Production Year: 2006 - Horror - Director: Alexandre Aja - Original Language: English - Classification: 18 years and over - Starring: Emilie De Ravin, Kathleen Quinlan, Vinessa Shaw more
With his 2006 remake of Wes Craven's 1977 slasher 'The Hills Have Eyes', French director Alexandre Aja manages to accomplish what many directors fail to do by making his film a... more
horror fans without offending devotees of Wes Craven's original version from 1977. There's still something to be said for the gritty shock value of Craven's low-bu...
horror fans without offending devotees of Wes Craven's original version from 1977. There's still something to be said for the gritty shock value of Craven's low-bu...
The Hills Have Eyes is the story of a family road trip that goes terrifyingly awry when the travellers become stranded in a government atomic zone. Miles from nowhe...
our items are despatched from the United Kingdom. Starring - Daniella Alonso, Michael McMillian, Jessica Stroup, Jacob Vargas, Lee Thompson Young We offer *** WORLDWIDE *** Delivery!, Manufacturer: MoviePostersDirect
our items are despatched from the United Kingdom. Starring - Daniella Alonso, Michael McMillian, Jessica Stroup, Jacob Vargas, Lee Thompson Young We offer *** WORLDWIDE *** Delivery!, Manufacturer: MoviePostersDirect
our items are despatched from the United Kingdom. Starring - Maxime Giffard, Kathleen Quinlan, Michael Bailey Smith, Tom Bower, Ted Levine We offer *** WORLDWIDE *** Delivery!, Manufacturer: MoviePostersDirect
The Hills Have Eyes
The Carter family are crossing the desert wastes of American heading for California when ... more
they are attacked by a group of savage cannibals. Mr Carter is crucified, filled with petrol and set on fire. Mrs Carter is shot in the stomach and left for dead.Her daughter is raped and her baby taken for the savages food pot. For the rest of the Carter Family It is now a battle of survival. With the aid of their Alsatian dogs, the Carter family start to turn the tables and revering to their own primitive instincts, they start to wipe out the cannibal punks.The lucky ones died first.
A review by blackman007 on The Hills Have Eyes (DVD) June 2nd, 2006
Author's product rating:
Did you enjoy it?
Indifferent to it
Story
Very ordinary
Characters / Performances
Unmemorable
Special Effects
Standard
How does it compare to similar films?
Unmemorable
Advantages:
Emile de Ravin
Disadvantages:
A lot of US soap acting
Recommend to potential buyers:
no
Full review
The Hills Have Eyes
Again another remake of a 70's horror flick following in the tradition of Dawn of the Dead, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and The Amityville Horror (to name a few) has hit our screens. This time however, the difference is the very talented Alexandre Aja, who came to prominence with the blood-splattered but brilliant Switchblade Romance. With Zack Snyder's remake (or if you like re-imagined) aforementioned Dawn of the Dead being the pick of the bunch, will Aja's effort from Wes Craven's original live up to expectation?
Countless nuclear experiments conducted by the US government in the New Mexico desert, emitting high levels of radiation mutated the DNA of the families nearby causing them to bear offspring severely affected by these tests. This however was not the only side-effect. It somehow turned these people into homicidal, psychotic killers feeding on every bit of human flesh they can get their hands on… or teeth in! Great set up for a horror film!!!!!
After stopping off at a gas station The Carters (cutting to the chase) take a short cut on a non-existent road-track only to suffer a puncture. In the middle of nowhere, hot, lost and very stuck it is apparent to them that they may not be alone. How right they are when out of the rocks and hills they get ambushed by a group of mutants, inflicting their own justice on innocent families to get back at the government who caused them to look the way they are. (Yeah, like that's going to change anything! The authorities would deny their existence… and the tests). From here, it becomes a war, a battle, survival of the fittest. Who will win, the humans or the mutants (sounds like an X-Men film)!!!
Where to start?! The best performance is this film comes from the mandatory "blonde beauty" Emile de Ravin (Brenda), that seems to feature in this genre of movie (if you're wondering where you've seen her before she plays Claire in Lost). She shows her credentials by being the most consistent and credible performer in a cast littered with what seems to be very average acting. A very close second is Tom Bower (the freakily strange Gas station attendant) who keeps the viewers on their toes wandering what part he has to play in the picture. Kathleen Quinlan (Ethel) and Tom Levine (Big Bob) try their best as the senior actors and as for the others it's just a mish-mash to fill in the gaps between the periods of violence…especially in the second half.
Alexandre Aja's remake is a film of two halves, the first of which attempts to build up the tension, set the scene and introduce us to the characters, which is well directed. The second half is a complete gore fest that would excite a haemophiliac vampire… which, actually may leave some people feeling a bit short changed. There is no doubt that Aja loves and knows the horror genre upside down, inside out, backwards, (and any other way that exists) especially 70's horror (if in doubt watch Switchblade Romance). The feel, the loneliness and the build up of tension featured in 1970's horror is captured wonderfully in the opening 40-45mins but the second-half transports us to the late 20th Century and the present, with the catharsis demonstrated through gratuitous, gruesome and extreme violence, which is unfortunately a superficial and easy way to attempt to entertain the viewers. Aja would have got away with this if it was an original idea (see Switchblade Romance) but unfortunately it feels like the extremities this movie goes to is done to purely outdo the original… in true Hollywood formulaic style.
Really though, what did we expect? In reality the story is weak, the performances are inconsistent with patches are of US soap style acting then followed by flashes of talent. It's not all bad though because there are moments where the tension builds up to almost extreme terror… if one puts themselves in the characters shoes... this, unfortunately does not happen very often. What this film does possess is a very good soundtrack, essential for the MTV generation that are going to be attracted to this and credit should go to Maxime Alexandre's cinematography which is fantastic but overshadowed due to the disturbing and graphic nature of the film.
The Hills Have Eyes is fair to average. That's all it is, certainly nothing more, but luckily nothing less. If, however, one was to compare this to his previous directorial effort then we would have certainly hoped for more. If bloody, gory, violent, brutal, sadistic, "bring out the gimp", is your bag of haggis then you'll love this otherwise stay away because this will make for extremely difficult viewing.
Advantages: if you want scares this will give it Disadvantages: -
...well. I think one of the worst film for goriness I've seen has to be Hostel but I decided it had been a while since seeing a horror and The Hills Have Eyes was always one I'd wanted to see and heard good reviews about. I had put off watching it a lot of times though mainly for the fact I get scared easily and every time I was free I was usually in the house alone and prefer to watch these kind of films when other people are around or I'll creep around ... ...The film begins with us seeing a lot of footage of nuclear bombs and it begins with some scientists being in the dessert obviously testing the land for radiation count. The men are killed and dragged off by a man with an axe and then it turns to another scene. It is a petrol station in the dessert and the Carter family are on a trip to San Diego for their Silver Anniversary from Ohio. The whole family are there but the petrol station attendant informs ...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
Advantages: great horrific storyline, good acting and several scares Disadvantages: none for me
...Wes Cravens 1977 movie of the same name and being one hour and 47 minutes long.
It is rightly given an 18 certificate for the many horrific scenes throughout the entire movie, and personally, after watching this I think the 18 certificate is well earned.
Anyway, I was persuaded to watch this by a friend who, after watching it himself, told me it was one of the best, and most weirdest of sci-fi horror movies he had seen in a long while.
So, with ... ...at first I was on the hunt for the 1977 version by the most excellent Wes ‘scare the pants of you’ Craven, but I came across this 2006 version.
I was hoping to enjoy this one as much as I have enjoyed previous movies by the Frenchmen Grégory Levasseur and Alexandre Aja, with such movies as Switchblade Romance (Haute Tension-2003), a tale of decapitation and bloodshed with a little psychological twist at the end, and Mirrors, (2008), starring Kiefer ...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
Advantages: A much needed update of an original story. Disadvantages: Uneeded padding on the DVD
...tale of desert cannibals to the screen. The Hills Have Eyes, was released, censored, censored again; and then banned in the UK before being re-released 2 years later. In 2005 Wes Craven was confronted with the idea of re-telling the story, and although he wanted to be deeply involved he did not want to direct the tale. The question is; is the 2006 version as good as the 1977 version?
During a long hot summer a family decide to take a holiday on ... ...service station, where they meet the slightly backwards owner. Through an unfortunate series of events the owner has reason to suspect that the family may be on to his little secret; this is cemented by the fact that Big Bob reveals he was a police officer. Not wanting his secret revealed against his better judgement the owner directs the family on a short cut to their destination; fully in the knowledge that this family will never reach the other ...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
Advantages: dark and creep Disadvantages: too dull to be very scary
...SPOILERS!
I've not seen the original so I won't be comparing this to that. Apart from the minor scare and the guy killing the 2 scientists at the start this is really boring for a very VERY long time. The travellers dog gets killed (we see nothing apart from it's body) and then not much happens. We're almost 40 mins into the film where their truck is sabotaged by the hill people (they use a stinger on it) and then lots of not much happens.
The ... ...and the son-in-law finds a vehicle graveyard in a crater (and really should have sussed what was happening by then, it's totally obvious). The truck stop owner kills himself and the dad of the family is caught by the hill people and things actually finally start to happen. The son-in-law returns to the camper and the families second dog is taken (which should make them really suspicious but doesn't?).
There's a major goof where one of the hill people ...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
Advantages: Good, solid horror film Disadvantages: Missed out on potentially shocking situations
...don't think i could describe the way in which a pick axe wielding monster attacks three men in a bloodthirsty assult. Not since Saving Private Ryan have i seen such graphic gore. There was even a disturbing sequence being played while the credits were rolling, which although disturbing, tie in nicely with the film when reflected on at the end.
Soundtrack
**********
The soundtrack was not revolutionary in any way, and used a blend of light hearted ... ...was it as memorable as the shower scene in psycho or the chilling music that would accompany Michael Myers in his pursuit of a victim in Halloween. I don't think this aspect was given enough thought, and even though it would not be enough to put you off the film, it is irritating that it is not taken more seriously - it can make a big difference.
Acting
******
There was nothing wrong with the acting in this film and at no point could i stand up ...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Advantages: Got me jumping and on the edge of my seat Disadvantages: Inconsistent at times
...leaves it nicely open for the sequel, which I have yet to watch.
I will watch the sequel, but perhaps this time, I'll watch it in the dark and in the right mood. The HillsHaveEyes is available on DVD from amazon.co.uk for around the £4 mark, and is well worth a watch. Just be prepared for gruesome scenes and some jumping!...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Advantages: good for those who like to watch gore type horror Disadvantages: not as good as first
...After watching ''the hillshaveeyes'' last year and really enjoying it i decided to go out and purchase the sequel recently ''the hillshaveeyes 2'' on dvd. The film cover alone tells you that it should be just as gory as the first and i wasn't expecting any less from this film!
The film is directed by Martin Weisz and the screenplay was actually written by Wes Craven and his son Jonathan Craven (Wes Craven was the writer and director of the original version in 1977).
I thought at first that the film might follow on from the first but, it doesn't connect with the first at all really - it's just adequate enough to know from the end of the first to know that not all the mutants dies so therefore they manged to live on! The opening sceen is of a women giving birth to one of these mutants whilst she is tied up which is only...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Advantages: Great idea Disadvantages: Dated, shabby movie that fails to scare.
...with the two daughters, the elderly mother, the young baby and two dogs, charmingly named Beauty and The Beast. With some trepidation, the two men set off, leaving Danny, the youngest in charge.
What they don't realise is that they are all being watched by several pairs of eyes. Hungry, savage eyes that never miss an opprtunity to prey on the helpless. And with the group separated into three, they are suddenly rich pickings. The hills may not really haveeyes, but there are those who lurk within the caves and rocks who certainly do - and they are fixated on what would appear to be their next meal?.
I'm not going on holiday in America ever again. Well, I'm not driving more than 100 metres out from any city centre. It seems pretty clear to me that your chances of survival in the American countryside range from slim to nil. If you don't get...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
Review: Intensely savage and stomach-churning... a fright triumph (Film Review, )
Directed in tense, concentrated jabs...the remake establishes a jittery family dynamic as well as the original (New York Times, )
A seriously powerful horror, thrill-ride with guts, gore and bloodshed (SFX, )
DVD Description
With his 2006 remake of Wes Craven's 1977 slasher 'The Hills Have Eyes', French director Alexandre Aja manages to accomplish what many directors fail to do by making his film a definite improvement over the original. With Craven on board as producer, Aja sticks pretty closely to the first film's script and storyline, but with the help of a larger budget, special effects, better actors, and slick cinematography, creates a much scarier story. While the film's setting is contemporary, it maintains a 1970s feel in parts, paying tribute to the decade in which the slasher subgenre was born. With an interesting opening-credit sequence consisting of actual nuclear testing footage, we are told that the film's desert setting was the site of nuclear testing during the 1950s and '60s. Warned to vacate, the miners that lived there refused to leave, thus subjecting themselves to high levels of toxic radiation, and breeding mutant babies as a result. It is this generation of now-grown mutants that the poor Carter family has the misfortune to encounter while driving through New Mexico on their way to California. When their vehicle breaks down in the desert, the Carters are too busy bickering with one another to realise they have entered enemy territory. But it doesn't take long for the demented creatures living in the hills to make their presence known. The gore fest that follows is packed with terribly frightening scenes of the deformed killers delighting in the torment and intended kill of each family member, young mothers, teen girls, and babies included. Much of the film is set in a government-created test city in which deteriorating mannequins take the place of actual humans. Posing lifelessly alongside their mutant neighbours, these waxy figures provide a chilling backdrop for the graphic war between the mutants and their victims.
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