I had the privilege of attending the first screening of Eli Roth’s Hostel 2 this evening so I thought I’d give something back by writing a quick review. I’ll start by laying out my lack of experience in all things Hostel: I have not seen the first film. Before you say “this can’t be an informed review”, let me tell you that I liked this film, and so might others who’s only excuse to skip this sequel is “I didn’t see the first one”. If you like horror films with more substance than slaughter, whether or not you’ve seen the first Hostel, give this one a try.
The movie picks up where the first one leaves off (I know this much because Eli Roth said so). Then the tone changes. It’s like you’re brought back out from the horror of the first one and into a new story with an unsettling knowledge of what is to come. From here on in, there’s plenty of things to make you squirm without shedding a single drop of blood.
You see, this time around, we follow not only the victims but also the killers. Seeing things from the killer’s point of view creates the same kind of character building that makes all these recent superhero movies so great: seeing the (somewhat) normal person behind the mask; learning what makes them tick; feeling (a little) bad for them when they get into trouble. Eli Roth does this brilliantly, giving you a look behind the scenes at this gruesome slaughterhouse and the disturbed people that keep it in business.
Of course, what would character building be without great acting. As Roth put it, the ratings board felt some of the scenes were too scary because the actors and actresses made them too real. He politely asked the board not to punish him for making such a good movie. What we get from this is a horror film with great acting, which is almost an oxymoron. We also get a movie which pushes the limits of the R rating with some pretty gruesome scenes.
While all horror films need a certain amount of gore to draw fans of the genre, many directors will stop there and call it good. I like films with a little more meat on their bones. I like to be truly scared. I wish more people made horror films like this.
