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RATING |
| 8 |
DIRECTOR |
| Alexandre Aja |
CAST |
Michael Bailey Smith
Tom Bower
Ted Levine
Kathleen Quinlan
Dan Byrd
Emilie de Ravin
Aaron Stanford
Vinessa Shaw
Maisie Camilleri Preziosi
Robert Joy
Laura Ortiz
Ezra Buzzington
Billy Drago
Desmond Askew |
YEAR |
| 2006 |
RUNTIME |
| 107 minutes |
DATE REVIEWED |
| 4 / 10 / 06 |
SHOPPING |
| BUY THIS FILM |
| REVIEWER: FrighT MasteR |
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RATE THIS MOVIE:
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RATED BY:
71 FAN(S) |
CURRENT RATING:
7.31 SKULL(S)
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The Hills Have Eyes
Director Alexandre Aja is really making a name for himself amongst the horror community, first with the gory French slasher High Tension, and now this -- a remake that actually tops the original! Of course, the original wasn't all that great, especially with the half-assed ending it offered. I was open to the idea of a remake of The Hills Have Eyes when first word was announced, especially since Aja was set to direct. Having seen the film, I have to say that I'm amazed at how much the MPAA actually let him get away with. Naturally there were cuts for it to receive an R-rating, but what it managed to bring on-screen was pretty intense and gory stuff. It just goes to show how lenient they have come to be with gritty and violent horror films like Saw and more-recently, Hostel.
The storyline pretty much stays the same as the original -- basically following a family as they go across-country towards California. While crossing some desert terrain they stumble into an area that was once used by the government for nuclear testing. The family takes a wrong detour and end up stranded in the middle of nowhere, where there's no one except themselves to seek aid from. In an attempt to find help, two men from the group split up in opposite directions, hoping to come across someone. It doesn't take long before the mutated desert people come to cause trouble, raping and murdering their way into the family trailer, essentially leaving the family to fend for themselves and forcing the least likely of heroes to spawn from this carnage.
I really liked this movie. It had tense scenes, a good mix of violence and gore, and the pacing never once seemed to slow down. Unlike in the original, where it slowed down in parts, and it definitely wasn't as gory as this one. It's rare that a remake surpasses its predecessor, but it does happen, and in this case it did, thanks to Alexandre Aja's twisted mind. I'm looking forward to see what else this director has in stored for the genre.
OVERALL
This is a surprisingly good movie. There's a nice blend of gore and violence to please any horror fan. Although I liked the original, this definitely surpassed it in many ways.
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to see this film get an 8 as a rating makes me want to fucking go on a murder spree
i personally like the original better
the remake might be better than the original but it wasnt hard to out perform to begin with
if i wanted to see a bunch of oversized deformed retards then i would just go to the ghetto down the street
The gore/fight scenes start off decent but gradually get better as the film goes on.
The last 30 minutes of the film is awesome.
You feel alot of empathy for the characters and the actors are good.
Also, the atmosphere and location of the film is wonderful.
I give The Hills Have Eyes 8.5-9/10
- More gore.
- FAR more intense and scary.
- Superior acting, including actors I actually cared for.
- Scarier, more vicious Hill People.
- Atmospheric. The locations were astounding.
- Edgy, cool music from tomandandy.
So, basically Alexandre Aja is a master of modern horror, and his second film dominates most of today's remakes. An 8/10.