“To the Next Level”: Castration in Hostel II  Justin Ponder  The
following seeks to apply Freud’s theory of castration to the
castration scene in Eli Roth’s Hostel II.  Doing so, this
article will explore Freudian interpretations of castration, the
representation of castration in the film, and the meaning of
castration in various historical contexts.  Freudian theory
posits castration as the ultimate loss, and this claim has, in
turn, frequently, influenced the presuppositions of horror film
criticism like that of Stephen Neale, Peter Hutchings, Robin
Wood, and Barbara Creed.(1)  Many scholars claim that horror
films feature images of figurative castration, but others point
out that these movies rarely depict literal castration.  I will
argue, however, that Hostel II provides an instance of literal
castration full of figurative meanings.  I will argue that
preceding its literal castration scene, the film foregrounds the
penis and relates main characters in relationship to it, but the
film also stresses the di