Chroma-Trauma

Hostel 2 (2007)

July 30, 2007 at 11:13 pm (Movies, Reviews)

After watching the first installment, I decided to be a faithful fan and watch the sequel when it was released. I need to make it clear that I’m a horror fan, but I will try not be biased. I love the genre due to it’s creepy story-lines, so I try to watch any horror movie when it is released.

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‘ Three female college students take a detour from their partying, enticed by a beautiful European woman who promises seclusion, safety and maybe even romance. What they get is a living hell where they are sold to the highest bidder who’s fondest wish is to kill them slowly. Hostel 2 also follows 2 American men who, on the flip side of the coin, are willing to pay to join an exclusive club where a life will end at their hands…any way they like. It’s a story of human monsters and the almighty dollar as only Eli Roth could tell it.’ Written by Paul Nomad of Dreadcentral.com

Hostel 2 starts with the main protagonist of Hostel 1 who survived the killing, hiding in a country home scarred of being caught and killed by the same people who caused him misery and killed his friends. There is no link between Part 1 and part 2 so don’t worry if you haven’t watched the first. Anyway, back to the story, 3 American girls ‘ Beth, Lorna, and  Whitney‘  are on a school holiday in Rome. On a field trip, they meet the model ‘Axelle‘, who tells them about an amazing spa in Slovakia. The girls stay at the same hostel where the first movie took place. Their details are copied and posted online….

They were auctioned !!! Inside a deserted factory, lots of people (Mostly tourists) are imprisoned until the hightest bidder/winner of the auction, arrives to Slovakia and claims his /her item. Just to add few slices of pineapples, not only do men bid on this auction, women participate as well. Blame the feminists!!! Inside a chamber, they are tortured and killed. There is no law , it’s a jungle and nobody is safe; not the bidder and obviously not the prisoners/auction items themselves. If the bidder decide to back out, he would be killed and if he didn’t finish off his prey , he will be killed as well.

There are 2 rules inside that crazy factory if you are a bidder;

   1) A Dog-Faced Tattoo

   2) You need to kill someone, if you can’t do it , don’t bid. Otherwise, you are in a big Problem!!!

I believe the reasons behind those 2 rules is that you signed a contract by having the tattoo and secondly you are not going to implicate your self if you decide to report the factory crimes because you have already participated in a crime. 

The movie may seem a horror movie, but it is deeper than that. I thought a lot about the ending which I’m not to disclose here. The fact that people can turn to beasts, animals and sometimes monstors in certain situations is very scarry. You can be provoked by a number of stimulators in you life and you do things that you regret it afterward. But, can you be stimulated by some events that lead you to do somethings that you can not regret because it can be a matter of of life and death?? Can you kill someone to save yourself? will you do it? So many questions that I don’t know how I’m going to answer them because I simply Don’t know !!!

 A lot of people found the movie to be better than the first and I’m one of them. For example, you don’t sympathise with the boys in the first movie, they went to Slovakia because they wanted to party and have, you can’t relate to them. It’s different with the girls; you feel sorry for them, you want to help them but you can’t which makes the feeling worse.

After the movie , i was thinkning deeply what will I do, if I was in their shoes? How far can you go to avenge yourself? Would you kill somebody so that you can feed the fire inside you? How about hatered? The motto of the movie is ” In each one of us, there is a beast” and I do believe that when the time/ settings become appropriate, we might turn into vicious creatures, we can be murderers if we were pushed to the limit, and that what terrifies me.

Questions arised:

– Can a movie like this affect tourism? and will you reconsider visiting a contry after watching a gore movie like this?

– How will you avenge yourself if you were kidnapped and tortured like the actersses in this movie? and How far can you go in the pursuance of your own vengeance?

Memorable quotes:

– Lorna: Would you like a smint?

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– Axelle: As my father always says, “nozdrovja”, to your health!

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My Rating: 6/10

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The Prince and Me (2004)

July 17, 2007 at 10:46 pm (Movies, Reviews)

  After the huge success of ‘The Princess Diaries’ and it’s less than great sequel, It was expected that this ‘Royal Fantasy’ trend would continue. The following movie would not disappoint you if you are already a fan of the genre, especially for you girls who dream of Prince charming riding on a white horse. I loved ‘The Princess Diaries’, I found its creativity and novelty splendid and these awkward comical scenes completed the magical spell. The movie was good for so many different reasons and one of them is that it didn’t rely on fantasy so that the audience could relate to. The sequel was not as original as it was expected.. They were (The producers) milking a golden cow, but it was acceptable nevertheless.

Returning to ‘The Prince and Me’,, The roles changed .. The royal was a prince, a man this time and what is better than linking him with good looking girl and fast forward to the ‘Happily ever After ‘scene. Well, not quite. The Prince ‘Eddie’ leaves Denmark so that he can enjoy the American life where girls are easy to lure without Paparazzi snapping his pictures playing around. He‘s selfish, arrogant and isn’t keen on taking any responsibility in spite of his Father (The King) poor health and his mother monotonous requests. Moving to Paige; The farm girl who is determined to follow her dreams and be a doctor. In other words, she’s a geek whome randomly seen without a book. Introduce Him to her and a fantasy tale would take us through the movie.

Unfortunately, It didn’t work for me, It was so annoyingly fake that I kept pausing the movie and watching something else on the TV (Criminal Minds & CSI: Miami). The plot seemed lacking.  The actors seemed bored especially Mr Prince who was so corny and very annoying. His companion/servant stole all the scenes that he shared with his fellow actors with his comical portrayal of the faithful servant. I loved his accent, by the way. Julia was good; she did what was expected from her, nothing great but at least she didn’t disappoint. She seemed the only one who enjoyed participating in the movie, I don’t blame her. She’s was in every single scene, treated like a princess, Lived a fairytale and was paid a nice salary for her work, although I don’t think that her role required a lot of work. The soundtrack was good and I enjoyed listening to the tracks. All in all, the movie will appeal to women, young unmarried women particularly, but that doesn’t mean that men won’t like it, but I suspect that.

… Recommended for Girls night out.. Worth renting.

… Score: 6/10

Question arised:

–         Would the Royal Family in Denmark, accept the movie’s portrayal of the prince life style?

–         Why chose Denmark, if you’re actors speak English accent and quote Shakespeare?

–         The royal Family should speak in Dutch,, We are using Denmark as a sitting, why English is used to open the parliament sessions ?

Memorable Quotes:

– Queen: Being royal requires you to sacrifice who you are for who you must be.

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–  Paige: Denmark isn’t ready for a Queen like me.

   Eddie: Well then they’ll have to be. Because I am

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