The first “Hostel” film really was a mess. It started like a teen sex comedy before descending into “Saw” meets “Texas Chainsaw Massacre”. “Hostel: Part II” is pretty much just more of the same. This one is even worse because there’s not even any mystery to what is going on this time. I’m sure many viewers would find this film shocking and disturbing. However, I just see it as rather tedious and lazy.

Beth (Lauren German “The Divide”) and her fellow American university students get talked into visiting Slovakia. Unfortunately, they’re about to check-in at the infamous hostel where they will soon be kidnapped and prepared for slaughter at the hands of rich psychopaths wanting to mutilate and murder them. It’s essentially the exact same formula as the original movie but this time, it is girls getting cut up instead of guys.

The characters in the first “Hostel” were abysmal (even by horror film standards). The characters here are not really any better. I wasn’t interested in seeing any of the kidnapped girls survive. The rich people paying to kill are also frightfully dull. Most of the characters’ deaths are pretty lousy. A horror film like this needs to be more creative with the violence.

Fans of the first “Hostel” are likely to enjoy this sequel because it delivers more sadistic torture with lots of gore. Personally, I just think this is about as bland as you can get. It just seems like depravity for the sake of it. There are some great horror films with graphic torture in them such as “Audition”. Unfortunately, the “Hostel” films just don’t engage me at all. If you have any sense of hope in humanity left, I’m sure you can find better ways to spend your precious time than sitting through a “Hostel” sequel.