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Friday, March 29
The Indiana Daily Student

Hostel: Part II-B

Blood, guts and tears

Much like when the first "Hostel" came out, plenty of critical disgust was spewed forth, for it was "too shocking" and "grotesque." What most fail to realize is the first film, and now "Hostel: Part II," came out at opportune times when the American box office managed to be flooded with unnecessary remakes of horror classics, "Saw" sequels and Japanese horror films dumbed down for our audiences. Sure it's a sequel, but its a worthy one at that.\nMuch like in the first flick, this time we find three college girls studying abroad in Europe, when one of their new friends tells them of an amazing new spa in Slovakia. But as soon as they arrive, their bodies are eBayed to the highest corporate bidder who wants to try his hand at murder. \n"Part II" does a lot of smart things, notably showing how the auction process works,and following the two men who win the bid and travel to Europe to commit murder. Once the gals arrive at the hostel, everything takes on an eerie sense of déjà vu, for we see plenty of familiar faces and behaviors, and even the Bubblegum Gang. Perhaps the only thing that doesn't work is Jay Hernandez's reprisal role of Paxton, who he recounts what happened in the first film. Plus director Eli Roth throws another cameo at us: in the first film it was director Takashi Miike ("Audition") walking out of the slaughterhouse; this time we catch Ruggero "Cannibal Holocaust" Deodato dining on some flesh. \n I won't spoil the body count by saying who dies and how, but I still feel the Japanese girl from the first film who has her eyeball cut off is far more gruesome than anything in this film. "Part II" digs a bit deeper to show us how this system really works, but with Roth saying he's done with the series, one must be content with the unanswered questions left at the end for the sequel to really work.

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