. Once there the tourists are kidnapped and taken to a warehouse in which torture, murder and everything else you can afford to enjoy occurs. Courtesy of the flashbacks and an accompanied scene, viewing of the original “Hostel” is entirely unnecessary to enjoy Roth’s sick new flick. Although, by not viewing it first you’d be cheating yourself out of a surprisingly fun time and a ton of self-referential moments in “Part Two.”
Following the refresher course with Paxton, we’re whisked away to Europe and a trio of traveling art students. Just as with the original “Hostel”, Roth’s script creates paper thin characters that are more about fulfilling their own stereotypes than actually existing on their own. But again, as in the first film, it’s about how these characters evolve over the ninety minutes and rise above the confines of their implied stereotypes. Whereas the original film paired the audience up with a trio of hot young guys, “Part Two” is ladies night. This round we spend with a cruel sexpot Whitney (Bijou Phillips), the virgin nerd Lorna (Heather Matarazzo) and the rich yet caring Beth (Laura German).
The girls are on a train ride to Prague when they’re sidetracked after a meeting up with the stunning Axelle (Vera Jordanova) who convinces them to join her at the spas in Slovakia. Just the name of the country alone is enough to strip up the blood of anyone that’s seen “Hostel” more than once, which makes tis return trip all the more chilling. Not only does Roth takes us back to the exact hostel that led Paxton to be shy two friends and an equal amount of digits, but fans are also treated to the return of some of their favorite Slovakians. Along with everyone’s favorite lisping desk clerk (Milda Jedi Havlas), Roth was smart enough to bring back the oddest inhabitants of Slovakia; the fan favorite Bubblegum Gang. The most surreal moments of the original “Hostel” occurred whenever this group of vicious blood thirsty children who attack anything in the name of candy arrived in a scene.
Upon checking in at the hostel the girls happily surrender their passports to the desk clerk in order to check in to their rooms. Little do they know that he instead uses those exact passports to set up a high stakes bidding war amongst some of the sickest rich people in the world. What ensues is an online auction that spans the entire globe in search of the person willing to pony up the most cash to spend on a enchanted evening with one of the ladies. An American businessman, Todd (Richard Burgi) puts in the winning bid on two of the girls and he and his best friend Stuart (Roger Bart) fly out to the shadows of the Carpathian Mountains to embrace their dark sides.
From the moment the gentlemen arrive in town the film kicks into high gear and the blood begins to flow freely. With the majority of “Hostel: Part Two” built around “Holy Fucking Shit” moments it would be unfair to ruin it by describing what happens next. But to wet your appetite, expect to see a scene that would get Elizabeth Bathory dripping between her thighs, a trophy room the likes of which have been unseen since 1985′s “Return to Oz,” and multiple brilliant character turns. One of which leads to my new favorite cinematic quote, “I’m not allowed to kill my wife.” But easily the most stomach churning, “oh my fucking god scene” occurs at the tail end of the film and will cause some viewers to lose their lunch and the rest to cross their legs in anguish.
The relatively small private screening I attended with Eli Roth marked the first showing of the film and if the entire room’s reactions were anything to note, “Hostel: Part Two” has unashamedly outdone itself. Naysayer’s of the original films’ impact were obviously too busy concentrating on the sex and gore and missed the real terror floating on the surface. It wasn’t the drills, or the blood that made “Hostel” so damn effective, it was the look into some of the darkest parts of a human’s soul. “Part Two” succeeds so spectacularly mostly due to Roth’s attention to giving the viewer a significantly deeper look into the way the Elite Hunting origination works. While the gore in “Part Two” is so intense and copious that it almost defies the generous R rating handed down by the usually less forgiving MPAA, the scariest moments occur without an ounce of bloodshed. Much like the original, the creepiest moments are the ones spent with the would be killers that have paid tens of thousands of dollars to butcher a human like an animal.
Eli Roth is an unabashed horror fan that goes out of his way to make films for horror fans. In fact astute viewers will notice several cult actors and creators in small cameos, the most noteworthy being “Cannibal Holocaust” director Ruggero Deodato being …er, “typecast.” If “Hostel” was heavily influenced by the Asian films created by prolific directors such as Takashi Miike (who had a cameo in the first film), “Part Two” owes a great deal to the giallo films erupting out of Italy in seventies.
“Hostel: Part Two” arrives hot on the heals of the marvelous “Thanksgiving” faux-trailer included in last month’s “Grindhouse” that came courtesy of Mr. Roth. With that three minute bit of greatness combined with the misunderstood “Cabin Fever” and the excellent original “Hostel” Roth is set to become one of the genre’s all-time great directors. “Part Two’s” only real fault is one that runs through most of Roth’s films, his inability to mix humor with horror and not have it land flat. The silly punchline of an end to “Cabin Fever” ruined it for almost anyone who saw it and this time around none of the moments involving The Bubblegum gang work. In fact the ending with the group of hoodlums runs a serious risk of running the serious impact of the movie for the audience at large. But in the end, was Roth successful in creating an effective tone of dread and paranoia? Absolutely, just ask my companions that followed my lead as I bolted away from a group of heavily accented Eastern Europeans on our way home from the screening. Come to think of it, I don’t think I’m too fond of rich white guys any more either…not that I ever was though.
With “Hostel: Part Two” Eli Roth has outdone himself yet again by creating one of the best horror films of the past ten years. “Part Two” may be too character driven for some less patient gorehounds, but at the same time it will be too bloody for the mainstream media not to take potshots at. Either way, “Hostel: Part Two” was a major crowd pleaser for the room I was in and any horror fan willing to let go of their elitist views towards successful filmmakers will have a great time. I can’t wait for the film’s release on June eighth so I can see it again with a few carloads of rowdy friends that will never use their passports again.
9 out of 10 bitten off granny noses
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