The Hostel films, directed by Eli Roth and executive produced by the great Quentin Tarantino, are infamous enough that I suspect that most have heard of them and thus you may be wondering why this 2007 sequel would get a Honourable Mention – well it is for a specific scene and a character name more than anything but I felt it deserved a nod.
The basic premise is about a Hostel in Slovakia where young tourists are placed for bidding amongst the world’s rich. When a bid is won they are kidnapped, removed to ‘the factory’ and then killed (as well as sadistically tortured). What surprised me watching this was the premise actually led to a story and some interesting character development.
The tourists this time around are three young American girls, Beth (Lauren German), Whitney (Bijou Phillips) and Lorna (Heather Matarazzo). Holidaying in Rome they are travelling to Prague but, after altercations on the train, they are convinced that they should head to a spa town in Slovakia by the mysterious Axelle (Vera Jordanova). It is Lorna’s fate that leads to the mention.
She is the first kidnapped and when we see he she is suspended upside down and gagged. When the camera pulls back to show her above a bath, surrounded by candles... Then the vampire genre fan really knows what is going to occur.
A woman enters and, here is the character name I mentioned as she is credited as Mrs Bathory (Monika Malacova). Bathory strips as she heads to the bath and lies below the unfortunate student. She begins tracing her back roughly with a scythe before actually allowing the blade to bite in. Much damage is done to the girl’s back before a smaller sickle is used to open her throat.
Of course it is not vampiric but it is a blood bathing scene and the character is named for Erzsébet Báthory. There are plenty of vampire flicks based upon the character, most famously Countess Dracula. In this case there is not the supernatural element (becoming younger) nor is there an indication that the character believes such a thing. It is a nod, no more but I felt it worth adding to the page as it is a knowing nod. The use of the scythe did make Jean Rollin’s Fascination spring to mind also.
The imdb page is here.
The basic premise is about a Hostel in Slovakia where young tourists are placed for bidding amongst the world’s rich. When a bid is won they are kidnapped, removed to ‘the factory’ and then killed (as well as sadistically tortured). What surprised me watching this was the premise actually led to a story and some interesting character development.
The imdb page is here.
3 comments:
That's the most sexually charged scene I've ever seen in a movie. I can't get it out of my head.
I couldn´t sleep the entire night after i saw hostel 2. Each time i closed my eyes i pictures mrs bathory with her scythe.
Franco man, that's what I call getting your money's worth out of a film!!
Seriously though, it is an effectually and well shot scene
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