Hostel 1 perhaps I was too harsh on you

Look the third act is a bit of stupid fun, but the majority of this movie is a tonally confused mess that feels in a totally different world than the first. I prefer the first’s pulled back, let the mind imagine approach if the torture shown is going to be as bland and lifeless as it is here. Whatever themes the film has are surface level and shallow- Eli Roth has nothing interesting to say about misogyny, and while Beth’s arc is a fun and interesting direction on the surface, she’s not developed enough for it to land.

This film lacks the first film’s relative clarity and focus on the ugliness of American entitlement, or Paxton’s comparative growth. The performances aren’t as good either. It’s the tone of Thanksgiving and it just doesn’t work. The expansion of the lore feels unnecessary, oddly John Wickian but without the knowing self seriousness of it. And the kids were silly in the first one but the way they’re used here is utterly baffling. If this is what Hostel became with Roth still at the helm I can’t imagine what the third one is like.