The Hills Have Eyes (2006)

..and the Hill Billies Have Knives.

Hills is a shocking and brutal thriller that occasionally comes within a stones throw of the torture-porn genre of horror (which I detest). What keeps this 'mutant-cannibal' gore-fest from slipping over the brink is the competent acting and cathartic final act.

The setup is handled evenly and according to a tried and tested formula. Family takes road trip - dad takes shortcut - car dies (or is killed) - family members get disemboweled. Where Hills deviates from the formula is in its willingness to break the accepted 'rules' of this sort of film. It is not often that the monster in a horror movie actually rapes one of the central characters. Be prepared for some truly unsettling violence.

If you can stomach the first act you'll be rewarded by a thrilling second and redemptive third. The finale wipes your conscience clean of the simulated brutality you've just consumed for entertainments sake, but some images will stay with you regardless.

The unrated-DVD includes Commentary and Making-Of as well as a few accessory featurettes. October 21, 2008

Doug The Cell Phone Clerk Turns Into Rambo And Kills Mutant Cannibals!

Surprisingly enough, the remake of "The Hills Have Eyes" is more enjoyable than the original. The overall setting and plot are very similar. A normal, lovable family is traveling through the Nevada desert. Their vehicle breaks down and they are beset upon by cannibals. However, the remake has more details (and I'm not referring to gore, although there is plenty) that make it a more realistic, faster paced thrill ride. The opening scene is both shocking and horrifying. The viewer soon realizes that this remake will be more violent than the original.

Mild mannered cell phone retailer Doug Burkowski (Aaron Stanford of "X-Men: The Last Stand") steals the film when he must turn into Rambo in order to get his baby back from the mutant cannibals who abducted her while his father-in-law was being roasted alive. This lean, wiry built man kills a lot of tough mutants. He also discovers a crater where dozens of vehicles have been stored - their owners slaughtered by mutants - and an eerie, fabricated town occupied by mannequins. This is the town that the government was using for testing nuclear bombs. Now it is occupied by hideously deformed, inbred miners who suffered radiation damage while hiding in the mines.

The entire film has a creepy Twilight Zone atmosphere that wasn't found in the original. Furthermore, "The Hills Have Eyes" remake was highly influenced by "Wrong Turn," another film involving a cannibalistic family - this one living in the secluded woods of West Virginia.

If you enjoy cannibalistic horror classics involving inbred families such as "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre," "Wrong Turn," "Raw Meat," etc., then you must see Wes Craven's remake of "The Hills Have Eyes." After watching this film, you will never again travel through the deserts of Southwest America without carrying extra gasoline and good maps. Never take short cuts, especially if they are recommended by a grizzled, toothless yokel who owns a gasoline station where the telephone doesn't work.
October 16, 2008

The Nuclear Family...

The Carter family, led by tough, ex-cop Big Bob (Ted Levine from Silence Of The Lambs) and his wife (Kathleen Quinlan from Twilight Zone: The Movie) are on their final vacation together. Along the way, they have an "accident", bringing their trip to a sudden stop in the middle of the desert wasteland of New Mexico. The situation becomes increasingly desperate when another family- a savage band of mutants- moves in on the unsuspecting Carters. I am a big fan of Wes Craven's original HILLS, and I fully expected to hate this remake. However, Alexandre Aja (High Tension) has retained enough basic elements from the 1975 version, while adding some interesting new twists. The atmosphere is tense and ominous. The characters, whether sympathetic or malevolent, are well presented. I definitely like the updated mutations. This clan of freakish murderers is pretty frightening! Rather than going for the neo-cavedweller look of the original, Aja's mutants are hideously deformed, genetic abominations. An inbred bunch of cannibalistic horrors. In other words, they look the part! I highly recommend THE HILLS HAVE EYES to any / all lovers of well-made, ultra-violent monster movies. You'll be pleasantly sickened... October 11, 2008

[3.5] Not too scary, but rather violent

Though this Wes Craven remake is not going to be terribly memorable, it is far from poor. The Hills Have Eyes gives us a little bit of everything that a modern horror film can provide - some scares, lots of blood, gore, and a variety of disturbing images and scenes. Some might be too disturbing, as I found it difficult to watch a deformed human creature raping a young teenage girl (the scene isn't presented in detail, but there's enough shown to reveal it's occuring).

Unlike some horror films, I think this tries to prove some points. The points it might make are not what this movie is all about (it's the horror entertainment obviously) and they will have little impact given the amount of gruesomeness this film pours over itself by finish. The beginning credits show old video and photos of nuclear tests in the United States desert, and their unfortunate effects on any humans who still resided in the area. It is becuase of these tests, they not only grew deformed, but many turned into savage beasts who will not just kill anyone who comes across their territory, but slaughter them...and sometimes eat them too.

The movies focuses around a typical bickering family, headed for a vacation in San Diego, half of whom aren't that excited about. Dad - Big Bob Carter (Ted Levine) - decides to take the scenic route through the desert. At a gas station in the middle of nowhere, the owner provides him with directions claiming to be a shortcut, but in turn is a setup. After a road accident on this back road, the family is stranded. Bob and his son-in-law Doug Bukowski (Aaron Stanford) split up and walk the road looking for help. As night falls, the creatures from the hills begin to move in, and this is when the first (and probably) most horrific scene of the movie takes place.

After the deaths of several family members (much to my surprise who some were) Doug sets out for revenge and to get his baby daughter back who has been kidnapped. He ventures out into the old towns where nuclear testing used to take place. Many of the creatures are living in the towns, including those who have caused the disturbing and graphic trauma to this family. Doug finds himself in a climactic showdown with some of these creatures, and the result is a very bloody, and graphically violent scene. Normally when a camera would pull away in a film, it doesn't happen here. All kinds of weapons and tools are shoved into necks, faces and heads.

What begins as some scares in the first 30 minutes, quickly turns into disturbing imagery and concluding with all out blood and gore. The violence at the end is almost a welcome sight I must say, as the creatures probably deserved it after what they did earlier. Hills Have Eyes may be a bit too much for many to handle, so approach this cautiously, and stay off desert roads and leave nuclear experiments alone.

Acting - 3.5
Charcaters - 3
Gore - 4.5
Scares - 3.5
Story - 2
Overall - 3.5
October 10, 2008

The Hills Have Eyes

If you like true horror, realistic blood and gore and a great story line, this movie is for you! August 26, 2008

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