Film Preview: Hostel II

By: Catherine Ott

Sunday June 03, 2007

Summer Sequel
Fans of Eli Roth's cult hit Hostel, a sadistic depiction of American youths being tortured overseas for a hefty price, will be able to witness another gruesome display of repressed desire and horror genius on June 8th, when Hostel: Part II hits theaters.

The film features a new cast, starring: Lauren German, Roger Bart, Heather Matarazzo Bijou Phillips, Richard Burgi, Vera Jordanova, Milan Knazko, and Stanislav Ianevski.

In Hostel Part II, three young, naive American women, Beth, Lorna and Whitney, travel abroad to Rome, where they encounter a beautiful European woman who invites them to an exotic spa for a decadent few days of relaxation in a remote part of Slovakia. "Women in jeopardy and women in horror are kind of a staple of the genre," says Roth. "In this particular scenario, the girls traveling in Europe feel more vulnerable than the guys did in the first movie. It raises the stakes for the audience." Eerily familiar to the premise first Hostel movie, one can only imagine what horrifying events these young women will encounter.

For those horror movie buffs, Lauren German, who plays the role of Beth in the film, may also be seen in the recent remake of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.

As for the intensely violent scenes, Bijou Phillips, who plays Beth, says, "I don't think I could do something like this again...I'm glad that I had the experience, and I love my job, but we went into places that I didn't know existed, and I don't need to do that again."

Hostel: Part II, another glimpse into the minds of people who are willing to pay any price commit any suppressed desires they may have, even when it comes to human lives.

Unlike it's predecessor, Hostel: Part II delves deeper into the lives of the people who pay to torture. In this film, two American men who become a part of Elite Hunting are focused on, giving a viewpoint that is more close to home. Richard Burgi, who plays the role of Todd in the film, speaks of this element, "I'd like audiences to walk away with a sense of introspection about their own dark, repressed side - and, hopefully, look to themselves for some sort of change."

In theaters June 8th