In 1977 Wes Craven became a horror movie legend after bringing his 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 the road together, the holiday is also to celebrate Big Bob and Ethel (the parents) wedding anniversary. They stumble across a 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 side.
Within an hour of taking the short cut the families trip is cut short by a horrific accident; luckily none are hurt……YET!
Realising that they can get no mobile phone signal and the true isolation of their location Big Bob and Doug decide to go in separate directions to get help. Big Bob goes to the service station where he encounters the suicide of the owner, obviously burdened by some terrible secret. Doug finds a giant crater in the ground, inside it are dozens of deserted cars, what he does not see is the trails of blood smeared up the side of some of them. Meanwhile
Bobby (Big Bob and Ethel's youngest son) looses one of his two dogs Beauty; which he soon finds unfortunately it has met with a nasty end; but before Bobby has chance to tell anyone of his discovery he has fallen down a massive hole.
Maxime Giffard .... First Victim Michael Bailey Smith .... Pluto Tom Bower .... Gas Station Attendant Ted Levine .... Big Bob Kathleen Quinlan .... Ethel Dan Byrd .... Bobby Emilie de Ravin .... Brenda Aaron Stanford .... Doug Vinessa Shaw .... Lynn
In a time when the American cinema is a wash with nasty remakes especially in the horror genre two offensive candidates being The Amityville Horror and The Fog, I was disturbed by the announcement of a new version of this classic tale. But when I heard that not only had Wes Craven had given his blessing to the venture, but had assisted in the production of the movie I started to have second thoughts. In fact in today's slightly more questioning world it make sense to remake a movie that has a lot of unexplained questions about it. But the first big question that I'm sure you'll want to know is…. Which is better the 1977 version or the spanking new 2006 version?
I have rather surprised myself with the answer to this, and that is that the remake is not only better; it's considerably better. And make no bones about it; I was a big fan of the original, so much so that I even went in search of its star Michael Berryman in my mid teens.
The Hills Have Eyes (1977) is a tale about a deformed family living in the middle of nowhere who attacks people for no reason; completely without explanation. The Hills Have Eyes (2006) tells a story of pride and corruption; when the American government wanted to use the area occupied by a small community of miners for nuclear testing the residents stood proud refusing to move. The result the government used the site with the residents still in place, over the years the occupants have become deformed, died and even bred to make a new generation of hideously deformed children. The new inclusion of this story I feel is a pivotal issue missing from the original, not only does it add a new dimension to the story in respect of the reason why they kill people passing through; but it also gives you a brief moment of empathy for these residents.
The nice thing is that the movie keeps the general fear factor of the original, many of the cast die in exactly the same way and similar incidents occur to the slightly more fortunate. And the best improvement is that as family members die the others feel genuine remorse, where as in the original it seemed that the dead family members were forgotten only too quickly. What caused most of the furore last time round was the graphic nature of the violence, in the 2006 version its even worse; and this in turn helps to keep an old legend alive. The characters in this new version are certainly more three dimensional, as you get a proper understanding of the sort of people they are at home as well as away. You can certainly feel the tension between Big Bob and his son in law Doug, whom he feels is not only a poor suit for his daughter, but an complete waste of space, in fact not one reasonable conversation takes place between the two during the movie.
As far as casting is concerned the main cast seem to take second place compared to the "freaks" whom without make up are certainly the better recognised members of the cast with the possible exception of Emilie de Ravin. The main character of the freaks is Lizard played by Robert Joy, Joy is a popular television actor who's roles vary from Star Trek Voyager, Malcolm In The Middle, CSI NY, and Boston Legal. He is almost unrecognisable as the hideous leader of this deformed family. Papa Jupiter is played by Billy Drago best known in his role of Barbas in Charmed; but a popular movie actor too, in Hills he delivers a powerful role as the father fully aware of the negative aspects his actions over the years have caused. Virtual unknown Laura Ortiz plays a blinder of a role as Ruby a young girl effected by the after effects of the nuclear testing but still with high morals. The main cast focus of the movie is on Aaron Stanford who plays Doug (best known for his role of Pyro in the X-men movies) as the movie progresses he moves from being underdog, to ultimate warrior; a man stricken by his thirst for revenge. Stanford carries the movie firmly on his shoulders and I doubt if someone better experienced could have managed such a role.
For those of you distracted at the prospect of yet another nasty horror movie remake, don't be put off. Hills Have Eyes is the all-time king of the horror movie remake. This remake was not only well timed (in a minefield of disasters) but well needed.
Special Features
An commentary from director Alexandre Aja, writer Gregory Levasseur and producer Marianne Maddalena. And an Audio commentary from producers Wes Craven and Peter Locke; the second of which makes for interesting listening as Craven explains why he thinks Hills needed to be remade and his role within this new concept.
'Surviving The Hills': a 'Making Of' documentary; this 50 minute documentary covers everything from the special effects, to diversification of the original story.
'Leave The Broken Hearts' music video by The Finalist; in my opinion a nasty addition to this DVD.
Additional footage not seen in the cinema; in honesty not seen for a reason. This adds nothing new to the bigger picture, its just a bit of extra padding.
The Hills Have Eyes is available from Play.com for £13.99 or Amazon for £14.99.
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Production Year: 2000 - Horror - Director: Keenen Ivory Wayans - Original Language: English - Classification: 18 years and over - Starring: Carmen Electra, Anna Faris, Kurt Fuller, James Van Der Beek, Keenen Ivory Wayans
Boasting an upgrade in production values,The Hills Have Eyesshould please new-generation ... 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...
Postage & Packaging: £1.21 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
Boasting an upgrade in production values,The Hills Have Eyesshould please new-generation ... 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...
Postage & Packaging: Free! Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours...
The lucky ones die first! Based on the original 1977 film by fright-master Wes Craven ... more
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...
Postage & Packaging: £0.00 Availability: 3-5 working days
The shock-a-minute chiller that scared the hell out of audiences around the world takes ... more
terror to the next level in this extended version of the film that includes additional footage not shown in cinemas, and DVD features to die for!A cross-country roa...
Advantages: The film does keep you thinking about it, def something you talk about seeing to your friends! Disadvantages: Very disgusting and not for the light hearted or to slip into childrens viewing by accident!!
![The Hills Have Eyes (2006) [DVD]](http://picnica.ciao.com/uk/78486326.jpg "The Hills Have Eyes (2006) [DVD]")
Jul 15th, 2006
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