Review - The Hills Have Eyes (2006)

Talk about your messed up, freaky, violent and sadistic group of radioactive mutants . . .

In this remake of The Hills Have Eyes there was heavy use of radioactive mutations. I happen to be fascinated by mutations and freaks and the like so this really worked for me.

As I stated in my review of original, in this remake the hill people seemed much more violent and sadistic than in the original. And I thought it interesting that in this version of the film, Fred (Tom Bower) actually sends the family to their certain demise while in the original his character almost begged them to stay on the beaten path.

Of course, in the original Big Bob Carter did not listen to Fred, but in the remake Bob Carter (Ted Levine) did listen to the old man who gives them directions for a shortcut to the freeway. And if I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a hundred times - never take shortcuts given to you by dirty old gas station owners in horror films . . . it just never works out well.

So taking the shortcut leads the family consisting of Big Bob Carter, Ethel Carter (Kathleen Quinlan), Lynne Bukowski (Vinessa Shaw), Doug Bukowski (Aaron Stanford), Baby Catherine (Maisie Camilleri Preziosi), Brenda Carter (Emilie de Ravin), Bobby Carter (Dan Byrd) and of course Beauty and The Beast (who for some reason are not credited in IMDB) onto a deserted stretch of desert road where they have an unfortunate “accident”. This was another scene that was very different from the original. Though there is still an accident in the original, it is a true accident - it was as if everything that was happening in the original film was due to the bad judgements made by the family . . . had they stayed on the beaten path they never would’ve ended up on this road to hell; had Big Bob not had such a lead foot they would not have gotten in such a big accident; had Mom not have screamed about the bunny in the road . . etc.

After the accident, the madness ensues as Bob decides he will make his way back to the gas station and Doug will go in the opposite direction in search of help. Both to meet back at the trailer that evening. Throughout this initial part of the remake you really get the feeling that Bob does not care for Doug very much and the feeling seems mutual. More so than in the original the feeling that Doug is a bit of a pansy comes through loud and clear.

When the older men leave the camp, Bobby is left in charge (which makes no sense because he looks about 12 in this version) and armed with his trusty gun, and he soon takes off after Beauty who runs off into the hills chasing God knows what. (As in the original film, no one can seem to keep hold of the dogs for very long.) After he finds Beauty (and I’m almost sure he wishes he didn’t) we meet up with Ruby (Laura Ortiz) who seems to have taken a shine to Bobby after he falls down a crevice and bumps his little head.

Bobby makes his way back to camp but fails to tell anyone about what happened to Beauty. He concentrates on trying to keep everyone in the trailer but much like the original film the Lynne and Doug make their way to the vehicle to sleep agreeing that if Bob isn’t back by midnight Doug and Bobby will start off looking for him.

This is where the film seems to really branch off, giving much more detail into why the hill people are who and what they are. As we flash to Bob who meets up with Fred at the gas station - a half-drunk with booze and guilt version of the man we met that afternoon. It seems he can take no more of what he has been involved with as you get to see an up close version of him blowing his brains out. Then Bob is pummeled and dragged away to his fiery fate.

The death scenes in this version are much more graphic, up-close and personal. Almost 20 years have given birth to many advances in special effects and the tolerance that movie goers have for guts and gore and the basic macabre. I found myself at several points thinking that Aja may have crossed a line somewhere especially during the breast feeding scene. For me there was just something so vile about that scene, that it was very hard for me to watch. But the look on Lynne’s face as she just sat there allowing the mutant to suckle in hopes that she might somehow figure a way to save her little Catherine was chilling to say the least. I think this film more so than the original demonstrated the strength that a parent can summon when their child is in danger.

The village of the mutants was both surreal and terrifying. Around every corner there seemed to be a new mutation and danger for Doug who stumbled upon it looking for Catherine. As in the original The Beast had Doug’s back but not to the extent he did in the 1977 version. Also, Doug did not seem to want the dog’s help as much. That was a little odd for me.

Ruby still played a big part in return of Catherine in this version but she made a huge sacrifice in this version that she did not make in the original. Being that it seemed that Ruby was a part of the mutant family in this version, I am not sure that I could see her motivation. Also, in this remake the motivation of the hill people seemed to be just to kill whomever was unfortunate enough to pass their way. There did not seem to be the cannibalistic and starving angle that was most certainly evident in the original film.

All in all, excellent movie. A little heavy in the sick department for me but very well done indeed.


Directed by
Alexandre Aja

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Alexandre Aja screenplay
Wes Craven 1977 screenplay
Grégory Levasseur screenplay

Cast (in credits order)
Aaron Stanford .... Doug Bukowski
Kathleen Quinlan .... Ethel Carter
Vinessa Shaw .... Lynne Bukowski
Emilie de Ravin .... Brenda Carter
Dan Byrd .... Bobby Carter
Robert Joy .... Lizard
Ted Levine .... Bob Carter
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Desmond Askew .... Big Brain
Tom Bower
Ezra Buzzington .... Goggle
Maisie Camilleri Preziosi .... Baby Catherine
Billy Drago .... Jupiter
Laura Ortiz .... Ruby
Michael Bailey Smith .... Pluto