Alexandre Aja's remake of "The Hills Have Eyes" is a decent horror flick however it is no where as good as his previous film "High Tension"

Rating: 7/10 (1 April 2006)

"The Hills Have Eyes" is a remake of the 1977 classic horror film with the same title. The movie focuses on an American family who is traveling across country to San Diego. Along the way, they stop for gas in a town which looks like it is deserted. The gas station attendant (Tom Bower) tells the family that there is a shortcut to San Diego through the hills. And because this is a horror movie, the family listens to the gas attendant's advice and follows the shortcut only to find out that it's a trap. The family is now stranded in the hills of some unknown desert in New Mexico only to find a group of deformed miners who were victims of nuclear testing seeking their revenge on humanity. Lots of blood and violence ensue
First things first, how come almost every time I go to see a horror movie in the theater I have to deal with idiotic people who either talk through the entire film or bring little kids to the film? In my case I was lucky to experience both in one place. So note to parents, leave the kids at home, this type of movie is not appropriate for your kids. And secondly for those who want to give their social commentary during the film please wait until it's over or go outside the theater to do so. Thank you. Anyway despite my frustration by this I was still able to sit back and enjoy majority of the film.
I personally didn't find "The Hills has Eyes" a great movie by any means but I think it was a decent horror movie especially for a genre that usually produces very bad movies. After seeing director Alexandre Aja's last film, "High Tension" which I really enjoyed, I was very excited about seeing "The Hills have Eyes" but sadly after seeing it I do not feel it lived up to all the internet hype surrounding it.
The main problem is that the movie's plot is very similar to majority of horror movies. A family gets stranded in a desert which no one else knows about. Something bad happens and more bad things happen as the film goes on. "The Hills Have Eyes" however does a great job of building suspense and you are pretty much at the edge of your seat during the entire film. The movie also contains some of the most violent and gruesome scenes I have seen in a horror film which seems to be Aja's trademark for horror films. Both of his movies have a lot of violence, a lot of blood, and a lot of gruesome images.
The one main problem I had with the film was character development. Yes, I know it's a horror movie and not a drama but I do still expect a little. This movie does very little to provide character development. In fact, I felt like I could careless about most of the characters. The only characters you felt bad for was the baby and the little sister Brenda (Emilie de Ravin). And you only felt bad for Brenda because of what happens to her later in the film because something happens to her that no one should ever have to experience. Other than that the characters just seem so typical and lame that you really don't care about any of them.
Also the film gets a little too much near the end; the violence goes a little over the top and the invisible character (you know the guy or girl who keeps getting stabbed, shot or killed but keeps coming back to life) becomes a little too clichéd. And when the film ended I literally laughed because I found the ending to be so ridiculously typical and clichéd that I couldn't do anything but laugh at it. The acting at times as well is a little weak but then again this is a horror film and even ones I have really enjoyed never have that good of acting. I wonder why horror movies can never have really decent acting. I don't understand this but hey it's the genre is so I can really blame Aja for that.
In the end "The Hills Have Eyes" is a decent horror movie, it's not the best film in the genre but it is certainly not the worst. The director, Mr. Aja definitely has a skill for creating very violent and gory films. I just hope the next time he directs a film he can add a little more substance and thought to it like he did with "High Tension." Overall I can't say I didn't enjoy myself watching this film, it was very suspenseful and had a lot of action. It is definitely a must see for those who are a fan of the horror genre.
MovieManMenzel's final rating for "The Hills Have Eyes" is a 7/10. Please for the love god if you are going to see this movie don't bring any kids under the age of 12 with you. It's really not appropriate at all for them.