Hostel: Part II - Let the Controversy Begin

Every time a "torture horror" film, (or "torture porn": term coined by New York Magazine's critic David Edelstein,), is released, it does so surrounded by the inevitable controversy that always seems to follow these movies.

The latest to encounter such controversy is Hostel: Part II. Released on June 8th in the United States, it has been under the scrutiny of the media and film critics alike. Some have called Roth's film a number of things, including sexist, misogynistic, sadistic, cruel, vile, pornographic, etc.

Some go as far as to claim that these types of films will only bring the decay of human values and morals and that they will cause, to use a famous quote from BBC critic Mark Kermode, "the end of civilization as we know it". (Ok, critics didn't really use those words, I'm exaggerating, but you know what I mean).

Probably, the most offended critic of the bunch has to be David Poland over at the Hot Button. In reference to a scene (pictured below) in which actress Heather Matarazzo is tortured hanging naked upside down, he writes:

" [...] a scence that was the most disgusting, degrading, misogynistic, soulless shit I have ever seen in a movie that is going to be released widely in this country."

And about Eli Roth he has this to say:

"And at that moment for me, this was no longer just a stupid, masturbatory, poorly directed shit piece of horror porn. Eli Roth became a little less human to me."

And if David Poland and Eli Roth crossed paths?

"I never did respect Roth's work. Now, if he and I crossed paths, I would refuse to shake his hand. I would extinguish the fire if he was burning, using something quicker than urine, but I'm not sure that I wouldn't consider it karmic payback for him."

In conclusion, Poland says he is:

"[...] disgusted with the company [Lion's Gate] for releasing the film and I will be disgusted if critics and writers and even crazy right wing talk show hosts don't stand up and do more than dismiss this as a "another one of those". There must be a line in this world and Hostel II crosses it at the most basic level of humanity."

Over at NPR's (National Public Radio) website, Poland had this to say:

"I don't think there's any question that it leads to a certain coarsening of culture. The question is where that ultimately leads in the spiritual lives ... of people watching it."

Another critic, Jeffrey Welles over at Hollywood Elsewhere, was equally outraged. On his blog he wonders:

" [...] if there's a line of any kind out there, or whether we've passed in a moral-spiritual realm in which lines have basically ceased to exist."

and this:

"I know there are some readers who will think me old-school and fuddy-duddyish for asking this, but is there anything that viewers won't stand for?"

Other critics offended and/or disgusted by the movie are:

• Jim Schembri, from the Australian newspaper The Age says that "Hostel: Part 2 is not a horror film. It's pornography. In this case, it is an unfathomably vile piece of misogynist, sadistic pornography [...].
  
• Scott Bowles of USA Today states: "Certainly, porn-torture is what passes for horror these days, and Hostel gleefully pushes the envelope. If this movie is any indication, Roth's career goal is to make a snuff film."
• And then there was Nikki Finke at Deadline Hollywood calling the film "disgusting" without even seeing it and that "Lionsgate deserves to feel the effects of piracy (not to mention the wrath of mankind) for distributing such a disgusting film. I always support a moviemaker's right to make whatever creative project he wants. But when businesses profit off uber-violence, the marketplace shouldn't reward them." (in reference to the news of pirated copies of Hostel: Part II appearing on the streets before the film had even opened in theaters)
  

And some of the critics who liked the film are:

• Marc Savlov for the Austin Chronicle writes: "Social commentary, gore galore, and a truly disturbing denouement: This is Roth's best nightmare yet."
• One of my favorite reviewers, Dustin Putman at themovieboy.com completely defends the film: "The bonus, then, is that a veritable craftsman like Roth is behind the camera; he doesn't make exploitation movies for exploitation's sake, but is an intelligent artist who brings a great deal of sociological layers to his projects."
• Even Variety and The Hollywood Reporter gave it a positive review.

If you want to check out all the reviews you can do so at Rotten Tomatoes. The count so far are 30 positive reviews versus 28 negative ones. And that just goes to show how divisive of a film this one is.


My opinion:

I'm speaking as a non-fan of the genre and I'm not going to comment on the artistic merits of Hostel or Hostel: Part II since I haven't seen either of them, but in terms of this whole controversy and uproar here's what I think.

All I can say to people like Poland and Welles is ... whoa! calm down, take it easy. I know it sounds cliché and all, but yeah, it is only a movie. It is fiction, not reality, it all comes down to make up and make believe. It's not like the people who participated in this film were forced or coerced to be in it. The actors and actresses who took on the roles did it because they wanted to and if they saw some artistic merit in it, then good for them!

Of course Poland and Welles have every right to be offended and appalled by Hostel: Part II, but if there is one thing I hate, it is movie critics who like to act as some sort of moral policeman or watchmen and go around telling people no to see a movie because they were offended by it. (Oh, and Poland didn't see the film in theaters, he bought a pirated copy of the DVD on the street). By publishing these kinds of responses you're playing along to what Roth wants: controversy. And he seems to have absolutely no problem with it.

Although I'm not really sure controversy helped this time, since the film did quite bad a the U.S. box office in its first weekend. It grossed only 8.2 million in over 2,350 theaters. There can be two explanations as to why this might be: 1) It really was a terrible time to open a horror movie of these characteristics when it was competing against the heavy summer blockbusters like Pirates 3, Shrek 3, Ocean's 13, etc or 2) Audiences are getting tired of the genre, since there seems to be an overkill of R-rated horror movies nowadays.


I've got some advice for Poland, Welles and everybody else out there: if you know you don't like these sort of films and have problems with them, then don't watch em'. It is as simple as that. (An advice that I myself have taken to heart.)

I wasn't planning on seeing Hostel: Part II (like I said earlier, I'm not a fan of the genre and these movies aren't my cup of tea) but after all this hoopla, I am actually going to. I want to give it a shot. Call it morbid curiosity or just curiosity to see if the movie is even worth all the ink spilled. That way I can have my own opinion. (Unlike Nikki Finke, who was criticizing the movie without even seeing it). I'll just have to wait a bit, since it doesn't open until the 20th of July in my country.