Best horror remake since the re-imagining of Texas CHAINSAW MASSACRE

Rating: 8/10 (22 March 2006)

THE HILLS HAVE EYES (2006) ***1/2 Aaron Stanford, Emilie de Ravin, Vinessa Shaw, Kathleen Quinlan, Ted Livine, Dan Byrd, Robert Joy, Desmond Askew, Tom Bower, Ezra Buzzington, Maisie Camilleri Preziosi, Billy Drago, Laura Ortiz, Michael Bailey Smith. Well crafted remake of Wes Craven's cult classic chiller about a family traveling on a road trip that detour into a living nightmare when they encounter a homicidal mutated brood (in this incarnation they are the results of desert nuclear testing) who prove to be ingeniously methodical in making things terrible for their prey. Gore galore and some genuine unsettling borderline snuff-film vibe clearly makes for a queasy viewing experience but finally a horror film remake that is worth its salt in outdoing its original thanks largely to filmmaker Alexandre Aja for not welching on the terror factor mixed with some truly upsetting moments of divine grotesqueries including some ace make-up work by the good folk at KNB EFX and a stand-up and cheer rooting performance by Stanford as a mild-mannered family man reduced to a vengeance seeking animal.