There's only so many time you can watch dogs being accidentally let out before it gets tiresome

Rating: 5/10 (24 August 2006)

The Hills Have Eyes is a remake of a film that in harsh honesty has benefited from a lot of very generous and undeserved hype. It really isn't shocking- if anything it's pantomime- cartoony and delivered without any real sense of style. Wes Craven's Last House on the Left has a similarly undeserved reputation. Yes both films feature shocking scenes-but delivered in such an artless manner it leaves the viewer cold, or even worse, disinterested. It was never a contender for the Texas Chainsaw Massacre title of "off the beaten track/ away from civilisation" brand of horror.
The remake does have a wonderful visual flair. That is something I can not deny- it's beautiful on the eye, you feel the searing heat of the desert, the savagery of the mutants actions- it's all conveyed beautifully. The opening is wonderful also- it's one of those pre-credit massacres that cannot fail to grab your attentionbut that's the problem, once it has your attention it doesn't seem to know what to do with it.
It' a disturbing trend in horror films today- the build up that leads nowhere, the rest of the film plodding along almost without real direction. It was there in the recent Texas Chainsaw remake and House of Wax also. It just makes for infuriating viewing. I don't want to watch a boy having to chase his dogs back after they've been let out a trailer accidentally for the umpteenth time. It gets very annoying, and it's pretty weak as plot devices go. The odd moments of genuine shock and savagery are effectively conveyed but for the most part they seem to punctuate a pretty drawn out uninspired film. It's not a horror film in that respect- it's a film that's quite devoid of atmosphere except the odd shocking moment spattered here and there.
I'd say it was worth renting- it certainly isn't a dreadful film, it just doesn't really do anything especially new, or interesting beyond the look of the film. As I've said before, the hype will work against this film, because the actual execution really is only so- so. Still a fantastic opening sequence.