Don't Believe the Hype

An Exercise In Nonsense

It's not great by any means, but it's a pretty good movie that didn't leave me filled with regret for investing time in it.

The biggest problem with this movie is it’s a little better than you think it might be, which somehow makes it worse. As in, it takes itself a bit too seriously, which makes most of the movie feel kind of dull.

Saw this on a DVD in 2006. Had seen the original on a VHS in the late 80s. Bought the dvds of the remakes. Felt like reviewing the remake as its much better than the original. Alexander Aja (High Tension) did a terrifc job in remaking Wes Cravens 1977 cult movie. Aja managed to greatly improve upon the flawed original in more ways than can be counted. This one is scarier, intense, a visceral experience n more technically improved remake coz of the larger budget and major studio backing. This movie is like a shotgun to your senses. The mood, atmosphere, and music add the perfect touch of edge of your seat creepiness. This is an extremely rare occurrence when a remake is far superior to the original. Cinematographer Maxime Alexandre allows Aja to use the desert to its fullest to create a foreboding landscape. The hills and desert in bright yellows and subdued reds. The Moroccan locations that double for New Mexico r captured perfectly as a waste land totally isolated and foreboding at the same time.

Billed as a horror movie, this film really fails to instill any sense of dread whatsoever. It's characters are unlikable and dopey, it's villains are unhateable and nondescript. The plot is questionable, linear, and leaves me feeling unsatisfied and bored. The story is very basic, which could work given the right director, but evidently Alexandre Aja is not the man for this job. First of all, the film starts with stock/public domain footage. Many of you might not care, but this is a HUGE no-no in my book. He did a neat tie-in later, but it was still a clear case of inept filmmaking in need of burning up some screen time. The formula is all too familiar. Some stupid white tourists are out lost on the desert, and upon finding a guy running a gas station whom they trust implicitly, are given instructions to "take a shortcut" that will get them to their destination faster. It's almost not worth bothering to type it out, but they are in fact being led to their doom. The characters are total douchebags. I think we're supposed to like the women a bit more, but after all, they did choose these men for their S.O.'s. I did like the young teenage brother, but other than that, I think they all sucked. Dad dies first, but sadly the other main douchebag never dies. At some point, in fact, we are supposed to believe that he becomes a hero, but the transition never happens. He's just a piece of garbage, then suddenly he's being a hero. It's clear what motivated him to this 180 degree personality shift, but it's presentation is clunky and the audience is expected to accept it without question. So about that neat tie-in. It earned the film a few dubious points w/me. The final showdown, which I was anxious to get to as it meant the film's end, took place in a cool re-creation of those nuclear test towns, complete with mannequins and 1950's TV broadcasts. While not earning the film the right to include public domain footage downloaded from prelinger, it at least (FINALLY) created some sense of creepiness. Unfortunately it was too little too late.

I've never really been a fan of remakes but I'm pleased to say that this new version of the '70s horror classic is well worth a watch. French director Alexandre Aja (who cut his teeth on the grisly SWITCHBLADE ROMANCE) revels in the bloodshed and pain in this action-packed thriller which is essentially a film of two halves. The first half is slow paced and takes time out to introduce the central characters of the storyline. Camera-work is strong and stylish throughout and great use is made of the eerily desolate desert scenery. Because there's so much going on in the movie, there isn't really a great deal of characterisation; instead the characters of the protagonists are revealed through their actions or in-actions. The film has a 'survival of the fittest' policy whereby the strongest characters find their inner strength while the weaker ones fall by the wayside. Of course there are a couple of exceptions to the rule.The second half of the film begins with a nasty interlude in which mutants invade a caravan, rape a young blonde teenager, suckle a mother and threaten a baby with a gun. This is pretty depraved stuff and not for the squeamish. Afterwards, the last forty minutes of the movie show the human characters fighting back as best they can, and I'm pleased to say this part of the film really hits the mark, as well as in a similar film like HOSTEL. Aaron Stanford, a geeky 20-something, emerges as the film's true hero and the scenes in which he battles the mutants using a combination of luck and skill are tremendously fun. Aja piles on the bloodshed at every stage, with bloody shotgun blasts, axes tearing through flesh, impalings, and all manner of nastiness. The opening shot of a scientist thrown through the air at the end of an axe is a good forerunner to this latter carnage.Special effects in the film are excellent – but then they're by the typically excellent Greg Nicotero, so you'd expect them to be. The mutants are suitably weird looking, although they're nothing we haven't seen before (especially if you're familiar with other horror flicks like WRONG TURN). Robert Joy stands out as the chief mutant, a real psycho of a guy; a natural progression from his deformed character in LAND OF THE DEAD. The other supporting characters are good at being terrified, and I especially liked the sub-plot involving Ted Levine's character, a big tough guy who has the most awful fate imaginable. All in all THE HILLS HAVE EYES remake is entertaining stuff, not really disturbing or as scary as I had heard but instead standing as a great example of the 'survival horror' genre.

Let me start by saying the title sequence for this film is very well done and really sets the mood for this nuclear horror. I always appreciate a good atmospheric title sequence. The performances are authentic and convincing in this movie. Before long I have forgotten I'm watching a movie and I am immersed in the hot desert with this stranded mid-western family on a vacation gone wrong. This movie is a feather plucked from the same bird as any Toby Hooper horror film. A truly violent movie, some of the scenes are difficult to watch and leave one feeling violated and horrified. The music is nostalgic, the papa's and mamma's, obscure classic country rock creates an atmosphere that pays homage to classic 70s slashers while misleading the viewer into an "everything's alright" state of mind. It isn't before long that things start to take a turn for the worse. People fear what they don't understand and rightly so in this scenario. I give this movie 5 bags of popcorn. For a truly immersive experience try watching this film on a hot summer day in the middle of a desert.