The Hills Have Eyes (2006) Movie Review, Trailer, Film Still and Poster

U.S. 2006
Director: Alexandre Aja
Cast: Aaron Stanford, Ted Levine, Emilie de Ravin, Kathleen Quinlan, Vinessa Shaw, Billy Drago, Desmond Askew, Dan Byrd
Rating: R
Release Date: March 10th 2006
Running Time: 1 hour 48 minutes

The Movie Review

In recent years, we have witnessed some neo-classical Hollywood horror remakes. Such movies are The Texas Chainsaw Massacre or The Amityville Horror. I don't know if they're running out of idea or not, but remake is somehow something unavoidable, some audience do really want to see how those classics reproduced in today's world and with today's movie technologies. In March 2006, we are presented once more with a remake, it's non other than the remake of 1977 Wes Craven's movie, The Hills Have Eyes. Although this time he's not directing it. The Director's hat is worn by Alexander Aja, a famous director known by the public by his controversially stunning The Haute Tension (High Tension).


THE HILLS HAVE EYES (remake)
Storyline:
Cast:
Ending:
Overall:

Bob and Ethel Carter along with their family is going to celebrate their 25th wedding anniversary. They are traveling to San Diego, California, but instead of taking a plane, Bob decides they should go in his family trailer in order to spice up their journey, this is of course against his family's wish. On the middle of New Mexico dessert, they are stopping at a shoddy rest stop run by an old man who later tells Bob to take a shortcut through the hills. Bob follows his advice, but all of a sudden their car breaks down. The carters now stranded with miles and miles from help. What they don't know is this incident is just one of the evil schemes plotted by the demented mutants living nearby.

As it is common with the Slasher sub-genre, there are victims to be slaughtered one by one. But we are not talking about a group of dumb college students searching for trouble, and that we would be ok to see their annoying prattle stopped. Bob and his family is just a regular American family, they are good people who happen to be in the wrong place and then got deceived.

Dentist please...

The cinematography also plays a big role in making this film more horrifying, and the decision to set them in the middle of a desert gives us the feeling of eerie emptiness, how helpless those people are. Every gory moment extended to a bigger effect thanks to the barren region backdrop in a way of providing no distractions to those moments.

Other interesting twist (at least compare to nowadays' horror films), is that when some movies presents their victims' victory by luckily and/or accidentally kill the villains, the hills have eyes presents it with a form of vengeance. Yep, the surviving members of the Carters take revenge on the mutant clan. Horror plus vengeance, not a whiny horror movie everyone...satisfying.

The Hills Have Eyes was released in the same period of time when all gory horror movies are back in business. That's not to say that this is a lame movie, on the contrary as a remake, this one here have beaten its original. For horror fans, this is not to be missed.

© iwan pranowo of Movielogy.com

The Hills Have Eyes (remake)