• 10-28-2007, 09:15 PM
    bobsticks
    A Comprehensive Review of "Hostel 2"
    Aaaaaallllrrrrrrrriiiiggggghhhtttttyyy TTtttheeeennnnnn


    :shocked: :shocked: :shocked: ...:eek: :eek: :eek: ...:yikes: :yikes:











    Some things should never be filmed, talked about, talked about filming, or even considered for filming a facsimile or re-enactment thereof
  • 10-28-2007, 10:09 PM
    PeruvianSkies
    That movie sucked, I had to review the Blu-ray and it was torture...literally.
  • 10-29-2007, 04:31 AM
    Worf101
    And your point is?
    I liked the first one in a "train wreck" sorta way. I used it as a cautionary tale to my gullible and foolish 14 year old son (no I didn't let him watch it). I told him that there were 2 things to learn from this movie.

    1. If it looks too good to be true, it probably is.

    2. You don't need to go lookin' for trouble, sit still long enough and trouble will find you.

    So the sequel was THAT bad? Gore fest? Snore Fest? Sore fest (as in sore you wasted 90 minutes of your life)?

    Da Worfster
  • 10-29-2007, 06:36 AM
    ForeverAutumn
    I used to like a good horror film. I was a big fan of the Halloween and Nightmare on Elmstreet movies back in the day. I loved movies like Poltergiest and Amityville Horror. And The Ring creeped me out for weeks afterwards.

    But I don't "get" these gore films. I have to be honest that I've never seen Hostel or any of the Saw series so I am judging without having seen them. But the idea of watching someone be tortured or cut up just doesn't appeal to me. My husband has watched the first three Saw movies on DVD (a friend lent them to him). He thought that the first two actually had pretty decent story lines but by the third one it was just gore for gore's sake and neither he nor the friend who lent them to us have any desire to see the fourth one.

    When we went to see Nightmare Before Xmas at 2:00 on Saturday afternoon, Saw IV was sold out until the 10:10pm show...and it was playing in three theatres!

    Maybe I'm just getting old, but I don't undestand why anyone would want to watch this stuff. But based on ticket sales there are lots of people who do.
  • 10-29-2007, 07:50 AM
    bobsticks
    Top of the mornin' Worfster,

    Absolutely a waste of the precious sands sifting through the hourglass. Now recognize that I went into this with low expectations, but not so much so that it would preclude me from writing a full-length review. While our illustrious P-Skies has the ability and the inner determination to sit through a wide variety of serious films, my plan had been to present the shallow man's view of modern light fare.

    The problem is it is an entirely predictable gorefest save for the four minutes that it spends highlighting the technology behind the bidding process in what we know is not an entirely ficticious industry. Morevover, that four minutes could have been included in the Special Features section of the first film thereby negating the need for the second round. The biggest problem I have, however...

    SPOILER ALERT!!!!

    ...is that some guy's johnson gets lopped off and fed to a dog.


    Yeah, read that again and let that sink in. I lived through the Bobbitt coverege and frankly didn't need the refresher course. Unacceptable.

    And where were all you guys??Yeah, you. Out of the forty thousand members and seventeen regulars on this site, someone saw this an didn't report it...a clear violation of a variety of Man Laws. Completely uncool...

    (walks around with both middle fingers hoisted in the air in an attempt to ether the entirety of the cosmos)
  • 10-29-2007, 07:51 AM
    bobsticks
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by ForeverAutumn
    Maybe I'm just getting old, but I don't undestand why anyone would want to watch this stuff.


    Naw, it's just that you have better taste than I, my good lady.
  • 10-29-2007, 09:01 AM
    SlumpBuster
    First off let me appologize for not reporting what shall hereafter be referred to as the "Johnson Incident," the "Johnson Affair," or simply "Johnsongate." Now just so everyone is clear, the Johnson Affair occurred in close up with no clever camera cuts. But, without Johnsongate you would not have the best line in the movie, "Michelle, no!" as the hosebag is fed to the guard dog. Proof positive that "funny" is about timing and delivery.

    Now in all seriousness, I actually liked both Hostels and will see the third when it undoubtably comes out. I also liked Cabin Fever and the infamous "Thanksgiving" trailer in Grindhouse. Essentially, Eli Roth's directorial output so far. I've also seen much of the current crop of immitators including all of the Saws, Wolf Creek, Touristas, ect.

    Now I never defend the movies when I hear complaints like FA's, as I do think the movies are indefensible as I will never be able to convince FA that this is a good movie. In fact, to try and convince her otherwise is somewhat insulting. "You don't know what you like! You must watch this hardcore rot and like it!" Yeah, that's not discourse. No, her assesment entirely hits the mark. But, not everything is for everyone. Just as some people don't watch pornography, some don't watch foriegn films, some people don't smoke and some people don't drink. Yet, these are all things that perfectly reasonable people do. I approach these movies with the expectation that you either get it or you don't (but, I'm not at all suggesting that if you don't "get it" you are somehow missing something or I'm more cosmopolitan or anything). I mean it more in the sense that if you don't smoke cigars, I'm not going to recommend one to you. Cigar smoking is an indefensible filthy habit (just as is watching Eli Roth's movies), but if you happen to smoke, I got I nice humidor you might want to take a look at.

    P-Skys and I went back and forth awhile back about Rob Zombie's movies. I loved Devil's Rejects, but I'll never convince him that it is any good. But there are movies he loves that I will never buy into. But, as far as I'm concerned those are all incidental movies to the canon of movies he and I otherwise agree on. Also, it is important to rememeber that these movies have been around for a longtime, but they were only recently mainstreamed.

    Now, why do I like these movies? Lots of reasons. Great moods, great locations, great international casts, great set design and set pieces, great inside gags and cameos. Great tension and pacing (e.g. the underwater chase sequence in Turistas). Great self awareness: i.e. Eli Roth in an interview "Yada political, yada Abu Ghraib, yada Capitalism, Yada historical context, Yada globalism... plus when people come to my movies they expect to see some gnarly sh!t and people getting fcuked up." If you want to chastise these movies for finding humor in sensless violence then your not allowed to watch any Scorsese or Tarantino movies either.

    Admitedly, there are some sequences that are pretty tough to watch and when these movies miss the mark, they miss by a wide margin. For example, the infamous Scythe scene in Hostel 2 was not nearly as rough in actuality has it had been in my imagination. But, Roth totally missed the mark with casting of Heather Matarazzo as Lorna. Her performance was so top notch as to be noticably out of place (as it often is, the otherwise dreadful Sorority Boys is often stolen by Heather and worth watching just for her). Her character came off as sweet and innocent to my adult frame of reference. My fear is that for many younger viewers, she was the nerdy anchor that was holding the rest of the group back and just deserved to die for not being cool. For these movies to suceed that must always be some tongue in cheek. But the demise of Lorna was just too mean spirited. No, in a movie that prided its self in pulling bait and switch with various characters, the more interesting movie would have had Heather Matarazzo playing the heroine. Same character, just as written, but with a whole new flavor and take brought by the actress.

    Finally, it does seem like a scoundrels refuge to cite the political themes that run through many of these movies. But, those themes are indeed there. However, they are lost on the audience members that can't get past the gnarly stuff, hence the scoundrel's refuge.
  • 10-29-2007, 09:42 AM
    bobsticks
    Slumpy, my man, you make some excellent arguements about gore films in general. So much so that I will concede many if not most of your points while pointing out that I have been a proponent of the Zombie films, the "Ring" series and several others.

    My problem lies with this film and its lack of even the most basic advancements in the storytelling process over the first. This didn't feel like "Hostel 2", it felt like "Hostel 1.2". The film seemed like it was always skirting the issue of addressing something...anything. To be specific, and off the top of my head, the movie flirted with the idea of addressing why a person would engage in such behavior. In the end you just get this emasculated little turd and his big "duding" friend floundering about in Eastern Europe. Where you say that there should be less Heather Matarazzo, I'd argue there should be more. I didn't feel like I'd been given any reason to care about our three little lambs which ultimately made me apathetic when they were marched off to slaughter.

    The Michael Mann bastardized scene in which they actually played music over the dialogue in the lockeroom before the sadists go to the killfloor was a swing-and-a-miss for me. This could've actually been a point of stability denoting just how much thought these jabronis had put into the undertaking and coming to terms with the reasons behind their actions (lord knows everyone tells the truth in a locker room). Instead it just seemed as if the director was bored. I know I was despite the admittedly strong sense of mood and drama and fantastic scenery.

    I think we have more alike than not, but we may have to agree to disagree on this one.
  • 10-29-2007, 10:05 AM
    SlumpBuster
    I agree with the critisism of "Hostel 1.2" It like, "Hey, let's do it again, but with women and you get to see more of the killers and behind the scenes!"

    Actually, I agreed that there should have been more of Heather. I always think there should be more of Heather in any of her movies. I was arguing that a much more interesting movie could have been had if she was the heroine. Make her the rich girl, make her do the bait and switch, make the wallflower rise up and escape. I actually was in Europe in college with a group of friends. One of them was exactly like Heather's character even down to the journal. So maybe I was bringing that to the table. I can say specifically that when they were on the train deciding whether or not to go to the spa, Heather delivered the line "I want to go." all whistfully and meekly. I found it endearing, I wonder if Roth thought it came off as obnoxious. By the time she was climbing in the boat wishing of European summer romance, I was just pissed off at waste of the one character that I was beginning to care about and was ringing true.

    I have to admit, I didn't see the switch between the big duding friend and his meek buddy coming until the split second before it happened. It suckered me. And I really liked it.

    Random missed opportunities and thoughts:
    - The hints at other residents of the Hostel being seduced at the same time could have been fleshed out.
    - Why are some guests of the Hostel seemingly free to come and go and leave.
    - What the hell was the secret room with all the heads about? Just seemed out of place.
  • 10-29-2007, 11:05 AM
    ForeverAutumn
    Okay, so it sounds like there's actually a story and some rhyme and reason to these films. I was led to believe otherwise. I'm still never going to see them, but now you have me curious about what kind of a storyline would lead to a man having his Johnson cut off and fed to a dog.

    When my husband shared the storyline of Saw with me, I thought that it sounded really interesting and I would have been interested in seeing it if not for...well...the saw.

    What is the story behind Hostel?

    Edit: I looked it up on Wikipedia...never mind I had trouble even reading about it. At least I tried.
  • 10-29-2007, 11:18 AM
    bobsticks
    Hey Fall Girl. In a nutshell the Hostel films delve into the underground human trade in Eastern Europe. Youthful backpackers and explorers are abducted from a Hostel in Slavakia and turned over to the sadistic desires of solemn Eurotrash and angst-filled Gen X'ers.

    From what I've read and heard this exists to some extent but focuses more on the sex trade but gore is more permissable on these shores.
  • 10-29-2007, 11:20 AM
    PeruvianSkies
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by SlumpBuster
    I agree with the critisism of "Hostel 1.2" It like, "Hey, let's do it again, but with women and you get to see more of the killers and behind the scenes!"

    Actually, I agreed that there should have been more of Heather. I always think there should be more of Heather in any of her movies. I was arguing that a much more interesting movie could have been had if she was the heroine. Make her the rich girl, make her do the bait and switch, make the wallflower rise up and escape. I actually was in Europe in college with a group of friends. One of them was exactly like Heather's character even down to the journal. So maybe I was bringing that to the table. I can say specifically that when they were on the train deciding whether or not to go to the spa, Heather delivered the line "I want to go." all whistfully and meekly. I found it endearing, I wonder if Roth thought it came off as obnoxious. By the time she was climbing in the boat wishing of European summer romance, I was just pissed off at waste of the one character that I was beginning to care about and was ringing true.

    I have to admit, I didn't see the switch between the big duding friend and his meek buddy coming until the split second before it happened. It suckered me. And I really liked it.

    Random missed opportunities and thoughts:
    - The hints at other residents of the Hostel being seduced at the same time could have been fleshed out.
    - Why are some guests of the Hostel seemingly free to come and go and leave.
    - What the hell was the secret room with all the heads about? Just seemed out of place.

    But how much of these 'torture-porn' films can a person take....???
  • 10-30-2007, 08:21 AM
    Worf101
    Ah ha.....
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by PeruvianSkies
    But how much of these 'torture-porn' films can a person take....???

    That my friend IS the question. In a zen moment sort of way. I liked "Tourista's" cause at least there was a motive, back story, to all the tourist killing. In a sick 3rd world revenge sorta way. "Hosetl" was fun in that although I knew it was coming, I didn't know the how's kinda like the first "Saw". Natural evolution of slasher films I suppose, but torture is NOT my cup of tea.

    Da Worfster