Hostel: Part II is a 2007 American horror film written and directed by Eli Roth, serving as a sequel to Hostel (2005). It is the second installment in the Hostel film series. The film stars Lauren German, Roger Bart, Heather Matarazzo, Bijou Phillips and Richard Burgi, while Jay Hernandez briefly reprises his role from the first film. It was produced by Mike Fleiss, Roth, and Chris Briggs, with Boaz Yakin, Scott Spiegel, and Quentin Tarantino serving as executive producers. The plot follows three American female art students in Rome who are directed to a Slovak village where they are eventually kidnapped and taken to a facility in which rich clients pay to torture and kill other people.
After the significant box office receipts of Hostel, Roth conceived a sequel set directly after the events of the first film, opting to include three female protagonists to "up the ante." Filming took place in the fall of 2006 in Prague at Barrandov Studios, with additional photography occurring in Iceland and Slovakia.
Banned from theatrical release in several countries, Hostel: Part II had its world premiere at the Museum of the Moving Image in New York City on June 6, 2007, and was released theatrically in the United States two days later, on June 8. The film earned less than its predecessor at the box office, grossing $17 million in the United States by the end of its theatrical run, whereas the original made $19 million in its opening weekend alone. Prior to its theatrical release, a workprint of the film leaked on the Internet, and one publication at the time claimed it was the "most pirated film ever", which Roth suggested was a factor in the film's box office returns.
Plot[]
Following the events of Hostel (2005), Paxton suffers from PTSD and lives in seclusion with his girlfriend, Stephanie. After an argument where Stephanie denounces Paxton's paranoia as exaggerated and insufferable, she wakes to find his headless corpse in their kitchen. An unmarked box containing Paxton's severed head is delivered to Elite Hunting boss Sasha.
In Rome, three American art students, Beth, Whitney, and Lorna, are convinced by Axelle, a nude model they are sketching, to join her on a luxurious spa vacation in Slovakia. The four check into a hostel, where the desk clerk surreptitiously uploads their passport photos to an auction website. American businessman Todd and his best friend Stuart win the bids on Whitney and Beth. They then travel to Slovakia.
Later that night, at the village's harvest festival, Lorna discovers Beth has inherited a vast fortune from her mother. Stuart and Todd attend the festival; Todd remarks that Beth "looks like her", and then Stuart approaches Beth and the two share a friendly conversation although strange. Meanwhile, Lorna is invited by Roman, a local man, on a boat ride. In a secluded area downstream, Roman kidnaps Lorna. Beth and Whitney leave the festival while Axelle volunteers to wait for Lorna.
The next morning, the now-naked, bound, and gagged Lorna is hung upside down. A woman named Mrs. Bathory enters the room, strips off her cape and shoes, and lies naked beneath Lorna. She then uses a long scythe to repeatedly slash Lorna's back and torso, and revels in bathing in Lorna's blood, before slashing Lorna's throat. Meanwhile, Beth, Whitney, Axelle, and a local man, Miroslav, head to a spa to relax. Beth dozes off, and wakes up alone without her belongings. While looking for her friends, she is pursued by several men and flees the spa. In the woods, she is ambushed by a gang of violent gypsy street children, but is saved by Sasha and Axelle; Sasha executes one of the boys as punishment.
Later, at Sasha's remote mansion, Beth is pursued by the men from earlier and she realizes that they are associated with Sasha and Axelle. Looking for a hiding place, she discovers a room filled with human trophy heads (one of which is Paxton's). Beth is captured and taken to an abandoned factory and tied up in a room.
Beth is soon joined by Stuart, who is supposed to kill her; it turns out that Todd, who is wealthy while Stuart is not, paid for Beth for Stuart. Stuart appears to have second thoughts, unties Beth, explains the situation, and says he is "not that guy." Beth goes to the door to try to leave, but someone knocks her out.
In another room, Todd terrorizes Whitney with a power saw but loses his nerve after accidentally scalping her without killing her. Horrified, Todd tries to leave, but is informed that he must kill Whitney before leaving. Todd refuses, and tries to leave anyway, but the guards release attack dogs, which tear Todd apart.
Meanwhile, Stuart, who was the one who knocked out Beth, has completely changed his mind and is revealed to be psychotic, now intent on torturing and killing Beth. He reveals that Beth bears an extremely close resemblance to Stuart's wife, whom Stuart hates but cannot kill because it is against the law and he would be the prime suspect. Stuart then begins to torture Beth.
With Todd dead, the Elite Hunting Club offers the maimed Whitney to the other clients to kill, including an elderly Italian man who is eating Miroslav alive. Stuart, after discovering Todd's death, shows Beth the pictures of the maimed Whitney to frighten her, then accepts the club's offer, leaves Beth, and beheads Whitney.
When Stuart returns, Beth seduces him into untying her from the chair. Stuart attempts to rape her, but she fights him off and chains him to the chair. Sasha and the guards arrive at her cell. Beth offers to buy her freedom with part of her inheritance, and though Stuart tries to outbid her, Sasha reveals that he knows that Stuart cannot afford to do so. Sasha tells Beth that in order to leave, she must also kill someone. When Stuart insults Beth, she cuts off his entire genitalia and then feeds them to dogs, an act that gives pause to even the jaded guards, and leaving Stuart emasculated and bleeding to death. Satisfied, Sasha gives Beth an Elite Hunting tattoo, making her an official member.
That night, Axelle is lured by the Gypsy street children into the woods, where Beth ambushes and beheads her. Shortly after, the children start playing football with Axelle's severed head.