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Review

The Hills Have Eyes is a delightfully gory update of Wes Craven’s 1977 horror film yet will definitely mixed reactions from viewers who are skeptical of remakes. The film avoids sullying the reputation of its predecessor, but doesn’t necessarily add anything new other than a few more buckets of blood and some throw-away plot points.

The basic story remains the same: A vacationing family is stalked by backwoods cannibals (mutant cannibals in this update) in an isolated patch of desert. The area is so far from civilization, in fact, that the film’s hero comments on how they must be stranded in the 3% of the U.S. that his cellular service doesn’t reach... and he would know because he sells phones for a living. The rather blatant opening credit sequence features scenes from idyllic 1950s-era home life interspersed with mushroom clouds and images of the mutated beings that resulted from the bombs’ impacts. There is possibly an interesting subtext here regarding French director Alexandre Aja’s (High Tension) opinions towards his new country of employment, but its tough to interpret an American flag pierced through a man’s skull.

Hills excels in its portrayal of uninhibited violence, which brings to mind many films from the original’s time period. It also has a smarter than average script: unlike in similar horror films like Wolf Creek, the characters in Hills respond to their situation in logical manners; the suspension of disbelief is raised no higher than is to be expected from the genre. Aaron Stanford (X2) takes center stage in the film’s all-around strong cast as the unexpected hero whose struggle for freedom is truly triumphant. At times he takes on the persona of a spaghetti western hero, aided by the film’s fitting take on the genre’s traditional scores. Although Aja’s film is ultimately a modern retelling of a film that didn’t need to be remade, it will definitely appeal to the new generation of horror fans who are unaware of its source material, as well as jaded horror fans of old who are looking for a return to the glorious era of the 1970s.

 -- Eric Bresler