Best Horror Remake So Far? I'd Say So.

Rating: 9/10 (12 March 2006)

I have seen many horror movies in my day, and this is by far one of the nastiest, most intense horror movies I think I've ever seen. "The Hills Have Eyes" remake follows the Carter family, who are on their way to California. After taking advice from an old gas-station attendant (bad mistake), they take a shortcut that supposedly goes through the hill and hits the freeway from there. Unfortunately, they hit some bumps in the road, and their tires are blown out after driving over a string of spikes. The father sets out to get help, and the oldest sister's husband goes in the other direction for help. As night falls, the family starts getting hunted down by a crazy family of deformed cannibals, and the blood starts to flow - like a river.
Alexandre Aja (who brought us the brutal French horror flick, "High Tension") gives the remake some new folds that make it a bit more interesting and different from the original, although most of the film is very similar to Craven's original film. We get more of a back story on the mutant cannibals, and it turns out that they were descendants of miners who were exposed to radiation when the U.S. government conducted nuclear tests in the New Mexico desert. Another addition to the film is their residence, and in the remake they inhabit a town filled with mannequins that was used in the testing on how nuclear weapons would affect communities.
The acting here is excellent, and the whole cast does a great job at invoking terror and dread as we see them go through an unimaginable situation. I actually felt bad for the family, it's hard to even imagine yourself in a situation like that. The cannibals are new and improved, and even more violent and insane this time around - the makeup is great and they look really disgusting. While they are much less human-like than in the original, they are scary nonetheless.
Overall, I'd say this is probably the best remake I've yet to see. Beware though, it is very brutal and violent. There was actually someone who threw up in my theater, so those with weak stomachs probably shouldn't watch it. To sum it up, "The Hills Have Eyes" is a wild ride, filled with intense violence, insanity, and terror. Aja does the original film justice. I'll give it a nine, pushing a ten. 9/10.