The Hills Have Eyes movies

This is not a review of the new Hills Have Eyes, but I'm looking to hear what people thought of it. I haven't seen the original film, though I almost purchased it for $15 at Best Buy this week - however, due to my conflicting concerns, such as the fact that I saw The Hills Have Eyes Part 2 and didn't really care for it much, and I might have gone to see the remake this past weekend (I didn't), I didn't purchase the original on DVD. Should I? Is it good? What's the remake like? The original intrigues me more - nasty, barbaric, old style cannibals sounds more interesting than deformed descendants of people affected by a nuclear bomb. I also like that tooth necklace that Pluto, the main guy from the first two Hills Have Eyes movies, wears. I don't believe it's worn in the remake.

What do y'all think?

You have absolutely got to see it. I think it is the best horror film in years and years and is flat out the best remake so far (I won't say ever, because that title belongs to The Fly).

The remake is astoundingly brutal, but never over the top. It pushes the boundary of modern horror without ever being contrived and goes places mainstream horror NEVER goes.

I wrote a review at my site and Pyro and I have put up some brief praise of it in this thread (starting at the bottom). It improves upon the original by leaps and bounds, but does lose a little of the original's charms. The symmetry between the two families is lost, so the Carters come off entirely as victims of just plain bad luck.

I've seen it twice now and I honestly wouldn't mind going back a few more times. It is a very, very, very, very, very kickass film.

__________________
Horror's Not Dead
Latest Movie Review(s): Too lazy to keep this up to date. New reviews every week.

Wow... I guess I should have saw it. Roger Ebert gave it a bad review, but you know, he's given many horror films that I love bad reviews.

I'm glad you think it's the best recent horror remake. I thought it had to be somewhat good since Wes Craven was backing it and the director of High Tension was directing this.

Speaking of horror remakes, I recently found out that there are plans to remake Creepshow. Oh my god!

I was looking at the critic scores at rottentomatoes, which are perfectly split between their rather generic "fresh" and "rotten" ratings, whereas the user ratings are 86% positive, if that tells you anything. I personally think it is a good film, whether you're a horror addict or not, but it is so brazen in its horror that it really does divide the devotees from the casual goers.

Just typing about it makes me want to see it again. You've got to see it theatrically. It'll still kill on the small screen, but seeing it in a theater is a real treat, especially if you get to see people walk out in disgust like I did.

I want my ring tone as, "Daddy!! Daaadddyy!!!" "DAaaddDDY!!!"

Was it better than "High Tension"? I know you really liked that one. I still haven't seen that darn flick, but rest assured, I've found the nearest Blockbuster in Arlington, VA (my new residence) so it'll be a rental for me soon.

I think it's neat that a Wes Craven film has been remade, although it's one I haven't seen yet. A long time ago, I had the idea in my head that it would be cool to see "A Nightmare On Elm Street" remade (I think I thought this around 1998, after Gus Van Sant's "Psycho"). I don't believe that's in the works, but these days, it's possible.

Yeah, I love seeing horror films in theaters... well, the only downside to that is if it's something I BADLY want to see and the theater isn't quiet enough to let me savor the moment. OMG, now there's cell phone dramas in the theatre to worry about - "Oh, hi, Charlene! Yeah, I'm at the movies. I'm watching Freddy Vs. Jason. It's, like, so retarded." Can't wait till Cell is made so it can teach these people a lesson.

As long as it doesn't make noise, if you have one of those cell phones that can record audio and use the file as a ringtone... take it to the theater and record that part. My cell phone lets me do this and it's heavenly. No more buying ring tones, just record whatever. If you can't get the recording clear enough, illegally download the movie somewhere, I guess.

It is much, much better than High Tension. High Tension was Aja's first horror effort and it already showed an overwhelming love and true respect for the genre, he has only matured more since then. The ending of High Tension is bad, bad, bad, but for me it wasn't a deal breaker. It doesn't negate the clear expertise that was on display in building the tension all the way up to the incredibly dissapointing end. I still hold that High Tension is a better made horror film than 95% of the films of the last decade or so, even if the ending is a universal failure.

The Hills Have Eyes doesn't have that problem. I personally would have enjoyed the ending of the original more, there isn't much change to the films' conclusions, just the last shots are different, but the remake is perfectly acceptable.

But where the two do overlap is in Aja's unrelenting ability to keep the horror fueled once it is lit (literally). Hills never slows its break-neck trauma after it starts. Even in the intermissions between the brutal attacks, it is fascinating to watch. It may not be a humane film in its visuals, but it is a very human story. I really love this damn movie and couldn't recommend it more, especially to someone like yourself who has a true respect for the genre. If I remember right you really hated the Texas Chainsaw Remake, I highly doubt that'll be the case here.

I've actually never looked into changing my ringtone to a custom deal, but I may now. It's either this or, "what a wonderful day for an excorsim..." or, of course, the ringtone from One Missed Call.

Good because I always feel like the next horror remake to come around is gonna emulate that Chainsaw remake style. The Chainsaw remake put that fear into me and I hate it, hate it, hate it. It would have been nicer if the Chainsaw remake was called The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 5, NOT "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" and not billed as a remake. It's very much the fifth Chainsaw movie, because you know how after part 2, Leatherface just pretty much has different families and it's all confusing.

And you know, I was going to feel bad seeing The Hills remake before seeing the original. I didn't want to be one of those types of people... you know, like the people I'd read on certain message boards who saw the original Chainsaw after seeing the remake and thinking that the original sucked in comparison.

But it's fascinating that you find the remake better... I wonder what I'll think about both. I can kind of get this because I saw Last House On The Left last year for the first time, another one of Craven's early films... I liked it, but I didn't think it was, um... pazazzy. Yeah, that's it, pazazzy. I'm guessing the new Hills is pazazzy, which is great.

Oh, and I have to check out your horror website!

I like Horror Movies. They are not my favorite genre and I do not mean this as disrespect to those who like them. It is just who I am. I tend not to watch horror movies at theaters because usually they are not that great (IMO of course). However I do love a GOOD horror movie, and even though it is not on the top of my list of genres to pay 8+ bucks a ticket for, which in my family turns out to be $75, at least; I tend to go see a few of them now and then. I have to say that THHE's was a pleasure to go see. It had everything a horror movie should: violence, gore, shock, sudden unexpected scenes, etc... I was totally involved in the film as was the rest of the audience. Without being too much of a spoiler I would like to say ( because I think it is a given in good horror movies) I was overwhelmed when the first mutated bastard was slain. The whole theater, me included, applauded so empatically that I thought I would cry; that is definitely a sign of a good movie horror or not. I loved this movie and hated it, all good signs of a great horror movie. It gets an A in my book.

__________________

“The gladdest moment in human life, methinks, is a departure into unknown lands.” – Sir Richard Burton

Oh, wow, this sounds like it might be extroardinary. Can it be that the horror genre is coming back with a bang? Is it horror renaissance again?

Exact same thing happened at both of the showings I went to. Applause mid movie is a sign of a really great, audience involving film and Hills certainly was that. I haven't seen people clap like that (and it was 4 or 5 times throughout the last half) since the midnight premiere of Return of the King. It is great to hear it was happening in other theaters as well.

I hadn't seen the original before I saw the remake. I knew more of the original than someone who hasn't seen it would, but even still I went in remarkably fresh. The thing about Hills, and Aja said this in an interview he did with either Fango or another horror mag, is that while the original is a cult classic in its own right, it isn't untouchable and definitely left room for improvement. I wouldn't worry about seeing the original before the remake.

This new incarnation of it has a lot of the vibe of the original and of Craven's other 70s shockers, but it has a much more complete and structured narrative. Aja and Levasseure wrote a tremendous script that has all of the hallmarks of classic horror, without being blatant. It comes off totally seamless, with each scene flowing perfectly into the next, which isn't the case with all these recent horror films (remakes or not) that just have tiny setups for tiny, forgettable scenes. It isn't that Hills is revolutionary or entirely unpredictable, it just has all of the creases you normally find in the genre already ironed out.

Horror is a strange genre. It seems to be the only genre where the creators and masters of it can re-use the same techniques over and over and people still love it. Kudos to anyone whose a horror fan, i know both of you two are (Oggy and Sexy) but i honestly thought this was such a boring, cliche, run of the mill horror remake. Nothing new here what so ever. Same basic storyline, same shocking open ending. Same 'Hero' character. I must admit this film certainly is a little less forgiving than most horrors, it doesnt hold back on the killing, especially the brutality of its choice of victims and how they are extinguished. But its most certainly nothing new. Ho hum, Different folks, different rape and murder i guess.

__________________
Pumpkins scream in the DEAD of night!

Obviously I disagree, but you do have a point. In terms of originality, THHE isn't at all groundbreaking. It may visually be original in its deaths and execution, but at this point all horror is fairly similar. What I think makes THHE such a unique film in this day in age is that despite all the expectations of the genre, despite how desensitized we all are to the genre, it still all comes together and actually works.

It is similar to a whole batch of other genre flicks in that beat for beat they all follow the same formula; establishing shot of the object of fear, some character establishment, an isolated death, more establishment, a mini-climax, conflict, climax, ending-open-for-a-sequel. Hills has all those things, but they all work together seamlessly. The film transitions from scene to scene effortlessly and nothing, for me at least, feels like it was written in just for some minor function. To me, this is one of the biggest faults the genre has. Something gets written into the script so that it can blatantly function for some small, shocking purpose later on. Hills doesn't have that scripting problem.

Plus, the characters are so much more than just a tally on the film's body count. They're well established and they actually go through an arc that matures them throughout. They may not be characters who would fascinate you at a party, but they're much more than the wooden bodies that get written into other similar scripts.

Another thing I love about it that is atypical of the genre these days is that despite the bloodshed, it doesn't have to be exploitively graphic to get the point across. I know it is flooded with blood at times, but there are no close-up shots of wounds, no tight shots of skin splitting open. No slow, agonizing torture. No contrieved pain. There is no penetration here, all the shock comes from the aftermath of the violence - remember that you never saw the axes pierce the skin or crack the skull, they're almost entirely shots of the axe after the animation has stopped. Hell, the most brutal and shocking moment of the movie (the trailer sequence) has the least amount of blood.

I too disliked the open ending, I really wish it had ended as the original did (with a freeze frame of Doug mid-beat down), but it really is only 2 minutes of screen time and for me doesn't at all kill the previous two hours.

So to me, the movie is new because it is unlike other films as of late. I'm bummed you thought it was boring, because for me as soon as you hear that echoing "Daaadddddy", the film never stopped drawing me to the edge of my seat. I was enthralled by the pacing and especially the cinematography that is sweeping and desolate in scope.

It didn't feel in your face shock and awe, it felt like how those events would have really played out. Plus, cinematically it was just so energized. From the slow and subtle, not-techno-but-mechanical sounding score, to the spaghetti-western, ghost-town showdown at the end of the movie.

Sorry you didn't like it Blib, I genuinely am. I do think The Hills Have Eyes is a film you don't have to be a horror addict to enjoy (actually, I'm not sure those who are addicts ever actually "enjoy" in the delightful sense), but I do think that those who aren't will be less appreciative of the lengths Aja, Levasseur, Craven and co. go to to make their movie unlike the wave of genre entries of the past couple years. I guess to the casual horror goer, the difference between something like Saw, The TCM remake or the THHE remake is subtle, but to the horror enthusiast it's like a refreshing dive into a nice, cool mountain stream.

Too inebriated to read the rest of the thread but The Hills Have Eyes remake is definitely a must see. I saw the original a way back and the main fault, I thought, was that they seemed to rely on the dog far too much and some of the pacing was a bit hit and miss. The remake certainly improves on both these aspects, the dog was used when it was needed to good effect. On the downside, I think the family unit was underplayed, Pyro from X2 took far too much of a beating and inevitably the result was slightly unrealistic which really took from the movie since bar that it was kinda believable. Another thing (pardon spoilers) in the original, blowing up the trailer seemed like a logical and planned action as their last resort so it came of as necessary whereas the remake seemed just eager to include the scene without building up to it. Ok, so in that situation, a rash and impulsive action like that maybe understandable but it still seemed too forced. The only really flaw i saw was that the mutants never really got much development too introduce them as a unit. Plus the original Pluto was much better.

As for Aja, it's certainly an improvement on Switchblade Romance but the main fault in that film was script. Aja has a talent for suspense and while 'jump' scenes are a little cliched, I feel he was successful in their appropriate use. The rest of the film is tight and tense, though I think some more crosscutting between Pyro and the others was needed to create a credible scenario. There was too much focus on Pyro overall i thought. Also, while he may not have been able to, the baby was not put in enough to peril to warrant much fear on the whole. The violence was also incredibly well done, i thought. It never went to excess and never hid what it was trying to show, pretty much the perfect mixture especially considering this was combined with a great level of tension. Th soundtrack isn't MTV trash and really helps creates atmosphere.

The Hills Have Eyes is nowhere near what i expected, i went in with low expectations and i was well pleased with what i saw. It improves on the (weak) original and keeps everything and good levels, brutal to a tee but never verging on parodying the violence and gore plus kudos for the lack of cgi! As a horror film and a remake i reccommend it thoroughly.

__________________

Nice to see some positive reviews here. I think i'll be taking this film this weekend. Hope it doesnt disappoint. I never did see the original so I have nothing to compare it with really which may be a good thing.

Well, I finally saw it last night - High Tension, that is. Picked it up at Target, they had only one left and it was widescreen & unrated, so it was meant for me. I thought it was different and violent... I want to watch it again, but I don't feel that the ending was a total failure. I don't want to reveal it here, but I have to say if that's what Alexandre Aja came to a conclusion with when he was writing the story/screenplay, it was somewhat intriguing and maybe not as bad as... well, I can't say what I'm thinking because I don't want to give the ending away. But the ending is something I think I've seen before. I can't say I really loved it because I got a little bored with how the movie just followed that skinny, masculine looking girl, whatever her name was, hiding or following the killer. And I must say the lesbian thing going on with her was very interesting. I'm glad I bought it. I want to watch it a few more times.

Ive read some comments from a few people that they walked out on this film. Thats not a sign of how bad it was, but how good it was. I suffer from Panic Attacks, and a few others I know do as well. They had to walk out during the trailer scene, because it was to much. I had the same feeling, the film invoked a panic that made me want to leave, if it didnt end soon.

I did watch the whole thing and really liked this movie. Horror films are suppose to be scary , right ? This one was to me, and had a good blend of suspence, gore, terror and action that made it fun to go see a horror film.

__________________
Some people are like Slinkies . . . not really good for anything, but
you still can't help but smile when you see one tumble down the stairs
www.panicattic.com - Check out the Q&A from Ethan Dettenmaier , director of Sin-Jin Smyth

The Hills Have Eyes, is definitly a have to watch movie. It's the best horror movie I've seen in a while. It was very gory though and had a few disturbing scenes. The rape scene in the trailor was quite disturbing. Kept thinking about it after the movie, grossed me out. But other then that it was a grade A movie.

It was good, not great.

Thank you for that illuminating analysis, Mr. Pat!

Im sorry and I may be an old English prude here but I think the film is in extremely bad taste. I may be speaking out of line as I havent seen the movie but the trailer was enough to put me off.