Monroe's 2010 revisiting of the notorious genre classic at least had the benefit of a narrative that felt organic and effectively structured. Here, the balance is sadistically wrong, focusing on the protracted (even in the obviously truncated UK cut) and unrelenting degradation that befalls aspiring model Katie, and considerably less on the revenge element. Even the set-up of innocent victim is replaced in this sequel by sexually punishing a woman for refusing to take off her clothes at a photoshoot. The film opens in a well-shot non-touristy New York, and the bleak winter scenario is used effectively by Monroe to show that alienation can happen anywhere, but the sex-trafficking angle makes the film play more like an entry into the Hostel series. There are some good performances from Yahor Bavaroff and Brit Joe Absolom, and Jemma Dallender is frighteningly committed as Katie, especially in the last half hour, but turning the subject matter into a horror franchise is blatantly reprehensible.
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