The Hills Have Eyes (2006)

User Rating:

6.5/10   

Director:

Alexandre Aja

Writers:

Alexandre Aja (screenplay) &
Grégory Levasseur (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

10 March 2006 (USA)

Genre:

Horror | Thriller

Tagline:

The lucky ones die first.

Plot:

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

Plot Keywords:

Desert | Nuclear Testing | Cannibal | Remake | Trailer

Awards:

2 nominations

Cast

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

MPAA:

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

Runtime:

107 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | SDDS | Dolby Digital

Certification:

USA:R (edited for re-rating) (certificate #42400) | USA:NC-17 (original rating) | Singapore:R21 | UK:18 | Hong Kong:III | Singapore:M18 (edited version) | Canada:18A (Nova Scotia) | Norway:18 | Germany:18 | Sweden:15 | New Zealand:R18 | Australia:R | Mexico:D | Argentina:18 | Netherlands:16 | Malaysia:18SG | South Korea:Limited | Portugal:M/18 | Ireland:18 | USA:Unrated (uncut DVD version) | France:-16 | Poland:18 | Brazil:18 | Italy:VM14 | Hungary:18 | Iceland:16 | Canada:18A (Ontario) | Canada:16+ (Quebec) | Japan:R-18 | Finland:K-18 (self applied)

Filming Locations:

Marrakech, Morocco

Company:

Craven-Maddalena Films

Trivia:

Body count: 17

Goofs:

Continuity: The SUV changes position after striking the large rock. When it first crashes it is against the rock, later the vehicle has moved further forward and to the right.

Quotes:

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

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Indie Sex: Censored (2007) (TV)

Soundtrack:

In the Valley of the Sun

Remakes do work you know.

Ah, the homely, squabbling Carter family. Traveling through the Nevada desert on the way to San Diego. When suddenly their trailer is beset with punctures and promptly crashes off the road. Was this an accident?, or is there here, in a place where atomic testing was done years before, really eyes in them thar hills?.

So here it be, yet another horror remake of an older much loved picture from the age of the X certificate. Taking on the task, and wrath of fans, for The Hills Have Eyes is Alexandra Aja. Aja, boasting good horror credentials after directing 2003s Haute Tension (Switchblade Romance), actually pulls it off rather well. Sure it at times feels like he's confused as to if it wants to be "horror porn" or a "boo jump scary movie" but by and large it's a dirty dam grimy chiller.

Once Aja submitted his cut to the US censors for classification, word quickly spread that it was so grotty and sick it got the death knell NC-17. Rumours were rife that the film was so disgusting, people were walking out of test screenings feeling ill. There is no such thing as bad publicity, but in this case it became a bad case of unachievable expectations, the desensitised MTV crowd just wasn't enamoured with it. This was after all a hip horror director in waiting, aided on production duties by Wes Craven himself {director of the original}, throw in the shrewdly out there press reports, well it should have been the second coming of the anti-Christ in many eyes.

Yet now it's finally getting support in the right circles, and that's rightly so. For Aja builds his film up nicely with an extended introduction to our characters, whom we know are soon to be desperately violated. The atmosphere, thru gliding camera work and plinking score, is heavy, pervading doom is the order of the day, and then Aja unleashes his hellish barely human monstrosities {led by a fabulously vile Robert Joy}. Blood flies and screams are abound as Aja gleefully starts to up the anti for screen horror violence.

Very much following the marker set by Craven's original, is actually what stops this from truly breaking the mould. It lacks freshness to go with it's willingness to set bloody parameters. But, and it's a good but, this is still one fine and squeamish little ride, one that lingers like a naughty thought for days in the memory. 7/10