The Hills Have Eyes (2006)

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 | Gas Station | Cannibal | Trailer | Nuclear Testing

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 | 108 min (unrated version)

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:

Wes Craven and producer Peter Locke originally wanted to film the new version in the exact same desert location as the 1977 film but when they went out to scout the locations they found a number of condominium developments had been built.

Goofs:

Continuity: In the beginning when Pluto kills the first researcher, you see the ax go through the mask, so the mask has a hole in it. When the researcher falls on the ground, his mask doesn't have a hole, it's just like it was.

Quotes:

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

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Leverage: The Stork Job (#1.6)" (2009)

Soundtrack:

Summers Gonna Be My Girl

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.