Now THIS is a horror movie done right!

Rating: 9/10 (11 March 2006)

Another remake. We've seen so many of them recently and have been disappointed by most of them. Only a few, Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Dawn of The Dead, have been good. No surprise here though that we have another one. This time it's Wes Craven's The Hills Have Eyes.
This film is written and directed by Alexandre Aja (Haute Tension). This film follows the Carters, an idyllic American family traveling through the great American southwest. But their trip takes a detour into an area closed off from the public, but more importantly from society. An area originally used by the U.S. Government for nuclear testing that was intended to be empty...or so they thought? When the Carter's car breaks down at the old site, they're stranded...or are they? As the Carters may soon realize that what seemed like a car casually breaking down, might actually be a trap. This trap might be perpetrated by the inhabitants of the site who aren't pulling a prank, but are out to set up a gruesome massacre.
I have never seen the original so I have nothing to compare this to; I am only going to review this movie on its own merits. I flat out loved this movie. It was so visceral and intense that no movie I've seen recently can touch it. Hostel was flat out violent and gruesome. This was something totally different. I have never been so exhausted after seeing a movie. When I walked out of the theater I had the biggest smile on my face.
I actually cared (a lot) about the characters. That's why this movie takes a while to get going, you get to know and care for the characters and when three of them died in the absolutely awesome trailer sequence, you'll know it, I was sad. **SPOILER**When the one guy was going to shoot Brenda and then you see the blood on the trailer window, I thought Bobby had shot the guy but when I saw that Brenda was shot, I was like "HUH?" and I felt bad.**END SPOILER** You care about the characters in this movie and it pays off big time. This movie is also very violent. Not sickening in your face violent like Hostel was, just plain awesome and disturbing violence. There's a ton of blood but it doesn't feel overused or ridiculous at any point in the movie. This is one intense movie. Whoa is all I have to say about it. Once it starts it never lets up, not even at the end. There's just so much to talk about with this movie but I'm not going to here, you all just need to see it. This is a breath of fresh air in this genre. Aja gives horror the kick in the ass it so desperately needed. This is how horror should be; an unrelenting, unforgiving thrill ride with huge balls. Thank you Alexandre Aja. I can't wait for you're next movie. Oh and this also is the definition of a theater experience. Instead of most movies where you have the sound blasting out of speakers this actually makes use of the surround sound. You'll hear crows or screams or noises that are off screen to your left or right. One time I actually thought somebody brought a baby in with them only to find out it was in the movie. This is an awesome awesome thing to witness. It truly breaks the fourth wall. Another interesting thing which I don't know if it was intentional or not but one time when one character shone a flashlight beam towards the audience the light from it made the light from the projector visible so it looked like the was shining the light right at us. Again, intentional or not, it was awesome! The music was pretty good, I didn't notice the score but maybe that was intentional like in Haute Tension. The makeup was pretty good, if a bit unoriginal at times, one guy looked exactly like Jason from F13 Part 2 minus the hair. I mean EXACTLY. At the end this also sets up for a sequel. I hope there is not one cause I like the thought of it ending right there. And even though it sets up for a sequel, it does so in an absolutely awesome way. I loved the last shot of this movie.
So I didn't touch on all the points I wanted to but as I'm sitting here writing this I realized I didn't need to, all I should do is give my basic thoughts and let people experience this for themselves. Alexandre Aja is the next big horror director/master and I for one will be in line eagerly awaiting his next picture. This was a horror movie and everyone should see it. So, what are you waiting for?