The Hills Have Eyes (2006)

A suburban American family is being stalked by a group of psychotic people who live in the desert, far away from civilization.

Director:

Alexandre Aja

Writers:

Alexandre Aja (screenplay), Grégory Levasseur (screenplay),

Stars:

Kathleen Quinlan, Emilie de Ravin, Dan Byrd

2 wins & 6 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Aaron Stanford	...	Doug Bukowski
Kathleen Quinlan	...	Ethel Carter
Vinessa Shaw	...	Lynn Carter
Emilie de Ravin	...	Brenda Carter
Dan Byrd	...	Bobby Carter
Tom Bower	...	Gas Station Attendant
Billy Drago	...	Papa Jupiter
Robert Joy	...	Lizard
Ted Levine	...	Big Bob Carter
Desmond Askew	...	Big Brain
Ezra Buzzington	...	Goggle
Michael Bailey Smith	...	Pluto
Laura Ortiz	...	Ruby
Gregory Nicotero	...	Cyst (as Greg Nicotero)
Maisie Camilleri Preziosi	...	Baby Catherine

Storyline

Wes Craven produces this remake of his 1977 classic of the same name, about the Carters, an idyllic American family travelling through the great American southwest. But their trip takes a detour into an area closed off from the public, but more importantly from society. An area originally used by the U.S. Government for nuclear testing that was intended to be empty...or so they thought? When the Carter's car breaks down at the old site, they're stranded...or are they? As the Carters may soon realize that what seemed like a car casually breaking down, might actually be a trap. This trap might be perpetrated by the inhabitants of the site who aren't pulling a prank, but are out to set up a gruesome massacre.

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Plot Keywords:

desert | nuclear testing | pistol | sadism | death of loved one | 

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Taglines:

The lucky ones die first.

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Genres:

Horror | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for strong gruesome violence and terror throughout, and for language

Details

Official Sites:

20th Century Fox [fr] Fox Searchlight [us]

Country:

USA France

Language:

English

Release Date:

10 March 2006 (USA)

Also Known As:

Despertar del diablo

Filming Locations:

CLA Studios, Morocco

Box Office

Budget:

$15,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$102,147 (Brazil) (28 July 2006)

Gross:

$102,147 (Brazil) (28 July 2006)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Craven-Maddalena Films, Dune Entertainment, Major Studio Partners

Technical Specs

Runtime:

107 min 108 min (unrated)

Sound Mix:

DTS SDDS Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

To get round the difficulties of shooting inside a tiny trailer, production designer Joseph C. Nemec III built a set of the inside of the trailer that was actually 30% bigger than the real thing.

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Goofs

When Doug first enters the town, we see a mutant dragging Lynn away. Later when it cuts back to Brenda and Bobby, they are loading Lynn into the backseat of the car.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Gas Station Attendant: Ruby, is that you?

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Connections

References Straw Dogs (1971)

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Soundtracks

"Holiday Rose"
Written and Performed by Elaine Suchow
Courtesy of Manhattan Production Music

User Reviews

Excellent Survival Horror Film

I haven't seen the original, but I now want to because this movie rocked. The movie starts as a slow-boil suspense/horror movie, provides some decent jump-scares (at least in the theater) and spends some time building up character. The movie then switches gears and turns into a gritty, brutal horror movie more the likes of Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and further switches to gears to a action/revenge movie, but still with horror elements. It's scary, sick, nearly uncompromising (the unrated cut will undoubtedly be so) and disturbing, but also adrenaline-filled and riveting. Certainly NOT for the weak-stomached person. People were leaving the theater, and the IMDb boards are rife with people damning the movie for it's 'lack of moral substance' and 'taste'. This movie isn't for the average movie-goer. It's for the horror buffs. Alexendre Aja should be proud, and is 2-for-2 in my book having done this and High Tension.