The Hills Have Eyes (2006)

User Rating:

6.5/10   

Director:

Alexandre Aja

Writers:

Alexandre Aja (screenplay) &
Grégory Levasseur (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

10 March 2006 (USA)

Genre:

Horror | Thriller

Tagline:

The lucky ones die first.

Plot:

A suburban American family is being stalked by a group of psychotic people who live in the desert, far away from civilization.

Plot Keywords:

Desert | Nuclear Testing | Cannibal | Remake | Trailer

Awards:

2 nominations

Cast

Aaron Stanford	...	Doug Bukowski
Kathleen Quinlan	...	Ethel Carter
Vinessa Shaw	...	Lynn Carter
Emilie de Ravin	...	Brenda Carter
Dan Byrd	...	Bobby Carter
Tom Bower	...	Gas Station Attendant
Billy Drago	...	Papa Jupiter
Robert Joy	...	Lizard
Ted Levine	...	Big Bob Carter
Desmond Askew	...	Big Brain
Ezra Buzzington	...	Goggle
Michael Bailey Smith	...	Pluto
Laura Ortiz	...	Ruby
Gregory Nicotero	...	Cyst (as Greg Nicotero)
Maisie Camilleri Preziosi	...	Baby Catherine

MPAA:

Rated R for strong gruesome violence and terror throughout, and for language.

Runtime:

107 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | SDDS | Dolby Digital

Certification:

USA:R (edited for re-rating) (certificate #42400) | USA:NC-17 (original rating) | Singapore:R21 | UK:18 | Hong Kong:III | Singapore:M18 (edited version) | Canada:18A (Nova Scotia) | Norway:18 | Germany:18 | Sweden:15 | New Zealand:R18 | Australia:R | Mexico:D | Argentina:18 | Netherlands:16 | Malaysia:18SG | South Korea:Limited | Portugal:M/18 | Ireland:18 | USA:Unrated (uncut DVD version) | France:-16 | Poland:18 | Brazil:18 | Italy:VM14 | Hungary:18 | Iceland:16 | Canada:18A (Ontario) | Canada:16+ (Quebec) | Japan:R-18 | Finland:K-18 (self applied)

Filming Locations:

Marrakech, Morocco

Company:

Craven-Maddalena Films

Trivia:

In-between takes, the production crew would stage mock-fights with various prop weapons.

Goofs:

Continuity: The first time we see the family's 1990 Chevy Suburban, it's sitting on tall/wide off road tires and after-market chrome spoke wheels. Later in the same scene and for the rest of the movie, the Suburban is riding on the more narrow factory stock wheels and tires .

Quotes:

[first lines]
Gas Station Attendant: Ruby, is that you?

Movie Connections:

Features "Divorce Court" (1999)

Soundtrack:

Highway Kind

Finally, an excellent horror movie

The Hills Have Eyes, although a remake of the original, was everything a horror movie should be. Typically, I'm not a fan of slasher flicks, but this movie had elements I like to see in a movie. I don't like to see the protagonists making stupid mistakes (the old "curiosity killed the cat" syndrome), I don't like being able to guess the villain 20 minutes into the movie (although this wasn't the scenario in this particular movie). I don't enjoy picking out who's going to do die first, and being correct. I don't think sex scenes have any place in horror movies. I like things to be important and advance the plot.

Although the movie had some "MTV" elements to it, it still adhered to the classic horror movie thrills. The thing I liked about this movie was the fact that they repeatedly "crossed the line", doing things that you wouldn't expect modern movies to do, nothing is off limits in this movie. Horrifying elements that made you, well, terrified. Lots of "boo" surprises, but also more complex and twisted than modern movies have allowed. I spent most of the movie with my mouth agape... It's not just the gore, although there is a lot of that. They didn't leave anything to the imagination, did not imply anything...they showed you everything.

It was admittedly a little slow at first, but then all of the sudden things began to take a turn for the wicked. One thing this movie did that most horror movies don't bother to do is go into character development. Not a lot, but more so than a typical thriller will bother to do.

This movie was so disturbing, I'm not sure I'd want to see it again. That "Deliverance" mentality...you see it once, you're glad you saw it, but so disgusting you're pretty sure you don't want to experience that again.

Any horror aficionado should see this movie.