The Hills Have Eyes
The Hills Have Eyes
Starring Aaron Stanford, Kathleen Quinlan, Vinessa Shaw, Emilie de Ravin
Directed by Alexandre Aja
Decades after the government concluded nuclear testing in a small New Mexico town, the citizens who remained were horribly mutated and deformed, and left them hiding in the caves and abandoned homes of the town. They get their jollies by luring unsuspecting people to the middle of nowhere of the desert, where they kill and feed on their carcasses. When an unsuspecting family finds themselves stranded, they also find themselves at the mercy of these cannibals, and using their wits they hope to survive their ordeal and put an end to the carnage once and for all.
"The Hills Have Eyes" effortlessly manages to make you tense from the very first moment to the last, as there's hardly a dull moment where you're not expecting something to come out of the shadows and strike. Aja is a master at creating tension and mood, and this film proves it. You're not sure who will live and who will die - just like the original left people shaken, this one will undoubtedly stick in your mind as well.
The family dynamic is allowed to flourish and show deeply emotional connections, and not just offering a bunch of bodies to the slaughter. The performances are all well-rounded and believable, and even add a depth of growth as well, especially from Aaron Stanford. As the unlikely hero Doug, he sets out to find his baby that was taken by the cannibals, and sheds his Democratic-no gun policy for brutality and unrelenting revenge, soaking himself in the blood of his enemies and not offering any sort of mercy.
The film really excels in its effects, which was provided by the great Greg Nicotero (who also does fantastic work on "The Walking Dead"), giving life to the inbred mutated cannibals in ways that are still amazing to see fourteen years later.
If there's anything wrong with the film, it's how the characters behave in the classic horror tropes. Of course there's no cell phone service. Everyone splits up in the middle of the night. You follow your barking dog into the dark unknown. Even though they're tropes, they shouldn't all be followed - but then again, that's also due to the writing. Still, it's kind of annoying when it happens over and over again, as you know what to expect from it.
Offering a bloody good time, "The Hills Have Eyes" manages to maintain its effectiveness years later due to fantastic gory effects, finely written characters, and a continual sense of dread.
The Score: A
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