Though it failed to match the box-office success of the first movie, "Hostel: Part II" isn't the laurel-resting follow-up many were expecting. More than just swapping guys for girls as torture-bait, writer/director Eli Roth takes the interesting approach of centering a portion of the film on two of the wealthy clients who pay an inordinate amount of money to slice and dice unsuspecting co-eds traveling abroad. With that added dimension, along with a smart script, solid performances and one of the queasiest, most brain-searing scenes of horror in recent memory (an upside-down torture sequence inspired by the infamous Hungarian Countess Elizabeth Bathory) and you've got yourself a sequel that's far better and more perceptive than it probably needed to be.

- Chris Eggertsen