The Hills Have Eyes

You've all heard me say it, I'm not a fan of remakes for the sole purpose of updating the special effects. If I saw a giant monkey fall from the Empire State building in 1933, I get it, it doesn't have to be a cooler looking ape in 2006 to interest me in the story!! But, when a remake updates the story (slightly) and changes some things around and uses better special effects, I'm willing to give it a chance. That's the case with the updated version of The Hills Have Eyes.



The new version of The Hills Have Eyes is not all that different than the original, but it's far more gritty and the makeup that can be used today makes the 'monsters' a lot more frightening than they were in the original. Still, the basic framework of the story is the same, a family, lost in the desert, is attacked by evil, homicidal mutants. This version, though, seems to be a little grittier than the original and the violence is more intense that I remember it being in the original.

The fact that Wes Craven gave his blessing to this remake took some of the curse off it (sort of), and the fact that director Alexandre Aja was a big fan of the original helped too!

The Hills Have Eyes is just a great old fashioned horror movie, good guys wander into the wrong place, bad guys attack for really no reason and good guys got to get tough or die, it's a drive in movie with a big budget!



I'm giving The Hills Have Eyes three and a half cigars, and it only lost that half cigar because there were times when I felt that the story was dragging a little. If you've never seen the original, this is probably a much better movie, but, as far as remakes go, I've seen a whole lot worse!!! So, until next time, remember, when you're lost in the desert, make sure to have plenty of gas in the car, those old abandoned gas stations are always owned by evil guys who are working in collusion with mutants of some sort...and remember that the best movies are bad movies!