A brave Horror movie. Does not take in consideration actual tendencies.

Rating: 9/10 (23 April 2006)

"The Hills Have Eyes" remake is a raw, honest, Horror movie. The exploitation genre is getting polished in this new millennium and Alexandre Aja is one of the directors that's doing it the right way.
This is by far the most violent, gory, disturbing Horror movie from the new millennium. "Hostel" was raw and brutal but half of it's running time was just not "horror". "The Hills Have Eyes" goes directly to the point and smashes us, the audience, in the head in the first minutes. It gives a brief explanation towards the forthcoming events. Something that the original didn't have (and that was a reason for it to be considered a mindless exploitation flick). Then, the movie has it's obligatory character development. We see that the family gets along pretty good (except for Big Bob and Doug), and that there's a lot of harmony on their lives. Unfortunately to them, their future is darker than night. After their car crashes in the middle of the desert (mysteriously as no one can explain to what happened to the wheel), one by one, the typical American family are tortured by a bunch of deformed and deranged cannibals.
What will happen to the happy American family' Who will survive? and HOW?! this seems like a dead end road for the family.
"The Hills Have Eyes" is a disturbing, violent movie clearly, not for everyone. If you are into 70's exploitation or you simply enjoy violence and tense Horror movies, this is what you are looking for. The movie doesn't allows you to breathe because of it's constant violent scenes and chills. And when you finally breathe, then it comes with something even more shocking. The movie deals with crude scenes that could only be watchable for fans of the genre. That's what surprised me the most! Alexandre Aja was brave enough to put all the violence in the movie. No time for black humor, or your typical references from movies like Scream, or The Ring. Instead, Aja puts as more violence and scary scenes as he can to create a truly shocking Horror movie. The man also knows how to move feelings! When you see that an innocent, normal family is getting slaughtered by a band of wackos, you know that it may affect you in some way.
The acting is great. Simply great. Ted Levine and Kathleen Quinian deliver a solid, believable performance as a couple that seems to be still in love and that cares a lot about their children. I wanted Big Bob to survive. I'm sure that he could take down any of the cannibals in a mano a mano. Dan Byrd and Emilie de Ravin are a reality. Both deliver a strong, brave performance. I'm glad both survived. Also, they were believable as siblings. Aaron Stanford delivered also a great performance. My initial impressions about his character were not good. He was annoying and whined a lot. Later on, he pulled out an emotional performance as a caring father, husband, and sensitive person. He then was brave enough to hunt down the cannibal family in order to save his baby daughter. I rooted for him. He's not the typical hero. Special mention deserves Vinessa Shaw. Her performance was simply great. She portrayed a loving mother and wife with great emotion. She was also hot! I've been a fan of hers since 2001. Way to go. Hopefully she will get more important roles, she deserves them.
The rest of the supporting characters were very good on their role. The cannibals were savage and deranged as hell. One of them reminded me of Jason from Friday the 13th part III.
Please watch this movie if you lost faith to the genre in recent times. This movie will be a cult classic in the future. Alexandre Aja, what a way to consolidate in the genre and in the likes of the fans! His direction is fast paced, interesting, dark, and has a feeling of uncertainty. The man knows how to craft violence and mystery in a believable way. He seems to be a man that believes in his projects , not caring about the tendencies of new Horror.
Watch this disturbing, violent, cruel movie because it's great on it's on way. If you are not into Horror or can't take violence, then this movie is not for you. This is not a simply revenge flick. There's more about it to dig in...
You make like it or not, but you will have an opinion towards it. That's for sure.