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[Butcher Block] The Torture and Blood Bath of ‘Hostel: Part II’

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Butcher Block is a weekly series celebrating horror’s most extreme films and the minds behind them. Dedicated to graphic gore and splatter, each week will explore the dark, the disturbed, and the depraved in horror, and the blood and guts involved. For the films that use special effects of gore as an art form, and the fans that revel in the carnage, this series is for you.

Eli Roth’s Hostel was the first film to be dubbed “torture porn” by critics, one of many horror films released in the early 2000s that earned the label for their graphic depictions of violence, gore, nudity, torture, and mutilation. It was a term created out of derision, with some critics taking offense to the depiction of gore. It’s almost ironic considering that while the torture scenes are graphic and elicit visceral reactions, Roth spends a large chunk of the film’s run time intentionally driving the audience crazy with his breakdown of American stereotypes of Eastern Europe, and an uncomfortable depiction of a specific type of American. In short, you tend to wish for the characters’ deaths long before it happens. The college students in the film travel to Europe expecting to buy women and get bought themselves. It’s a clever treatise made further uncomfortable by sliced Achilles tendons, eyeball trauma, severed limbs, and blunt force trauma.

Hostel: Part II picks up immediately after the first film, wrapping up Paxton’s story before introducing the viewer to three new unwitting Americans. This time, they’re three female art students that are lured to their doom by a luxurious spa vacation. Like its predecessor, the sequel spends a lengthy bit of time introducing the key players. Roth keeps his theming of American naivety for his trio of intended victims, Beth, Whitney, and Lorna, but this time he shifts the focus to the killers as well. Part II highlights people that give in to their darkest impulses, and how these people can seem so outwardly normal. As a subversive counter to the naïve protagonists, these killers are Americans too.

The first major death (well, outside of the opening) is the notorious Elizabeth Bathory style torture and slaying of Lorna (Heather Matarazzo), and it happens to be the most brutal death of the series. Lorna is hung upside down while her killer lies naked beneath her, using a scythe to stab Lorna in the back repeatedly before finally slashing her throat, all the while Lorna whimpers and pleads. It’s bloody, ruthless, and drawn out. So, it’s no surprise that this scene was cut in foreign releases of the film; the uncut version showing Lorna’s death in its entirely is banned in Germany.

Save for Lorna’s death, it’s only the final 20 minutes or so of the 94-minute runtime that bears the brunt of the “torture porn” that makes critics cringe in disdain. Granted, Roth doesn’t shy away from the excruciating deaths of his characters, so I can see why it ruffles feathers. It also helps that Greg Nicotero and Howard Berger, and their KNB EFX Group team, have returned to handle special makeup effects. Between Roth’s unflinching style and the roster of amazing artists, the series of events building to climax is gruesome. And that climax? Ouch.

Hostel: Part II didn’t fare as well with critics or the box office as the first film, but it’s a stronger film. It’s also a hell of a lot bloodier. From gnarly genital mutilation to deliberately paced throat slashing, the deaths in Hostel: Part II are the best of the trilogy (let’s ignore Part III, shall we?). The protagonists are bit more sympathetic, too. The Hostel films have more depth than they’re often given credit for, but I also can’t fault anyone for feeling squeamish at the gore. Like its predecessor, Hostel: Part II takes a while to build up to the good stuff, and then gets grotesquely creative. It’s a must watch for gorehounds.

Top 10 Hostel Kills

Horror journalist, RT Top Critic, and Critics Choice Association member. Co-Host of the Bloody Disgusting Podcast. Has appeared on PBS series' Monstrum, served on the SXSW Midnighter shorts jury, and moderated horror panels for WonderCon and SeriesFest.

Editorials

‘Leprechaun Returns’ – The Charm of the Franchise’s Legacy Sequel

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leprechaun returns

The erratic Leprechaun franchise is not known for sticking with a single concept for too long. The namesake (originally played by Warwick Davis) has gone to L.A., Las Vegas, space, and the ‘hood (not once but twice). And after an eleven-year holiday since the Davis era ended, the character received a drastic makeover in a now-unmentionable reboot. The critical failure of said film would have implied it was time to pack away the green top hat and shillelagh, and say goodbye to the nefarious imp. Instead, the Leprechaun series tried its luck again.

The general consensus for the Leprechaun films was never positive, and the darker yet blander Leprechaun: Origins certainly did not sway opinions. Just because the 2014 installment took itself seriously did not mean viewers would. After all, creator Mark Jones conceived a gruesome horror-comedy back in the early nineties, and that format is what was expected of any future ventures. So as horror legacy sequels (“legacyquels”) became more common in the 2010s, Leprechaun Returns followed suit while also going back to what made the ‘93 film work. This eighth entry echoed Halloween (2018) by ignoring all the previous sequels as well as being a direct continuation of the original. Even ardent fans can surely understand the decision to wipe the slate clean, so to speak.

Leprechaun Returns “continued the [franchise’s] trend of not being consistent by deciding to be consistent.” The retconning of Steven Kostanski and Suzanne Keilly’s film was met with little to no pushback from the fandom, who had already become accustomed to seeing something new and different with every chapter. Only now the “new and different” was familiar. With the severe route of Origins a mere speck in the rearview mirror, director Kotanski implemented a “back to basics” approach that garnered better reception than Zach Lipovsky’s own undertaking. The one-two punch of preposterous humor and grisly horror was in full force again.

LEPRECHAUN

Pictured: Linden Porco as The Leprechaun in Leprechaun Returns.

With Warwick Davis sitting this film out — his own choice — there was the foremost challenge of finding his replacement. Returns found Davis’ successor in Linden Porco, who admirably filled those blood-stained, buckled shoes. And what would a legacy sequel be without a returning character? Jennifer Aniston obviously did not reprise her final girl role of Tory Redding. So, the film did the next best thing and fetched another of Lubdan’s past victims: Ozzie, the likable oaf played by Mark Holton. Returns also created an extension of Tory’s character by giving her a teenage daughter, Lila (Taylor Spreitler).

It has been twenty-five years since the events of the ‘93 film. The incident is unknown to all but its survivors. Interested in her late mother’s history there in Devil’s Lake, North Dakota, Lila transferred to the local university and pledged a sorority — really the only one on campus — whose few members now reside in Tory Redding’s old home. The farmhouse-turned-sorority-house is still a work in progress; Lila’s fellow Alpha Epsilon sisters were in the midst of renovating the place when a ghost of the past found its way into the present.

The Psycho Goreman and The Void director’s penchant for visceral special effects is noted early on as the Leprechaun tears not only into the modern age, but also through poor Ozzie’s abdomen. The portal from 1993 to 2018 is soaked with blood and guts as the Leprechaun forces his way into the story. Davis’ iconic depiction of the wee antagonist is missed, however, Linden Porco is not simply keeping the seat warm in case his predecessor ever resumes the part. His enthusiastic performance is accentuated by a rotten-looking mug that adds to his innate menace.

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Pictured: Taylor Spreitler, Pepi Sonuga, and Sai Bennett as Lila, Katie and Rose in Leprechaun Returns.

The obligatory fodder is mostly young this time around. Apart from one luckless postman and Ozzie — the premature passing of the latter character removed the chance of caring about anyone in the film — the Leprechaun’s potential prey are all college aged. Lila is this story’s token trauma kid with caregiver baggage; her mother thought “monsters were always trying to get her.” Lila’s habit of mentioning Tory’s mental health problem does not make a good first impression with the resident mean girl and apparent alcoholic of the sorority, Meredith (Emily Reid). Then there are the nicer but no less cursorily written of the Alpha Epsilon gals: eco-conscious and ex-obsessive Katie (Pepi Sonuga), and uptight overachiever Rose (Sai Bennett). Rounding out the main cast are a pair of destined-to-die bros (Oliver Llewellyn Jenkins, Ben McGregor). Lila and her peers range from disposable to plain irritating, so rooting for any one of them is next to impossible. Even so, their overstated personalities make their inevitable fates more satisfying.

Where Returns excels is its death sequences. Unlike Jones’ film, this one is not afraid of killing off members of the main cast. Lila, admittedly, wears too much plot armor, yet with her mother’s spirit looming over her and the whole story — comedian Heather McDonald put her bang-on Aniston impersonation to good use as well as provided a surprisingly emotional moment in the film — her immunity can be overlooked. Still, the other characters’ brutal demises make up for Lila’s imperviousness. The Leprechaun’s killer set-pieces also happen to demonstrate the time period, seeing as he uses solar panels and a drone in several supporting characters’ executions. A premortem selfie and the antagonist’s snarky mention of global warming additionally add to this film’s particular timestamp.

Critics were quick to say Leprechaun Returns did not break new ground. Sure, there is no one jetting off to space, or the wacky notion of Lubdan becoming a record producer. This reset, however, is still quite charming and entertaining despite its lack of risk-taking. And with yet another reboot in the works, who knows where the most wicked Leprechaun ever to exist will end up next.


Horror contemplates in great detail how young people handle inordinate situations and all of life’s unexpected challenges. While the genre forces characters of every age to face their fears, it is especially interested in how youths might fare in life-or-death scenarios.

The column Young Blood is dedicated to horror stories for and about teenagers, as well as other young folks on the brink of terror.

Leprechaun Returns movie

Pictured: Linden Porco as The Leprechaun in Leprechaun Returns.

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