The return of the great American Nightmare

Rating: Null/10 (14 March 2006)

Thank god for directors like Alexandre Aja. It seems only an extremely small handful of people still working in the movie business these days remember what makes a good, effective horror movie and Aja is certainly one of them. This movie drips eeriness and tension, i haven't seen a film that's kept me so on the edge of my seat in so long that this film reminded me all over again how powerful cinema can be and you can't get much of a higher recommendation than that. This film harks back to a time when horror flicks had something to say rather than just being about pretty teens getting carved up. It doesn't feel like a studio film-it seems way too brutal and visceral for a studio picture but then if you've seen Aja's previous masterpiece HAUTE TENSION(SWITCHBLADE ROMANCE) you know what to expect from his twisted yet brilliant psyche. So does it beat the original? In my humble opinion yes it does, the family are far scarier this time partly due to the fact they're a lot more grotesque(nuclear fallout made them mutate in this version) but also partly due to the way they revel in killing, torture and rape and harbour no mercy whatsoever, the family's pleas falling on deaf malformed ears. The premise is as old as the titular hills itself but the intensity and shocks in this movie plus quite likable characters are what carries it through-Aja's direction is brilliant too-he captures the ominousness and vastness of the desert perfectly, the scenes in the mining town near the end being some of the most well shot in this type of movie that i have seen in a long time. It is a little similar to the original in terms of the fate of the characters but it has enough surprises to keep fans of the original entertained-most notably the brutal battle in the mining town where Doug evens the odds against the freaks with nail-biting results. If i had one criticism it would have to be that considering its theme that violence begets violence and dehumanises the victims as well as the perpetrators it perhaps makes their victory seem a bit too much like a triumph at the end but other than that it's damn near flawless.