The Hills Have Eyes (2006)

A family falls victim to a group of mutated cannibals in a desert far away from civilization.

Director:

Alexandre Aja

Writers:

Wes Craven (based upon his film), Alexandre Aja (screenplay)

Stars:

Ted Levine, Kathleen Quinlan, Dan Byrd

2 wins & 13 nominations.

Cast

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

Storyline

While celebrating their 30th wedding anniversary, a couple are traveling through the desert with their 3 children, son in law and their baby granddaughter. While the rest of the family agrees there are plenty of better and more appropriate things to do to celebrate an anniversary, they make do with what they have, but things take a turn after a sketchy gas station attendant informs them about a "short cut" that will take them in between a series of hills in the desert. It doesn't take too long before they realize they're not alone and the hills indeed do have eyes.

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Plot Keywords:

murder of family | deformity | rape | murder spree | graphic violence | 

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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

Did You Know?

Trivia

Director Aja and art director Grégory Levasseur chose not to film in the original's filming location of Victorville, California, and instead scouted many locations for filming including Namibia, South Africa, New Mexico, and Mexico. The two settled on Ouarzazate in Morocco, which was also known as "the gateway to the Sahara Desert".

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Goofs

(at around 1 min) 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.

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Quotes

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

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Alternate Versions

US version was heavily edited (31 changes) for violence to secure a R rating. This version was used for international theatrical distribution. Uncut version is available on DVD.

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Connections

Referenced in Going to Pieces: The Rise and Fall of the Slasher Film (2006)

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Soundtracks

In the Valley of the Sun
Written by L. Stuart
Performed by Buddy Stuart
Courtesy of Tru-Gems Records

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.

Details

Official Sites:

Fox Searchlight [United States]

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

10 March 2006 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Hills Have Eyes

Filming Locations:

CLA Studios, Morocco

Box Office

Budget:

$15,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$15,708,512, 12 March 2006

Gross USA:

$41,778,863

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$70,009,308

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