"Would you like a Smint?"

Hostel: Part II (2007)
**
Dir: Eli Roth
Starring: Lauren German, Roger Bart, Heather Matarazzo, Bijou Phillips
MPAA: R

After several promises by writer/director Roth that this would be that rare sequel that doesn't just retread the original, Hostel: Part II goes on to do exactly that. There are some interesting new wrinkles, and some nasty new setpieces (the Countess Bathory sequence in particular is a nauseating standout), but for the most part you're in for more of the same.

This time our leads are three art-school girls traveling through eastern Europe who are enticed into traveling to a familiar hostel due to promises of an exotic spa getaway. Since we've seen Hostel we know where this is headed, and soon they are captive and bloody.

There's a great scene when they are checking into the hostel and their passports are scanned and we follow the information as it's sent to the Elite Hunting Club members for bidding. It's positively chilling watching as people place their bids from cell phones and laptops while golfing, working, spending time with the grandkids, etc. This is easily the best thing about the movie, the increased focus on the club members. It's an unexpected change, and one that does a lot to help the sequel feel fresh. 

MASSIVE SPOILERS AHEAD:
While I think this may be a bit less violent than the first movie, the murder scenes are still remarkably gruesome. The aforementioned Countess Bathory sequence is a Grand Guignol moment that is not only shocking for the content but also for Matarazzo's fearlessness...she is clearly truly suspended upside-down and naked for the scene (no stuntwoman here, as plenty of close-ups and multiple cast & crew interviews and commentaries prove), and she gives her all to the performance. 

The other big shock moment in the movie involves a male character's genitalia cut off with bolt cutters (in full close-up, no less) and fed to a dog. The dude deserved it, but that doesn't make it any easier to watch without spending the rest of your life with your legs crossed.

I know I already gave a spoiler warning, but I gotta talk about the ending so here come EVEN MORE SPOILERY SPOILERS: our final girl escapes via the worst possible method for a movie like this: she buys her way out. That's it. She doesn't use her wits, or her inner strength, or her outer strength...she uses money. "Hey guy, I'd like to buy my way out of this slaughterhouse. I have more money than all your rich clients combined, here have some!"

Really?

Really. So...what's the message here, Eli? Horror movies get a lot of undeserved flack for being amoral, but one thing most of the best ones have is a final girl (and it's almost always a girl) who claws her way out of the movie alive through a combination of brains and brawn, proving the monster outmatched by her cunning and/or wiles. Not here, though. Our heroine saves her own ass through the power of her mighty checkbook. I just watched a man get his schwanz fed to a pack of dogs and that was the SECOND most nauseating thing about the climax of this movie.

END SPOILERS

While there was a lot to like about Hostel, I really don't think part II brought enough new to the table. There are shocks, and the leads are for the most part more likable than the leads from the first movie, but in the end it just felt too much like a trip I had already taken.