And a happy new year to you too! Well yes no better way to bring my blog screaming into the new year than with another gore-splattered review, holding to my promise of reviewing all that I see requires me to get these up promptly before I become swamped and lose interest, though if I am hasty with this one then it is because really there is little left to say on the matter.
Taking place directly after the first Hostel and, aside from the fairly needless tying up of lose ends at the start, the film this time focuses this time on three women who decide to go travelling, we find them en route to Prague when, for fairly flimsy and overly signposted reasons, they are lured to Slovakia to find themselevs the latest victims in Hostel’s lurid games. This time round we see a bit more of the other side of the fence and so parallel to the girls we follow two men who have signed up for the experience, bidding and selecting the girl of their choice to kill. It is an interesting decision to try and dig a little deeper at the people who would be attracted by such a set up and whilst there is a fair amount of suspension of disbelief in the way it is handled there are hints of more interesting moral dilemmas and character motivations below the surface, and the almost bait-and-switch Roth pulls at the end is pretty clever.
Visually the films is a noticeable step up from the bland faceless European backstreets of the original, the colours are more vibrant and Roth has definitely improved as a director, one sequence when the men make their way into the complex is fairly haunting with its use of music and composition. However like before the film falls short of any potential if could have had by being a slave to the genre. Much as we are meant to believe that these are characters to be cared about and explored, and whilst the acting is much improved over the original’s, truth be told they are all still pieces of meat to Eli Roth and his glee at the torture once again leaves a sour taste in the mouth. One character and subsequent death in particular is not only unpleasant but structurally unnecessary and inconsistent with the rest of the film, it would lose nothing by cutting the entire set up and sequence, evidence again that it’s ultimately about the money-shots, rather than any kind of emotional investment. It’s this box ticking approach to a sequel that is disappointing, it feels more designed than an extension of the original with some new set-ups, movie by committee is the phrase and in the blood-soaked climax you can almost imagine Roth gleefully anticipating the audience’s reaction.
In fact we spend little time in the aforementioned torture chambers, that we know what is coming for the extended build up dissipates any potential tension, and herein lies the major problems with the film – it is not scary. Not at all. It may be an improvement on the original in many respects but at least at the tail of that film there was danger and several nerve wracking scenes. Here there is none of that and so as a horror film it falls very flat, sure it is gore filled with some truly graphic scenes, but they are not earned. The main problem with this is that horror films often survive on the scares and the tension, my like of the recent Texas Chainsaw Massacre remake was largely down to how effectively it handles these very things, and an involving and harrowing experience can make up for lacks in other areas. Without that to fall back on all that is left is a rather forgettable film in many respects, it is not awful, and Roth’s dark sense of humour, which may undermine any claim to deeper meanings within the film, at least provides some humanity into a film mostly lacking it.
Ultimately by the end the overhwleming feeling is that the so called torture-porn horror films have run their course by now, the irony being that this sequel to the genre’s poster-boy may have just delivered the final nail in the coffin.
A surprisingly by the numbers sequel that does most things better than the first, except the horror, yet doesn’t distance itself enough or alter the core concept beyond a typical horror sequel. And despite the nastiness there is a distinct whiff of playing it safe here.
And a happy new year to you too! Well yes no better way to bring my blog screaming into the new year than with another gore-splattered review, holding to my promise of reviewing all that I see requires me to get these up promptly before I become swamped and lose interest, though if I am hasty with this one then it is because really there is little left to say on the matter.
Taking place directly after the first Hostel and, aside from the fairly needless tying up of lose ends at the start, the film this time focuses this time on three women who decide to go travelling, we find them en route to Prague when, for fairly flimsy and overly signposted reasons, they are lured to Slovakia to find themselevs the latest victims in Hostel’s lurid games. This time round we see a bit more of the other side of the fence and so parallel to the girls we follow two men who have signed up for the experience, bidding and selecting the girl of their choice to kill. It is an interesting decision to try and dig a little deeper at the people who would be attracted by such a set up and whilst there is a fair amount of suspension of disbelief in the way it is handled there are hints of more interesting moral dilemmas and character motivations below the surface, and the almost bait-and-switch Roth pulls at the end is pretty clever.
Visually the films is a noticeable step up from the bland faceless European backstreets of the original, the colours are more vibrant and Roth has definitely improved as a director, one sequence when the men make their way into the complex is fairly haunting with its use of music and composition. However like before the film falls short of any potential if could have had by being a slave to the genre. Much as we are meant to believe that these are characters to be cared about and explored, and whilst the acting is much improved over the original’s, truth be told they are all still pieces of meat to Eli Roth and his glee at the torture once again leaves a sour taste in the mouth. One character and subsequent death in particular is not only unpleasant but structurally unnecessary and inconsistent with the rest of the film, it would lose nothing by cutting the entire set up and sequence, evidence again that it’s ultimately about the money-shots, rather than any kind of emotional investment. It’s this box ticking approach to a sequel that is disappointing, it feels more designed than an extension of the original with some new set-ups, movie by committee is the phrase and in the blood-soaked climax you can almost imagine Roth gleefully anticipating the audience’s reaction.
In fact we spend little time in the aforementioned torture chambers, that we know what is coming for the extended build up dissipates any potential tension, and herein lies the major problems with the film – it is not scary. Not at all. It may be an improvement on the original in many respects but at least at the tail of that film there was danger and several nerve wracking scenes. Here there is none of that and so as a horror film it falls very flat, sure it is gore filled with some truly graphic scenes, but they are not earned. The main problem with this is that horror films often survive on the scares and the tension, my like of the recent Texas Chainsaw Massacre remake was largely down to how effectively it handles these very things, and an involving and harrowing experience can make up for lacks in other areas. Without that to fall back on all that is left is a rather forgettable film in many respects, it is not awful, and Roth’s dark sense of humour, which may undermine any claim to deeper meanings within the film, at least provides some humanity into a film mostly lacking it.
Ultimately by the end the overhwleming feeling is that the so called torture-porn horror films have run their course by now, the irony being that this sequel to the genre’s poster-boy may have just delivered the final nail in the coffin.
A surprisingly by the numbers sequel that does most things better than the first, except the horror, yet doesn’t distance itself enough or alter the core concept beyond a typical horror sequel. And despite the nastiness there is a distinct whiff of playing it safe here.
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