Hostel: Part II
Short description
Three American art students studying in Rome take a weekend trip, persuaded by a classmate to visit a hostel in Slovakia where they can relax and enjoy themselves. What waits for them there is the opposite of a holiday: the establishment serves as a front for an organization that sells captive people to wealthy clients who pay to torture and kill them. The three friends become the next targets.
Eli Roth wrote and directed the film, the sequel to his 2006 horror feature Hostel and the third title in his directing career after Cabin Fever. Lauren German, Heather Matarazzo and Bijou Phillips play Beth, Lorna and Whitney, with Vera Jordanova as Axelle, Jay Hernandez returning as Paxton and Roger Bart as Stuart; seventy-one cast members are credited in all. Roth also produced alongside Chris Briggs and Mike Fleiss.
Made for around 10 million dollars, the film took roughly 36 million dollars worldwide, a solid return on a modest budget. Audience responses were mixed: on IMDb it holds 5.5 out of 10 from about 102,000 votes, and on TMDB 5.9 from some 2,280. A critics' rating of 5.3 from 111 reviews places professional opinion slightly below the audience scores, so the film drew a largely middling reception on both sides rather than a strongly divided one.
What's left behind the scenes
- The name of Mrs. Báthory, the character played by Monika Maláčová, alludes to the famous Elizabeth Báthory, the notorious "Bloody Countess" of the 15th-16th centuries, who was known for bathing in the blood of virgins in the hope of preserving her youth; she ordered the deaths of over 600 girls. Over time, information emerged that this story was merely a fabrication, a legend.
- Roth managed to find Edwige Fenech in Italy during the distribution tour of "Hostel." He wrote the episodic role of the art professor specifically for her.
- During filming in Prague, producers repeatedly offered Heather Matarazzo, who had been sober for a year at that point, pills of unknown origin to help her sleep, and each time she had to refuse. When Bijou Phillips learned about Heather's sobriety, she pinned her against a wall and grabbed her by the throat, saying, “I’ll make you relapse.”
- Ruggero Deodato's role as a refined Italian cannibal in the film was no accident, considering he created a whole series of slashers, among which "Cannibal Holocaust" (1979) enjoyed particular cult popularity.
- Eli Roth is a fan of giallo and slasher films from the 1970s, so the film featured stars of these genres – director Ruggero Deodato and actors Luke Menda and Edwige Fenech. Menda and Fenech agreed to participate in the filming after a long absence from the screen.
- Filming period: November 26, 2006 – January 29, 2007.
- Among the severed heads displayed in the hideout, we can see the head of Roth himself, as well as the head of Tarantino.
- Edwige Fenech was located in Italy by the director during the theatrical release tour of the first 'Hostel'. The persistence of the American fan so surprised the actress that she agreed; Roth wrote the episodic role of the art professor specifically for her.
- Two girls in the hostel are watching the movie "Pulp Fiction" (1994) on television. Quentin Tarantino is an executive producer of both "Hostel" series.
- During the torture scene, Stuart says – "I am Hercules." Roger Bart plays Stuart, who also voiced young Hercules in the Disney animated film of the same name from 1997.
- When Beth enters Axel's room, she sees her in a photograph with Natasha and Svetlana, the heroines of the first "Hostel".
Similar movies
Auditions in India
Casting calls in USA
Castingi w Polsce
Кастинги в Україні
