DVD's and Films You Have Watched Recently

[Guest Dangerous Dave]

It's appalling in it's treatment of.... Eastern Europeans

Lets just hope we don't see them protesting on the streets of England. Edited June 30, 2007 by Dangerous Dave

[Rob Lowe]

I've seen loads of films lately, but none have really made me want to comment, until now. Despite loathing the first one, I went to see (read: was dragged to) Hostel Part II tonight and yeah, I felt pretty sick when it was over. Sick that I had paid money to see this. Sick that it got made. Sick that the actors and actresses involved put their names to it. Sick that Eli Roth is still making films. Sick that some people actually like this shit.Hostel Part II might just be the single most offensive and misogynistic film to emerge from the bowels of Hollywood since the 70's, when exploitation and grindhouse pictures were all the rage. Back then nobody really cared about the messages sent by these movies, you just went with it, but we've moved on. Or have we? If this is anything to go by, maybe not. The women in this film exist just to be horribly humilated and tortured, often described with the words "bitch" and "cunt" . Make no mistake, this "film" is Eli Roth's woman-hating side pushed to the forefront. I would not be surprised if the working title for the script was "Bitch Had It Coming" . It's appalling in it's treatment of not only women, but Eastern Europeans and human beings in general. As for the film itself, it's shoddy from the opening frame. It's a nasty mess, with underdeveloped characters doing stupid things. Once again, Roth thinks he's clever, but his attempts to be subversive are absolutely laughable. He makes questionable decisions in practically every scene, not least of which...

bringing back the surviving "hero" from the first movie to kill him off in wasteful pointless circumstances for no real reason whatsoever, presumably just because nobody's expecting it. It worked when Wes Craven killed off Drew Barrymore in the opening scene of Scream, but sorry Eli, you're not Wes Craven, this isn't Scream and killing off Jay Hernandez serves absolutely no purpose.

...and lots more besides. The acting is below average, the dialogue is poor and the film is extremely boring. As for the gore? One scene is admittedly hard to stomach even for a hard to shock fellow like myself, mostly because it's very uncomfortable to the point of just feeling wrong. Horror films have death scenes that can shock you and make you think, or they can have really gory scenes that make you squirm and snuggle up to your date. This scene has none of these elements and just leaves you feeling uncomfortable. Hey, that's probably what Roth wants, and if that's the case, then fuck him, because it doesn't take talent to do that. Anyone can make a snuff film. The film just rumbles along really, towards a ridiculous climax. The underlying message is clear, that murder is in all of us, victim becomes killer, blah blah blah blah fucking blah. Enough. I've seen this theme done well and that was in Last House On The Left and The Hills Have Eyes, two films over 30 years old, with little gore and gimmickery. Eli Roth needs to stop making films. He needs to go away. He is an insult to the genre he thinks he's a master of. I am angry that I gave this cunt, for I can think of no other word to describe him, my hard earned money. Rest assured, it will never happen again. If you must see this film, and you really really don't need to, please don't spend a fucking penny on it. And if you enjoy this film, please never have children, because it appears there's enough women-hating pricks in the world as it is.

In simple terms I pretty much agree with everything you say.I am not a big horror fan at all but had heard Eli Roth interviewed on the Howard Stern show last month and became interested due to his good sales pitch and boasts of a "mind blowing ending". At least Roth is good friends with the films producer Quentin Tarantino. So it should be half decent surely?Hell no! This film is awful. On the plus side, I watched it on tv-links.co.uk so I didnt add to the films gross and the slightly fuzzy picture made the gore a little less nasty.To be honest with all the hype, I was expecting to chuck up while watching this. Thankfully the gore wasnt that bad, but still very grim and often unnecessary.I thought the lead three girls played their roles well, but the characters they played were extremely one dimensional. Its like Roth picked their personalities from a list in a film book. "In this film I will have the sensible leader, an ugly duckling.......and a fiesty one!"

He makes questionable decisions in practically every scene, not least of which...

Agreed, your spoiler is a good example. Not only was it pointless but It also made me laugh, not because it was genuinely funny but because it was so randomly stupid.I thought the dumbest parts of the film were the scenes.....

that involved Todd and Stuart. Todd is a muscular psycho who adores the hostel business, he bids large sums of money on a girl and is ecstatic when winning an auction. Stuart is his quieter friend who isnt too sure about this. Todd assures Stuart they are in the right. Everybody out here does it, "we're the normal people!"Therefore it is confusing when Stuart bottles out of his killing after he buggers it up. The scene was distressing but Stuart seemed to be having shitloads of fun until he accidentally scalps his girl. This leads to him refusing to finish her off out of guilt and breaking down, even though he has been depicted as a nutcase through the whole film.This leads to his gruesome end which I found funny because it was again random and stupid.Stuart is the opposite, he is a quiet guy who isnt down with this Hostel lark and hopes to release Beth, although after seeing Stuarts mangled remains and the fact that Beth didnt sleep with him during the film, he goes absolutely insane in about six seconds. He now wants to torture Beth although he has been reluctant to kill and quiet throughout the whole film.

The first torture scene involves a good six minutes of a girl screaming and crying which made me very uncomfortable, this scene seemed to be a good excuse to use lots of gore, tits and to be as controversial as possible.I have no idea why there is a gang of psycho children in the woods.

Beth's release is a huge non-sensical cop out and I didnt really care about the castration scene due to the fact that Stuart was a nice guy five minutes ago. I thought that throwing it for the dogs to eat was mega corny too.The final football scene wasnt funny and didnt feel like revenge for her friends due to Beth switching over to the dark side.

This film was just a nonsensical mess. I laughed when I was supposed to be scared, I cringed when I was supposed to laugh. I couldn't root for any of the heroines due to the poor script, I couldn't hate any of the bad guys due to the poor script. I didnt learn anything and It didnt make me think about anything.Most important of all is that it just wasn't entertaining. Shit film, Thumbs down. Avoid.

[rockbus]

I've seen loads of films lately, but none have really made me want to comment, until now. Despite loathing the first one, I went to see (read: was dragged to) Hostel Part II tonight and yeah, I felt pretty sick when it was over. Sick that I had paid money to see this. Sick that it got made. Sick that the actors and actresses involved put their names to it. Sick that Eli Roth is still making films. Sick that some people actually like this shit.Hostel Part II might just be the single most offensive and misogynistic film to emerge from the bowels of Hollywood since the 70's, when exploitation and grindhouse pictures were all the rage. Back then nobody really cared about the messages sent by these movies, you just went with it, but we've moved on. Or have we? If this is anything to go by, maybe not. The women in this film exist just to be horribly humilated and tortured, often described with the words "bitch" and "cunt" . Make no mistake, this "film" is Eli Roth's woman-hating side pushed to the forefront. I would not be surprised if the working title for the script was "Bitch Had It Coming" . It's appalling in it's treatment of not only women, but Eastern Europeans and human beings in general. As for the film itself, it's shoddy from the opening frame. It's a nasty mess, with underdeveloped characters doing stupid things. Once again, Roth thinks he's clever, but his attempts to be subversive are absolutely laughable. He makes questionable decisions in practically every scene, not least of which...

bringing back the surviving "hero" from the first movie to kill him off in wasteful pointless circumstances for no real reason whatsoever, presumably just because nobody's expecting it. It worked when Wes Craven killed off Drew Barrymore in the opening scene of Scream, but sorry Eli, you're not Wes Craven, this isn't Scream and killing off Jay Hernandez serves absolutely no purpose.

...and lots more besides. The acting is below average, the dialogue is poor and the film is extremely boring. As for the gore? One scene is admittedly hard to stomach even for a hard to shock fellow like myself, mostly because it's very uncomfortable to the point of just feeling wrong. Horror films have death scenes that can shock you and make you think, or they can have really gory scenes that make you squirm and snuggle up to your date. This scene has none of these elements and just leaves you feeling uncomfortable. Hey, that's probably what Roth wants, and if that's the case, then fuck him, because it doesn't take talent to do that. Anyone can make a snuff film. The film just rumbles along really, towards a ridiculous climax. The underlying message is clear, that murder is in all of us, victim becomes killer, blah blah blah blah fucking blah. Enough. I've seen this theme done well and that was in Last House On The Left and The Hills Have Eyes, two films over 30 years old, with little gore and gimmickery. Eli Roth needs to stop making films. He needs to go away. He is an insult to the genre he thinks he's a master of. I am angry that I gave this cunt, for I can think of no other word to describe him, my hard earned money. Rest assured, it will never happen again. If you must see this film, and you really really don't need to, please don't spend a fucking penny on it. And if you enjoy this film, please never have children, because it appears there's enough women-hating pricks in the world as it is.

In simple terms I pretty much agree with everything you say.I am not a big horror fan at all but had heard Eli Roth interviewed on the Howard Stern show last month and became interested due to his good sales pitch and boasts of a "mind blowing ending". At least Roth is good friends with the films producer Quentin Tarantino. So it should be half decent surely?Hell no! This film is awful. On the plus side, I watched it on tv-links.co.uk so I didnt add to the films gross and the slightly fuzzy picture made the gore a little less nasty.To be honest with all the hype, I was expecting to chuck up while watching this. Thankfully the gore wasnt that bad, but still very grim and often unnecessary.I thought the lead three girls played their roles well, but the characters they played were extremely one dimensional. Its like Roth picked their personalities from a list in a film book. "In this film I will have the sensible leader, an ugly duckling.......and a fiesty one!"

He makes questionable decisions in practically every scene, not least of which...

Agreed, your spoiler is a good example. Not only was it pointless but It also made me laugh, not because it was genuinely funny but because it was so randomly stupid.I thought the dumbest parts of the film were the scenes.....

that involved Todd and Stuart. Todd is a muscular psycho who adores the hostel business, he bids large sums of money on a girl and is ecstatic when winning an auction. Stuart is his quieter friend who isnt too sure about this. Todd assures Stuart they are in the right. Everybody out here does it, "we're the normal people!"Therefore it is confusing when Stuart bottles out of his killing after he buggers it up. The scene was distressing but Stuart seemed to be having shitloads of fun until he accidentally scalps his girl. This leads to him refusing to finish her off out of guilt and breaking down, even though he has been depicted as a nutcase through the whole film.This leads to his gruesome end which I found funny because it was again random and stupid.Stuart is the opposite, he is a quiet guy who isnt down with this Hostel lark and hopes to release Beth, although after seeing Stuarts mangled remains and the fact that Beth didnt sleep with him during the film, he goes absolutely insane in about six seconds. He now wants to torture Beth although he has been reluctant to kill and quiet throughout the whole film.

The first torture scene involves a good six minutes of a girl screaming and crying which made me very uncomfortable, this scene seemed to be a good excuse to use lots of gore, tits and to be as controversial as possible.I have no idea why there is a gang of psycho children in the woods.

Beth's release is a huge non-sensical cop out and I didnt really care about the castration scene due to the fact that Stuart was a nice guy five minutes ago. I thought that throwing it for the dogs to eat was mega corny too.The final football scene wasnt funny and didnt feel like revenge for her friends due to Beth switching over to the dark side.

This film was just a nonsensical mess. I laughed when I was supposed to be scared, I cringed when I was supposed to laugh. I couldn't root for any of the heroines due to the poor script, I couldn't hate any of the bad guys due to the poor script. I didnt learn anything and It didnt make me think about anything.Most important of all is that it just wasn't entertaining. Shit film, Thumbs down. Avoid.

As a big fan of the Saw films, Hostel had always been on my list of films to see, but never got round to it. Plus Eli Roth's first film, Cabin Fever was awful, which put me off somewhat However, with the sequel coming out, and the fact I'd picked up a cheap copy recently, I sat down to watch it yesterday morning.I thought it was a breath of fresh air in horror. Boys not girls was a good start, and the fact that over half of the film felt more like Eurotrip with no Michelle Trachtenberg to admire and less jokes really wasn't what I was expecting (check out the creepy gay guy in railway carriage scenes for similarities). There wasn't as much blood and guts as I expected, and the majority of the toture was off screen, and left to the imagination, which really took me by suprise, pleasantly. The group of children, whilst not exactly the most comfortable thing to watch were a good plot device, and a healthy dose of black humour ran through the film. Lastly, and most impressively for me though, was the use of puss and vomit. It's always niggled me that horror makes don't put enough vomit into their films, as surely the sights of decpaitated friends, the smell of rotting flesh etc, would cause people to at least retch. Eli Roth did this, and it made me happy. Basically, any film that can supply a hearty belly laugh, followed by making me retch within 5 minutes is ok in my book, so thumbs up for Hostel.So therefore, I trekked off to see Hostel 2 last night. Back to stereotypical girls was a bad move, as the characters were just the same as the stereotypes as in every other horror movie ever, right down to the point where there's a cool one and a nerdy one who don't get along, and simply put some of the cliches used were horrendous.

The worst example having to be a chair hooked underneath a door handle before a girl hides in a cupboard. How many times has this been used?

The who idea of spending a lot of time focused on the two guys who have paid to torture the girls horrified me to be honest, as it was obviously intended to humanise those involved, and show that they're not just mindless killers and do have reasons and mental issues causing them to want to carry out act of torture and sadism, which is not what horror should ever been about in my opinion. Saw somewhat touches on it with Jigsaw, but it always leaves a healthy dose of hatred for the man in there, so you are always rooting for the other party whatever happens.

Plus, the nerdy girl's death, hanging over the bath, whilst the woman below cut her with a scythe and bathed in her blood was blatantly overly sexual. The idea of Gornograhy to me has always been that the gore/blood/guts is blatant, obvious and to an extent gratuitous, like the sex is in pornography. These seemed to be wanting to make the killing sexual, and pushed things a bit far.

The ending was contrived, and played a little bit too much on Saw for my liking, and overall it was just a huge let down. I have an unlimited card at Cineworld, so in the last few weeks I've seen 28 Weeks Later, Paradise Lost, The Hitcher, Vacancy, and now Hostel Pt 2, and I was expecting it to stand out in some way. However, it got lost in the pack, felt more hollywood, more overproduced, and more like a remake than any of those others. 28 Weeks Later is still the only horror film this year that would be worthy of repeated viewing on DVD, and I am keen to see what Saw 4 is going to throw our way come Halloween.

[Mr. Seven]

28 Weeks Later is excellent, a horror film with something to say. I really enjoyed Vacancy too. They did a lot with very little.

[Murtz]

I was going to go and watch Vacancy.. but was put off by all the horrible reviews it got?.. As for Hostel.. I was gobsmacked when I saw the synopsis on Sky Movies, the film for FOUR STARS!.

[LaGoosh]

Yeah but Sky Movies aren't exactly credible movie reviewers. I'm pretty sure they give everything great reviews.

[stylesclash05]

Whilst Hostel 2 was better than the first it was still not a great film. Unlike the last one it had a little bit of build up and a story to it but again there was too much slow build up and not enough actualy torutre and interesting stuff. Wasn't sure what to think about the ending either, not sure if I liked it or not.

[rockbus]

Whilst Hostel 2 was better than the first it was still not a great film. Unlike the last one it had a little bit of build up and a story to it but again there was too much slow build up and not enough actualy torutre and interesting stuff. Wasn't sure what to think about the ending either, not sure if I liked it or not.

One bit of torture/gore in a film with excellent build up is much much better than a film with no build up and lots of gore.

[stylesclash05]

Whilst Hostel 2 was better than the first it was still not a great film. Unlike the last one it had a little bit of build up and a story to it but again there was too much slow build up and not enough actualy torutre and interesting stuff. Wasn't sure what to think about the ending either, not sure if I liked it or not.

One bit of torture/gore in a film with excellent build up is much much better than a film with no build up and lots of gore.

The build up is anything but excellent in this case though.

[rockbus]

Whilst Hostel 2 was better than the first it was still not a great film. Unlike the last one it had a little bit of build up and a story to it but again there was too much slow build up and not enough actualy torutre and interesting stuff. Wasn't sure what to think about the ending either, not sure if I liked it or not.

One bit of torture/gore in a film with excellent build up is much much better than a film with no build up and lots of gore.

The build up is anything but excellent in this case though.

Yes, you're right, but your post suggests you don't want any build up, you just want people getting brutally murdered.

[Mr. Seven]

Giving Hostel 2 any kind of praise means your opinion really doesn't count for shit.

[ultimo the great]

Une liaison pornographique (A Pornographic Affair )

If someone discribed this to me i wouldn't have watched it but it was actually very good. The title makes it sound like a movie raincoaters would go and see in the 60's. A woman place's an ad looking for someone who has the same fantasy as herself. It's told in flashbacks as they both tell a Therapist. It's the sort of film you tell your girlfriend your going to watch she tells you your a pervert, she ends up watching it loves it and thinks you have a soul. I'd like to know what that secret was mind.

[Chest Rockwell]

=

Edited July 1, 2007 by Who has called me Hage?

[Egg Shen]

The Elephant Man - watched it last night, such a sad movie. This film toys with your emotions like no other ive seen, one minute your sad, then your angry, then appalled then happy again, then the ending is truly heartbreaking...an absolute classic.

[LaGoosh]

Giving Hostel 2 any kind of praise means your opinion really doesn't count for shit.

Don't start.I saw the leak version of Hostel 2 and didn't like it. I thought the first one had some good scenes and alot of potential but this really was just a dull rehash of the flawed original. The only thing I did think was good was how the security had been upgraded, it was a neat touch but apart from that the acting, script and pretty much everything was poor. If you listen to Eli Roth in interviews he really is completely up his own arse which is a shame because I think with a little guidance there could be a potentially okay director in their somewhere.