Hostel Part II
I really wasn't a big fan of the first HOSTEL. It was okay, but in my mind it just wasn't a great movie. The plot is original and intriguing, I'll admit that. And I do enjoy my gore as much as the next girl. It was the beginning of the movie that really turned me off, so by the time we got into the good stuff I was praying the main characters would die quickly. Imagine my surprise when I discovered myself sitting in the theatre ready to watch HOSTEL PART II.
In this sequel, the plot of the original is played through again with a group of American girls going to school in Rome. They plan to take a trip to Prague, but are persuaded into traveling to Slovakia instead. As you might suspect they end up staying in a hostel, and are picked off one by one by the now very organized and very business-like club from the original. In PART II though, we also get to see what things are like from the perspective of the sick people who pay to kill the young travelers.
I wish I could say otherwise, but frankly I remain unimpressed. Prior to seeing the film myself I did read other reviews, so I was looking forward to the character development. It was definitely interesting, but it felt too shallow for me. And I didn't enjoy Heather Matarazzo's character at all, it felt too silly to me. They could have done so much more with both the girls and the killers. Their stereotypes were so obvious, and there was no subtlety to the symbolism. Not to spoil part of the movie, but the surviving girl might as well have had "FINAL GIRL" stamped on her forehead, and worn a t-shirt with a complete citation to Carol Clover on the front of it. It was so blatant that it half-ruined the ending for me.
Despite my criticism, it isn't a horrible movie. It's okay, but not great. It does explore female stereotypes, the effect that horrors inflicted upon women can have, and why women might be targets for that sort of violence. I thought the direction of the character development was good, it just needed more follow through. Honestly, as soon as the film ended I thought to myself, "That's it?" I wasn't expecting it to end when it did.
Those who were fans of the original HOSTEL will most likely enjoy PART II as well, especially for the fresh crop of victims and the peek into the minds of the killers. There are some really great scenes and what it attempts to do is at least interesting. But overall, I felt they could have done much more with the characters and the plot in a sequel such as this, which is really what I was expecting.
In this sequel, the plot of the original is played through again with a group of American girls going to school in Rome. They plan to take a trip to Prague, but are persuaded into traveling to Slovakia instead. As you might suspect they end up staying in a hostel, and are picked off one by one by the now very organized and very business-like club from the original. In PART II though, we also get to see what things are like from the perspective of the sick people who pay to kill the young travelers.
I wish I could say otherwise, but frankly I remain unimpressed. Prior to seeing the film myself I did read other reviews, so I was looking forward to the character development. It was definitely interesting, but it felt too shallow for me. And I didn't enjoy Heather Matarazzo's character at all, it felt too silly to me. They could have done so much more with both the girls and the killers. Their stereotypes were so obvious, and there was no subtlety to the symbolism. Not to spoil part of the movie, but the surviving girl might as well have had "FINAL GIRL" stamped on her forehead, and worn a t-shirt with a complete citation to Carol Clover on the front of it. It was so blatant that it half-ruined the ending for me.
Despite my criticism, it isn't a horrible movie. It's okay, but not great. It does explore female stereotypes, the effect that horrors inflicted upon women can have, and why women might be targets for that sort of violence. I thought the direction of the character development was good, it just needed more follow through. Honestly, as soon as the film ended I thought to myself, "That's it?" I wasn't expecting it to end when it did.
Those who were fans of the original HOSTEL will most likely enjoy PART II as well, especially for the fresh crop of victims and the peek into the minds of the killers. There are some really great scenes and what it attempts to do is at least interesting. But overall, I felt they could have done much more with the characters and the plot in a sequel such as this, which is really what I was expecting.
posted by Rachel Storm at
5:28 PM
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