Which Hostel provides the best accommodation?

[rhett]

Hate him or fellate him, as my man bigdaddy so elegantly put, Eli Roth is back with HOSTEL PART II. The first was a pretty big split between love and hate, so let's see how it compares to his sequel. And no, there will be no "I hate anything Eli Roth makes" option.

[Ash J. Williams]

Hostel Part II really, really impressed me. It was a huge step up for Roth. He's gotten progressively better in his three movies (Thanksgiving perhaps topping them all, though), and I can't wait to see a new franchise from him. He also seems to have a great philosophy on the difference between gratuity and what is necessary for artistry, so I've gained a lot of respect for him recently.

[KamuiX]

The first Hostel was much better. All the flash and over-the-top madness was gone out of the sequel, and we were left to focus on Roth's directing and writing skills. And, well, without all the pananche, the weaknesses really show.

[tobaccoman]

They are both great, I'm having a hard time picking one over the other. In fact, I find all three of his films pretty much equally entertaining. He's no longer just the future of horror. He's up amongst the best in the genre today.

I thought Hostel Part 2 was much better. Whereas Part 1 was just the story of the typical Ugly Americans in a foreign land. I though the story, the acting and over tone of the film surpassed the first one. Sure, it wasn't as gory as I thought it would be....be who cares? Give me Part 2 over the original any day.

[YottNik]

The first one for me. Some people hated it, but I enjoyed the frat boy humor and general fun of the first one's buildup. That was missing in Part II and it suffered because of it, IMO.

Plus Part II made the usual sequel mistake, at least for me, of telling us too much. I don't want to know the inner workings of the Elite Hunters. The mystery makes it more interesting, I think.

Originally Posted by YottNik

Plus Part II made the usual sequel mistake, at least for me, of telling us too much. I don't want to know the inner workings of the Elite Hunters. The mystery makes it more interesting, I think.

agreed, and to be honest

Spoiler: after the first 5 minutes when we saw the head being delivered to the "boss" and the enemy had a face, it lost all sense of suspense and terror. The ending itself was even harder to believe than the end of the 1st one.. she just happens to be this super wealthy rich person.. that they've never heard of? i thought rich people were the Elite Hunter's niche market? i find it hard to believe they didn't pick this up when they put her up for auction, after all they seemed to know all about the other people

so i definitely have to go with the first one, which, despite 1 or 2 flaws, was a much more enjoyable movie

[Paff]

Originally Posted by YottNik

Plus Part II made the usual sequel mistake, at least for me, of telling us too much. I don't want to know the inner workings of the Elite Hunters. The mystery makes it more interesting, I think.

Concur. And do I really need to see

Spoiler: Dawn Weiner's breasts?

[rhett]

Originally Posted by Paff

Concur. And do I really need to see SPOILER

Yes. That made it much more effective for me, this wasn't just some celeb mugging to cash a paycheck. That was a pretty bare and brutal scene, and the nudity just added to the intensity. I don't think anyone will lobby the HOSTEL complaint that Roth was just trying to show some skin in this one, precisely because it was Dawn Weiner.

[DeathDealer]

Hostel Uno.

Part II was just nothing.

[Paff]

Back in May I went to the Weekend of Horrors, and Eli Roth was pimping Hostel 2. He was saying he hopes he made The Empire Strikes Back or The Road Warrior, referring to the sequels that are considered better than their predecessors.

I'm trying to think what he really made, and it came to me today: He made the equivalent of Halloween 2. It kinda has the spirit of the original, but also forgets what made the first one so great. Everything is over-explained and there's too much backstory. The faceless random killer is so much scarier than the killer with a motive and agenda.

[MorallySound]

Hostel 2 was crap. Aside from the Deodatto cameo and the best castration scene in any horror movie, it was bland and exactly like the first. Which also was not that good.

[DrHerbertWest]

Originally Posted by MorallySound

Hostel 2 was crap. Aside from the Deodatto cameo and the best castration scene in any horror movie, it was bland and exactly like the first. Which also was not that good.

I disagree. I watched the first Hostel literally minutes before getting to the theater for the sequel. I really liked the spirit of the film and, except for a few fleeting moments, thought it was better all around.

[rhett]

Originally Posted by Paff

I'm trying to think what he really made, and it came to me today: He made the equivalent of Halloween 2. It kinda has the spirit of the original, but also forgets what made the first one so great. Everything is over-explained and there's too much backstory. The faceless random killer is so much scarier than the killer with a motive and agenda.

Was the first one really scary...at all? It was fun all around for me, and the most disturbing aspects were actually when we got to see inside the organization, with that member's monologue and the killer's final train comeuppance. Similarly, in the second, the most disturbing moments come from the back story,

Spoiler: us knowing that the future castratee has some serious displacement issues with his hatred for his Stepford wife.

This franchise has never relied on the terror of the unseen, so I don't really know where these criticisms are coming from...

i agree with paff, the unknown is often more scary, once something is understood it tends to lose alot of it's impact. Your imagination runs wild and you have no idea what's happening or whether it's something you yourself could get caught up in one day... as soon as you explain it completely and give people faces then, eh, everything has to be taken at face value