This is about friends who rent a cabin to party, drink and have sex. It’s in the middle of nowhere, but people begin to bother them the first night, including a man infected with some kind of flesh-eating disease.
The plot spreads out from there, but goes nowhere interesting. That’s thanks mostly to its deadpan storytelling and characterization, which, by the end of the movie, has the absurdity thermostat in the red zone.
my rating : 1 of 5
2002
The best thing about this Grindhouse flick is the song that plays at the end. It’s a cute ditty that fits the plot; about a stuntman named Mike who drives around in a Chevy Nova he describes as Death Proof. By the time the pretty girl in the passenger seat realizes that description only applies to him, she’s about dead.
It’s a two-part story that would be better as one. The first half, set in Texas, at least has sexy stylization going for it. It’s also overlayed with retro movie theater effects. The second (Tennessee) half, which looks more like a regular movie, is closer to a borefest than a joyride as it stalls itself in mundane dialogue.
my rating : 2 of 5
2007
“I think this just might be my masterpiece,” a character says to another just before the ending credits begin. It’s an obvious wink from director Quentin Tarantino. Inglourious Basterds is his best movie yet, even better than Jackie Brown and Reservoir Dogs, and he seems to know it. There’s no “might” about it. It’s a masterpiece. It’s also one of the best movies I’ve ever seen.
The story takes place during WW2 as Nazis, led by Hitler, seize control of France, killing Jews along the way. Their opposition? A small troop of Jewish soldiers whose primary goal is to kill Nazis and off their scalps for souvenirs. It’s a brutal battle with clever crossplots; scenes simmer with suspence until someone’s killed once their cover is blown; thrown in for narrative measure.
my rating : 5 of 5
2009
![video review : Hostel [ Part 2 ]](https://marcellee.com/posts/12686.jpg)
Perhaps I’m a little “sick”. I think it’s morally wrong to torture and kill people for no justifiable reason, but I can understand, even relate to, the desire to do it, especially when the victim is a girl who’s as sexually attractive as actress Lauren German. She plays a wealthy art student named Beth, who, along with two of her female classmates and the model girl they were assigned to draw, decide to take a train to Slovakia for a little “spa” vacation. That’s where the danger begins. Eventually one of the girls is hanging upside down from a ceiling, dripping sweat and gushing blood.
That scene, a display of lesbian sadism, is a turn-on. That’s where it goes back to me being a little sick. I’m not a sadist in that I’d ever do what these Hostel clients do; pay money to get their rocks off by torturing and killing innocent people; but it can be a thrill to watch. That’s the point of this movie; a Part 2 that’s a lot more entertaining than its predecessor partially because the main victims are cute girls but mostly because Eli Roth, probably inspired by mentor Quentin Tarantino, manages to provide an engaging, sometimes surprisingly suspenseful, plot.
It’s not quite a good movie. The individual parts are better than the whole. The beginning, an epilogue sort of prelude, is unnecessary. The ending, in which one of the girls starts behaving in a way that seems to go against her character; the set-up to another sequel; is just plain silly. This second Hostel is a movie I’d nonetheless recommend to anyone who’s into bloody horror and already had the displeasure of sitting thru the first one… or any sicko who gets a psychological rush from the sights and sounds of girls screaming, crying and wiggling around in physical anguish.
my rating : 3 of 5
2007