Review of Hostel: Part II (2007) by Katley M — 13 Jul 2010

It is incredibly rare when a sequel comes out that is just as good as the original, but somehow Roth managed to pull it off. Hostel 2 managed to remain raw and original like its predecessor without being identical.

So the plot takes place where the last one left off, with the club cleaning up its tracks. And then we are introduced to a new set of youngins ripe for the picking. This time a young group of girls taking a vacation, when they decide to stay at a hostel (Aren't you shocked) they find out they have been set up and put into a club that allows people to kill other people for money, and they are at the top of the bidding block.

While it might sound a lot like the original, the way it plays out is completely different from top to bottom. Mainly in characters, the original was focused more on the premise, the idea of killing people for money, while the sequel is more focused on the characters.

One of my favorite aspects of these movies are the twists and turns that you get, from the beginning of the movie you think you have it pegged and that you know exactly what is going to happen, and then it goes and does the complete opposite.

That's not something you find much of in the industry anymore. Acting, we get a slew of good actors here. Lauren German plays the female heroine, she managed to put on a believable show without coming off too obnoxious.

Heather Matarazzaro and Bijou Philips play the tag along expendable friends. While Philips was enjoyable to watch, Matarazzaro was nothing but an annoying cry baby, I swear I was counting down the moments to her demise.

One scene stealer that we get is Roger Bart, who plays one of the men set out to kill one of the girls. His character brought quite a few surprises and Bart was right along for the ride, I found him to be quite entertaining in a really creepy guy wants to kill me kinda way.

Gore, something you can always count on in a good torture sub genre movie and let me tell you, this one delivers in the red stuff. We get a nose being ripped off, some bloody stabbings, a penis being torn off (yeah I said it), a wicked saw in the head, and so much more.

If you are anything like me then you are a gore hound, and this one will quench your thirst. While Hostel 2 successfully broke away from the original in many ways, one way it was similar was in the cinema photography.

The visuals in this are simply stunning, very clean and very perfect. I don't care what anyone says having a visually good looking movie does not take away from the atmosphere. Its hard reviewing a movie when there is so much that you can give away, there are so many twists that it would be very easy to ruin a movie for you, so I'll just be straight forward, Hostel 2 is similar to the original when it needs to be, and it is different from the original when it needs to be.

It delivers in every way and if you are a true Roth or horror fan you will be in for a major treat, check it out.