A creepy and effective horror remake

Rating: 7/10 (11 April 2007)

A family traveling through the Nevada desert are sent on a short-cut that puts them into the path of a deadly group of killer mutants, who have been preying on innocent travelers for years.
The Hills Have Eyes is a scary and effective horror film that actually takes the time to develop everything instead of just rushing into the violence. For this type of film, there are really only two formulas that are commonly used today. The director could either develop the characters and story so the audience becomes familiar with them or the director can just do a quick introduction and just rush into all the murders. The Hills Have Eyes is an example of the former and it does a good job at it. The pacing is not too slow at the beginning and we get to know everyone as well as get a good look at the location. Then like a torpedo, the film just takes off and it manages to be memorable without being gory or over the top.
Alexandre Aja did a good job behind the camera. He really set up a creepy atmosphere for the film and he used that desert location perfectly. He managed to create plenty of tension with horrifying villains and quick editing shots. He also produced a few inventive death scenes that didn't depend heavily on gore to be scary. He sometimes dragged a situation out for too long but as a whole, the movie was usually interesting and entertaining to watch. The villains looked pretty good as well especially compared to other similar films like 'Wrong Turn'. I would say that the dialog was largely bland yet the characters were still interesting because they were more ordinary and therefore relatable.
Compared to the genre, the acting was better than the standard. Emile De Ravin gave a good performance. She could have played a shallow, spoiled brat but she had a little more depth to her. Vinessa Shaw was a bit of a miscast because she didn't strike me as mom to the baby, maybe more of an older sister. Dan Byrd was surprisingly good and I say surprisingly because I was expecting his performance to be really annoying but it was quite tolerable. Aaron Stanford was unlikable at first but quickly improved as the movie progressed. Kathleen Quinlan and Ted Levin gave adequate performances as the parents. Also, the actors portraying the bad guys did a pretty good job. Overall, The Hills Have Eyes covers some familiar territory but it still manages to be quite exciting thanks to the interesting direction and talented cast. Rating 7/10