Hostel: Part II (2007)
With Hostel: Part II, Eli Roth takes a bit of a different approach and while some think it was a failure, I see it as not necessarily a success, but a damn good try. He doesn’t focus as much on the gore, works on his characters more and gives the entire film more of a psychological feel. The truly chilling nature of this movie is found more in the mood than in the blood, and I think that took guts (no pun intended) on Roth’s part.
It would have been easy to make a carbon copy of Hostel here and honestly, I was a bit concerned that’s what Hostel: Part II would be when it opens with the sole survivor of the first, Paxton – played once again by Jay Hernandez. As much as I like Jay, I was glad to see he didn’t stick around long. In the end, bringing Paxton back tied both movies together nicely.
The cast in Hostel: Part II is equally as good as the cast of the original and I was especially glad to see Bijou Philips (Wizards of Gore). She did a great job playing Whitney and I look forward to seeing her in more horror movies.
All said, Hostel: Part II is a admirable attempt by Eli Roth to develop characters a little better and make people care about who is being hacked up instead of just waiting for it to happen. Maybe he fell a little short, but he came damn close.
slasherella on August 18th, 2009 | File Under Serial Killers | No Comments -

