The Hills Have Eyes 2 (2007) Movie Review, Trailer, Film Still and Poster

U.S. 2007
Director: Martin Weisz
Cast: Daniella Alonso, Flex Alexander, Jessica Stroup, Michael Bailey Smith, Derek Mears, Jessica Stroup
Rating: R
Release Date: March 23rd 2007
Running Time: 1 hour 29 minutes

The Movie Review

The Hills Have Eyes 2 film still 1


THE HILLS HAVE EYES 2
Storyline:
Cast:
Ending:
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Last Year The Hills Have Eyes was actually a remake of 1977 Wes Craven's movie of the same name, it took almost three decades before its remake was released, and it's one of the proofs that a remake could actually be good. The film was also strengthened by Alexander Aja (Haute Tension) who wore the director's hat and also wrote the screenplay for this remake. Certainly its box-office success worldwide would be followed by a sequel.

In March 2007, exactly 12 months after the first THHE, The Hills Have Eyes 2 was released. Wes Craven, one of the most distinguished directors in horror realm, was no longer directing either the first or the second film. In THHE II, moreover, Alexander Aja was also no longer directing it. At first I doubted that control shifting and added that usually a sequel would deliver less quality than the original, especially a sequel of a remake.

Unfortunately that's exactly the case in THHE II. The first THHE still has its charm in presenting the mountain deformed mutant cannibals as creepily believable characters and dedicates a quite amount of time in looking into the life of those cannibals, in the second THHE they seem to be more like a set of supporting characters, and they are even a lot less personalized. Thus makes this THHE II looks soulless and uninteresting, even for those who haven't seen the first one. Ironically the screenplay for this THHE II was written by Wes Craven himself.

Two years after the incident that cost several innocent lives in the desert and mountains in the Yuma flats in New Mexico (probably the story from the first THHE), the government sends several scientists to investigate what has really happened in that area. To reinforce the scientist and to make sure the job is being done completely, the government, again, sends several green U.S. national guard trainees led by their sergeant (Flex Alexander) to deliver equipment to the sector 16 where the scientist are working. Upon arrival they find only an empty place without any signs of the scientists whereabouts, until they see a signal coming from the mountain above them, their sergeant decide to start a rescue mission which make them very excited. Nevertheless they're certainly not ready for the real threat that lurks amongst the rocky mountain.

I try to take look closely and dig deep enough to find the upside of this horror movie. Well, there are some tension-inducing scenes, especially when the cannibals are doing guerilla on the soldiers and the soldiers are being outsmarted again and again. However even that quite-good scenes are set against the backdrop of a totally uninteresting rocky mountain and dark boring cave. The first THHE also takes place in the desert and mountains, but the camerawork is excellent to bring their majestic charm into the movie, plus it also presents us the empty town where the cannibals live.

In The Hills Have Eyes 2, the storyline itself seems to have shifted its focus from the weird life of the mutant family into the drama of the soldiers. And even the performances of the actors are less satisfying compare to the first THHE. Probably the greatest payback is the way the soldiers take revenge on the mutant family for their evil deeds, it's satisfying. Just want to conclude this review by telling you that it's a major disappointment for fans and is not even that good enough for other than fans.

© iwan pranowo of Movielogy.com