A worthy remake

Rating: 6/10 (10 March 2006)

I've been a fan of the original The Hills Have Eyes since I first saw it during a midnight showing while in college. I had my doubts about the remake, but as I enjoyed Aja's High Tension more than I probably should have, I at least felt the film was in good hands. I still enjoy the 1977 version more, but my faith in Aja as an up and coming player in horror was not misplaced.
The film is very faithful to the plot Craven used in 1977 - a family traveling cross country finds themselves stranded in the desert and under attack from a mutant family living in the nearby hills. There are a few significant changes (the crater full of abandoned vehicles and the nuclear test city) probably due more than anything to a much larger budget, but these changes actually add even more interest and variety to the script.
There's a lot here to enjoy. The acting is great and definitely an improvement over the first film. I especially enjoyed Dan Byrd and Aaron Stanford's performances over the same characters from 1977. The new film is much more graphic than the first film. Aja doesn't skimp when it comes to showing the blood and gore. Aja has done his best to keep the brutality and savagery from the first film in his remake. And, for the most part, he has succeeded. One complaint I've already read on the internet is the movie is too slow. I completely disagree with that statement. I enjoyed the pacing throughout the film. The Hills Have Eyes may start off slow, but it builds to finale full of violence.
But there are a few areas where I had problems with the film. One thing that bothered me was the treatment of the mutant family. They never felt like real characters as there was virtually no character development within the mutant family. They are just there. I was also bothered by some technical aspects involving camera work and editing. The movies features what I consider to be way too many shots filmed with a hand-held camera and edited in a rapid, MTV style. Maybe I'm just getting old, but there were several moments during the film where I wanted to scream at Aja, "Be still and let me see what's going on". It was too much for me. Also, I thought the exposition was handled rather clumsily. The preaching like exposition given by the immobile mutant felt forced. Finally, and I realize many will disagree, I enjoy the low-budget look of the original. The look helped to give the movie a feeling that anything could happen. In contrast, Aja's film is much more polished looking. I won't go so far as to call it over-produced, but the look of the movie doesn't add as much atmosphere as the lower budget look.
In the end, while I did have problems with certain aspects of the film, overall The Hills Have Eyes is a solid horror film. Fans of the original should be able to find something here to enjoy that doesn't trample all over their memories of the first film.