I was not a fan of the first one. As a matter of fact I have spent quite a bit of time talking about just how much I felt it sucked. As you can expect I was figuring HOSTEL PART II, which by all accounts from other reviews and such, was pretty much HOSTEL with chicks to be a chip off the old turd. Imagine my surprise when I found myself actually digging the film.

MILD SPOILERS AHEAD, ENTER AT YOUR OWN RISK!!

So we re-enter the HOSTEL universe at pretty much the same point we left off. We are on the train with the hero(?) from our first film. Things with him are dispensed of pretty quickly though and we soon find ourselves traveling with a trio of chicks who are wandering the streets of Europe.

As one may guess they soon hear of that hidden garden paradise SLOVAKIA and are soon on the train heading to what they think is the vacation spot of a lifetime. Here is where Roth begins to sway just a bit from his original formula. He actually spends some time and has a little character development. We learn some pretty cool things about our three traveling vixens and yes, we get a bit attached to them. Now we actually care what happens to them, we are involved. Isn't it amazing how that works.

As the ladies arrive in town things look pretty much how we remember them from the original. When they arrive at the HOSTEL they are greeted by the same creepy desk clerk and again Roth sways from the original and delves into how the bidding takes place that leads to our girlfriends getting sliced and diced. As we watch the girls having fun, we see the bidding process taking place via email, cell phone, and other assorted electronic media. It really is creepy. Probably the scariest part of the film, actually.

With the bidding complete two more characters are introduced as we meet the men who are traveling from the US to SLOVAKIA to carry out their demented fantasies. I can't give to much away but lets just leave it at things are not as they seem to be.

The original HOSTEL was the film that coined that annoying catch phrase “torture porn” but it seems that Roth felt the need to live up to his labeling as there are boobs and blood a plenty. Actually the gore scenes end up distracting from the rather interesting story this time around. Yep, the gore slows the film down. It is well done though but with Nicotero and Berger at the helm, what the hell do you expect.

Another thing I liked is the fact that as far as I could tell Eli Roth actually didn't make a cameo in this one. If he did, I missed it. He seemed to be taking this one a little more seriously and it showed as his shot composition and the over all look and feel of this one seems much more professional. HOSTEL 2 seems to have been made by a mature film maker. I didn't get the feeling that while they were shooting there was a kegger going on in the next room. Roth is maturing and because of that I think he may have lost a bit of his fan base.

I know that Roth wanted to blame the poor box office on “Internet piracy” but truth be told I think he just made a film that was a little to serious for his “dude, pass the joint” fan base. Like it or not, he is becoming a film maker.

HOSTEL PART II certainly has its problems, it is not a perfect film by any stretch but I think it is a far cry from the type of film that Roth had been making and may be the first step in a new direction for him.

I look forward to what the future holds for this young talent. It would be interesting if his next project would be bloodless and focus more on character. He started going there this time around but old habits are hard to break.

HOSTEL PART II hits DVD on Oct. 23^rd.