Hostel: Part 2

Review by Adam Weeks

Wow – I could really make this review brief, and say that Hostel Part 2 is Hostel redone with three girls instead of three guys, and more watered down than Jack Daniels in a high-class restaurant – but I won’t.

Believe me, of the reviews I’ve seen so far, some will try and convince you that there are deeper characters than the first time around, you’re really gonna feel bad for them, etc. 

I call bullshit on that – didn’t see a lick of extra back story to any of them that the lads in the first film didn’t have as well, and even the general format of the first film remains intact, with the exception of a completely pointless 5 minute introduction involving Jay Hernandez’ character from the first film, Paxton, that makes you wonder why Eli bothered to include him at all… 

The first act is essentially three backpackers, traveling through Europe, they meet a mysterious beauty – get convinced to go to Prague, they eventually are drugged / kidnapped, and wind up at the same torture chamber that the first film took place in, before the ending – well, for those that haven’t seen the first film, I won’t ruin it, but for those who have - here comes the second verse, same as the first verse.

Now, after that, you may think that I hated the film – but I didn’t. It’s hard to bash something that isn’t actually a bad film, it’s just a very average one. For most of H2, it feels like someone has done a subdued remake or a blatant rip-off of the first film, and by the time it first really makes you cringe (for guys anyway), you’ve got around 2 minutes of running time left before the credits roll. 

Basically, the things that made the first film such a blast – whether it was the gratuitous T&A in the first half (which is admittedly something that only the guys or chicks who dig chicks would really enjoy), “The King of the Swing”, the truly graphic sequences in the Torture Rooms, and just the general humor of the first are missing here, or to go back to my original words, they feel very watered down. Some other reviewers have claimed that the kills in this one were supposed to be very over-the-top, but in the end to me, it looked like Eli was trying to work in a bit of his “Thanksgiving” approach to gore into this.

As far as the lead cast go, they all do the job they are there for, with a couple of exceptions, so here’s my take on that: Lauren German plays “Beth”, the main character – good lookin’ lady, bugged the shit out of me that I couldn’t place her until a while after the film finished (she’s the girl that blows her head off in the Texas Chainsaw remake), she’s fantastic in the last 20 minutes or so of the film; Bijou Phillips is the “loose” girl of the trio – I’m not sure why I never liked her before, but here she does a decent job with one of the smallish parts; Heather Matarazzo, AKA the best friend in The Princess Diaries flicks….. ummmm, yeah, it’s just wrong in some capacity for me to have now seen her naked; Now the good stuff, Richard Burgi (Desperate Housewives) as Todd & Roger Bart (The Producers) as Stuart – the two guys in the film that are on the nasty side of things, the wannabe killers of the film – they both have some great scenes in the film both together & separately, although one scene with Bart towards the end of the flick is just a touch over-the-top in the “cheese-factor” stakes.

To wrap up here – let me say this once again, Hostel 2 is not a bad film, it’s not an incredible film, but ultimately is an exceedingly average film.

2.5 out of 5

Lucky You
Australian release: 7th June, 2007
Cast: Lauren German, Heather Matarazzo, Bijou Phillips, Jay Hernandez, Roger Bart
Director: Eli Roth
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