Can't decide whether to be offended or impressed

Rating: 6/10 (1 November 2010)

I review this movie without having seen the original. Maybe that's just as good, since the review will then be based on the merits of this movie alone and not on how it holds to the original. What is this movie all about ? To me it's about shock value, horror, torture, freaks, sadism, survival, humiliation, revenge and a lot of gore. Some people will probably find the gore and horror in this movie hilarious and look at it with humor, while other people will be offended. Personally I'm leaning more towards the latter. I love horror movies, but I was never a fan of movies like Hostel and Saw, where horrific killings and torture seems to be used solely for shock value - as cheap entertainment. This movie will probably appeal to the audience of those movies. But in my view it is a superior movie. It's not Deliverance, which explored the theme of survival against sadism on a different and more serious level (I would label that movie more of a drama than a horror movie). Hills is definitely a horror movie and pure entertainment. But as such it's actually very well made ! The directing, acting, locations, effects, musical score...it is all quality stuff and makes this movie something more than just a cheap bucket of blood and fake limbs being poured all over the audience. I find this movie quite artistic and atmospheric at times. The cinematography is nice. It's not a cheap attempt on cashing in on gore hungry viewers..it's quite a classy attempt on cashing in on gore hungry viewers:) And I guess it must be a worthy remake of the original. What it all comes down to is - do you like these kind of movies or not. If you do, I guess I can recommend this movie. But it's definitely not for the faint of heart. Personally, I was balancing on the edge all through the movie, not being able to decide if I should be impressed by the quality of the filmmaking, or if I should be offended on what was portrayed on the screen. What really made this movie hard for me to watch was the scene involving rape and murder of innocent women, and the fact that there was a baby involved. But in terms of filmmaking it's definitely a good movie. So I guess I will give it a 6. I'm sure people who are not offended, will easily be able to give it a higher rating.