Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Hostel: Part III

Scott Spiegel - 2011 - USA

I’m not sure we needed Hostel II let alone Hostel III, but as long as it happened, I couldn’t resist checking it out.  I grudgingly admired Eli Roth’s original film for its confident yet economical style, but most of that goodwill was scattered by his pretty unimaginative sequel.  Roth wisely declined the director’s chair this time, as this third in-name-only installment is little different from all the other worn out “torture porn” outings of recent years.  Most of the killings are absurdly outlandish and not all that frightening to boot.  Absolutely the only thing that impressed me at all was the inclusion of something I’d long wanted to see in one of these movies.  John Hensley plays a victim who opts to retain some sort of dignity while facing death rather than struggling and screaming and pleading in a cold sweat as every other quarry does in almost exactly the same way.  If I used a star system for rating movies, I’d give this one a star just for the Hensley character alone.

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