where you see a film with nothing else going on but violence someone else sees a full movie. I thought hostel part two had a lot more going for it then just the violence….you didn’t and thats fine.

in fact if you add up the screentime the violence in hostel and hostel part two probably only comes to twenty minutes per film….

if I got out a porno that had aqs much sex as the hostel films have violence I would fucking pissed off. especially if I had to sit through 45 minutes of “storyline” until I got my first money shot…….I just think it is a snobby term used to denegrate these films some of which are fine additions to the horror genre and some are not. I am not saying they are all great but to lump them all in with this terrible title and dismiss them as junk doesn;t wash with me.

I have to agree with Vern in saying that John’s reaction to Hostel 2 is just that – his reaction to the film. Because he didn’t “LIKE” the characters, he accuses the film of not developing them. Seems like lazy criticism of the film to me.

Again, view Cabin Fever and the Hostel films like comedy-satire (often the most misunderstood and maligned form of filmmaking) and they are actually quite watchable.

Roth may not be the best screenwriter, but hey I thought the H2 script was more than 100 times better than the Transformers one, so What do I Know?

Tom

hiltonheadpopcorn.com

And I guess we’re getting away from the “torture porn” angle now but I don’t see how you can say they didn’t expand on anything in the sequel or that they didn’t show “anything from anyone’s perspective” – I’m not sure what you even mean by that. If you’ve seen the movie, you will remember that half of it follows two rich dudes who are the customers who pay money to kill people at this place. You see the whole process from the auction montage (my favorite part of the movie) to the tattooing to even going into the prop room to pick out their costumes and weapons and then what happens when they try to actually go through with it. You don’t have to like it but it is absolutely expanding on the concepts of the first one and showing them from a different perspective.

Still not that great of a movie, but it just doesn’t make sense to call it torture porn.

So you are saying porn is not satisfying? I think most of your post hits the nail on the head, but there must be a little bit more to it. As empty as porn is people still watch it, enjoy it, and it fulfills its purpose. With movies like Saw 3 and Hostel 2, it doesn’t seem to get any of these things across. Maybe they are just shitty movies in general, as well as being torture porn. I dunno.

If you’ll notice, I don’t suggest the 1st Hostel film fits my definition of “torture porn”. I actually think the first one had a little bit of depth and interest in it.

The second one however…. was just… total… garbage. They didn’t look at anything from anyone’s perspective. If that actually had gone into the guys who run things a little, instead of just showing us that they’re there… I would agree with you… but as it is, they didn’t do, show, explain, introduce or expand on anything. So yes, Hostel 2 (in my opinion) perfect fits into my def of torture porn.

Cheers.

The first one, for example, spends half the movie setting up these obnoxious frat boy characters as they go on their vacation, try to get laid and getting lured into the warehouse. Then there is a short section about them getting tortured. Then the guy from the SCARFACE DTV sequel escapes and that’s when the movie gets more interesting, the main part of the movie which is about him escaping.

The second one shortens the “luring in” part of the movie but adds the subplot showing the operation through the point of view of the two asshole businessmen, which made it more interesting I thought (although maybe the whole movie should’ve been about them and make it more of a HENRY: PORTRAIT OF A SERIAL KILLER type vibe). Regardless, neither one of them spends much time on the torture. I think you are confusing the actual movies with the non-existent ones they tried to make you imagine in the purposely overblown advertising.

The other thing that bugs me about the term “torture porn” is that there is such a thing as “torture porn” which you will find in the bondage section of your local adult video store. I’m not sure what the sickos who are into that shit are gonna do now that “torture porn” has been appropriated by the People Who Don’t Understand Horror Movies But Want To Tell People Who Do Which Ones Are Morally Appropriate To Watch Lobby Of America. I would suggest that for now on actual torture porn could be called “mediocre modern horror movies” as a way to further complicate this discussion.