Amazon.co.uk Review
Boasting an upgrade in production values, The Hills Have Eyes should please new-generation horror fans without offending devotees of Wes Craven's original version from 1977. There's still something to be said for the gritty shock value of Craven's low-budget original, made at a time when horror had been relegated to the pop-cultural ghetto, mostly below the radar of major Hollywood studios. With the box-office resurgence of horror in the new millennium--and the genre's lucrative popularity among the all-important teen demographic--it's only fitting that French director Alexandre Aja should follow up his international hit High Tension with a similarly brutal American debut to boost his Hollywood street-cred. Working with cowriter Gregory Levasseur, Aja remains surprisingly faithful to Craven's original, beginning with a bickering family that crashes their truck and trailer in the remote desert of New Mexico (actually filmed in Morocco), where they are subsequently terrorized, brutalized, and murdered by a freakish family of psychopaths, mutated by the lingering radiation from 331 nuclear bomb tests that were carried out during the 1950s and '60s. After several killings are carried out in memorably grisly fashion, it's left to the survivors to outsmart their disfigured tormentors, who are blessed with horrendous make-up (especially Robert Joy as freak leader "Lizard") but never quite as unsettling as the original film's horror icon, Michael Berryman. In Aja's hands, this newfangled Hills is all about savagery and de-evolution, reducing its characters to a state of pure, retaliatory terror. It's hardly satisfying in terms of storytelling (since there's hardly any story to tell), but as an exercise in sheer malevolence, it's undeniably effective.-- Jeff Shannon
Customer Reviews:
Worst film I've seen since Hostel.......2008-02-29
If you wish to waste an 90 minutes of your life watch this film. It is a pointless remake with no original ideas. The weak man becomes the hero, the mutant girl saves the day. The plot is ill conceived and unbelivable, attempts are made at arty camera angles and after 30 minutes you lose interest in the characters (except for the two dogs).
Ok. But dissapointing.......2007-11-12
This could have been a good popcorn, scary movie - but instead they went and ruined it with that stupid rape scene
Very good horror.......2007-11-01
I really liked this film for it's survival style impact.Firstly I start with the main points,a family driving through the desert get stuck in the middle of nowhere,it's the usual stuff.A short way into the film though things take a nasty turn and the initial terror is quite horrific.It includes an attack on a man and then a really nasty attack a woman and just gets horrific.These attacks though really do get the film up and running and the survivors really do a great job of making this film a good horror.If you like good horror films then I would recommend this to any fan.
Really glad I ignored the bad reviews and just bout it .......2007-10-17
A typical American family is driving across the dessert. They take advice from a weapon wielding weirdo to take a short cut (as you do). The car somehow crashes into a suspiciously well situated rock, and our family suddenly find themselves stranded in the middle of nowhere: this nowhere happens to be old abandoned military testing grounds, and our characters quickly begin to realize that they are not alone...
The Hills Have Eyes premise may just sound like a cheap excuse to kill off some personality-free characters, but I can assure you it's not. What we have here is actually a very bold, uncompromising and exiting survival thriller. Even in some parts it may go slightly over-the-top, and the running time could easily be cut down a bit, it still results as one of the best survival flicks around. Certain highlights are the surprisingly good and believable acting, brilliant gore and mutant effects, and some very original and unusual scares.
Most critics felt obliged to give this film an only 'O.K' rating, because it is a remake of a classic Wes Craven slasher, but behind their words, they know they all enjoyed it. Because I was so pleased with the turn-out of this film, I went out and bout the sequel, The Hills Have Eyes 2, thinking again that critics had rated it lowly because it was a sequel to a remake: this time, the critics were right. I would advise you not to bother with the second.
entertaining enough.......2007-09-01
the carter family are on thier vacation when they decide to take a short cut though some hills.unfortnetly thier tyres blow and they are standed in the middle of no where and unfortunetly for them they are not alone.this an extreme and disturbing movie that never lets up.the performances are solid but there is no substance to any of them so you dont really care about there plight.the mutants are vile and nausating to look and the graphic and relentless violence sicknens and leaves a nasty tatse in the mouth.the director does build some suspence in the first of the film.ultimatly this is an entertaining enough horror flick.
Customer Reviews:
Yes, it's gory -- and there's nothing wrong with that.......2006-09-18
Do you enjoy watching a typical family being hunted down, killed, and at least partially eaten? Does your heart go all a-flutter at the sight of a giant axe being buried in someone's head? Do you get weak in the knees when some horribly mutated human monster flashes his viscous orbital sockets at you? Do you wake up each and every morning chanting Gore Gore Gore? If you answered Yes to any of these questions, you'll take evil delight in this remake of Wes Craven's classic The Hills Have Eyes.
I have to admit that, at least for me, the shine of these mutant-led massacre films has pretty much worn off. There's really nothing new here at all. It's really just a question of how gory the director will make it. It's not like the film is going to draw you into a juicy story, as that story consists of nothing more than a family being thrown out in the desert on some pretense and having to fight for their lives against mutant freaks. There isn't even any mystery as to who the monsters are or how they got that way, as that's made pretty clear from the very start.
As for all the gore, it's really quite exceptional, especially in this uncut version. When a guy blows his head off with a shotgun, he really blows his head off with a shotgun. All of the bullets that hit their mark do all kinds of damage. Still, there's really nothing like a good axe blow to the skull, and the director seems to really get off on that sort of thing as he gives us plenty of it. I could complain about the whole lack of brain oozing in conjunction with all the Bunyan Blues being whacked out, but at least there's plenty of blood. While this isn't the goriest movie I've ever seen - not even close, really - it's definitely up there in the upper echelon of gruesome motion pictures. The special effects aim high and hit the mark, as well; the mutated human degenerates cover a wide spectrum of radiation-induced ooziness, deformity, and general ugliness.
The cast is quite good, as well. Lost's Emilie De Ravin, who must by now have trouble convincing anyone to take even a short trip with her anywhere, is the most familiar face in the bunch - her screaming could use a little work, but she may have just found herself all screamed out after all the indignities and suffering she had to endure over the course of this film. Aaron Stanford successfully moves beyond his general dweebiness to make a man out of his less than macho character, while young Bobby (Dan Byrd) never lets himself fall prey to the stereotype of the teenaged hero wannabe.
If you're going to make a completely unnecessary remake, you'd better do it right - and that is just what happened here. Just take a look at some of the critical reviews, decrying the bloodlust fueling such degenerate movies as this, even going as far as to call the moviemakers "ghouls" feeding on the blood money of viewers who will supposedly go out and do violent things to one another after the end credits roll. As for reports of some viewers walking out on the film due to the level of violence - I don't get that at all. Uh, did they walk into the wrong cinema or something? It's not like The Hills Have Eyes was advertised as some sweeping romantic epic. And I just don't think there's an outrageous level of violence here in the first place. We spend a lot of time with an annoying family before the fun even begins. And the rape scene? Extremely tame, so much so that I wasn't completely sure it was actually a rape scene. I also thought the director held back quite a bit on the whole cannibalism thing. Really, as a hardcore horror fan, I find it amusing that some people consider this a shocking, ultra-violent film. Those folks really don't know what they're missing.
Customer Reviews:
Yes, it's gory -- and there's nothing wrong with that.......2006-09-18
Do you enjoy watching a typical family being hunted down, killed, and at least partially eaten? Does your heart go all a-flutter at the sight of a giant axe being buried in someone's head? Do you get weak in the knees when some horribly mutated human monster flashes his viscous orbital sockets at you? Do you wake up each and every morning chanting Gore Gore Gore? If you answered Yes to any of these questions, you'll take evil delight in this remake of Wes Craven's classic The Hills Have Eyes.
I have to admit that, at least for me, the shine of these mutant-led massacre films has pretty much worn off. There's really nothing new here at all. It's really just a question of how gory the director will make it. It's not like the film is going to draw you into a juicy story, as that story consists of nothing more than a family being thrown out in the desert on some pretense and having to fight for their lives against mutant freaks. There isn't even any mystery as to who the monsters are or how they got that way, as that's made pretty clear from the very start.
As for all the gore, it's really quite exceptional, especially in this uncut version. When a guy blows his head off with a shotgun, he really blows his head off with a shotgun. All of the bullets that hit their mark do all kinds of damage. Still, there's really nothing like a good axe blow to the skull, and the director seems to really get off on that sort of thing as he gives us plenty of it. I could complain about the whole lack of brain oozing in conjunction with all the Bunyan Blues being whacked out, but at least there's plenty of blood. While this isn't the goriest movie I've ever seen - not even close, really - it's definitely up there in the upper echelon of gruesome motion pictures. The special effects aim high and hit the mark, as well; the mutated human degenerates cover a wide spectrum of radiation-induced ooziness, deformity, and general ugliness.
The cast is quite good, as well. Lost's Emilie De Ravin, who must by now have trouble convincing anyone to take even a short trip with her anywhere, is the most familiar face in the bunch - her screaming could use a little work, but she may have just found herself all screamed out after all the indignities and suffering she had to endure over the course of this film. Aaron Stanford successfully moves beyond his general dweebiness to make a man out of his less than macho character, while young Bobby (Dan Byrd) never lets himself fall prey to the stereotype of the teenaged hero wannabe.
If you're going to make a completely unnecessary remake, you'd better do it right - and that is just what happened here. Just take a look at some of the critical reviews, decrying the bloodlust fueling such degenerate movies as this, even going as far as to call the moviemakers "ghouls" feeding on the blood money of viewers who will supposedly go out and do violent things to one another after the end credits roll. As for reports of some viewers walking out on the film due to the level of violence - I don't get that at all. Uh, did they walk into the wrong cinema or something? It's not like The Hills Have Eyes was advertised as some sweeping romantic epic. And I just don't think there's an outrageous level of violence here in the first place. We spend a lot of time with an annoying family before the fun even begins. And the rape scene? Extremely tame, so much so that I wasn't completely sure it was actually a rape scene. I also thought the director held back quite a bit on the whole cannibalism thing. Really, as a hardcore horror fan, I find it amusing that some people consider this a shocking, ultra-violent film. Those folks really don't know what they're missing.
Customer Reviews:
Yes, it's gory -- and there's nothing wrong with that.......2006-09-18
Do you enjoy watching a typical family being hunted down, killed, and at least partially eaten? Does your heart go all a-flutter at the sight of a giant axe being buried in someone's head? Do you get weak in the knees when some horribly mutated human monster flashes his viscous orbital sockets at you? Do you wake up each and every morning chanting Gore Gore Gore? If you answered Yes to any of these questions, you'll take evil delight in this remake of Wes Craven's classic The Hills Have Eyes.
I have to admit that, at least for me, the shine of these mutant-led massacre films has pretty much worn off. There's really nothing new here at all. It's really just a question of how gory the director will make it. It's not like the film is going to draw you into a juicy story, as that story consists of nothing more than a family being thrown out in the desert on some pretense and having to fight for their lives against mutant freaks. There isn't even any mystery as to who the monsters are or how they got that way, as that's made pretty clear from the very start.
As for all the gore, it's really quite exceptional, especially in this uncut version. When a guy blows his head off with a shotgun, he really blows his head off with a shotgun. All of the bullets that hit their mark do all kinds of damage. Still, there's really nothing like a good axe blow to the skull, and the director seems to really get off on that sort of thing as he gives us plenty of it. I could complain about the whole lack of brain oozing in conjunction with all the Bunyan Blues being whacked out, but at least there's plenty of blood. While this isn't the goriest movie I've ever seen - not even close, really - it's definitely up there in the upper echelon of gruesome motion pictures. The special effects aim high and hit the mark, as well; the mutated human degenerates cover a wide spectrum of radiation-induced ooziness, deformity, and general ugliness.
The cast is quite good, as well. Lost's Emilie De Ravin, who must by now have trouble convincing anyone to take even a short trip with her anywhere, is the most familiar face in the bunch - her screaming could use a little work, but she may have just found herself all screamed out after all the indignities and suffering she had to endure over the course of this film. Aaron Stanford successfully moves beyond his general dweebiness to make a man out of his less than macho character, while young Bobby (Dan Byrd) never lets himself fall prey to the stereotype of the teenaged hero wannabe.
If you're going to make a completely unnecessary remake, you'd better do it right - and that is just what happened here. Just take a look at some of the critical reviews, decrying the bloodlust fueling such degenerate movies as this, even going as far as to call the moviemakers "ghouls" feeding on the blood money of viewers who will supposedly go out and do violent things to one another after the end credits roll. As for reports of some viewers walking out on the film due to the level of violence - I don't get that at all. Uh, did they walk into the wrong cinema or something? It's not like The Hills Have Eyes was advertised as some sweeping romantic epic. And I just don't think there's an outrageous level of violence here in the first place. We spend a lot of time with an annoying family before the fun even begins. And the rape scene? Extremely tame, so much so that I wasn't completely sure it was actually a rape scene. I also thought the director held back quite a bit on the whole cannibalism thing. Really, as a hardcore horror fan, I find it amusing that some people consider this a shocking, ultra-violent film. Those folks really don't know what they're missing.
UK DVD:
- The Hills Have Eyes 2 [2007]
- The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (Two Disc Theatrical Edition) [2003]
- The Lost Boys (2 Disc Special Edition) [1987]
- The Lost Room
- Them [2006]
- The Nightmare On Elm Street (Seven Disc Collector's Edition)
- The Reaping [2007]
- The Shining [1980]
- The Texas Chainsaw Massacre [2003]
- The Texas Chainsaw Massacre - Original Uncut Edition [1974]
UK DVD List
UK DVD
All Horror
|
Horror
|
Categories
|
DVD
|
Video
![The Hills Have Eyes 2 [2007]](http://images-eu.amazon.com/images/P/B000RF9YSC.01.THUMBZZZ.jpg)
The Hills Have Eyes 2 [2007]
![Quentin Tarantino Presents : Hostel [2005] [2006]](http://images-eu.amazon.com/images/P/B000FNNIT2.01.THUMBZZZ.jpg)
Quentin Tarantino Presents : Hostel [2005] [2006]
![Silent Hill [2006]](http://images-eu.amazon.com/images/P/B000GHRCEE.01.THUMBZZZ.jpg)
Silent Hill [2006]
![Fog, The [2005]](http://images-eu.amazon.com/images/P/B000F6IIZ8.01.THUMBZZZ.jpg)
Fog, The [2005]
![Final Destination 3 [2006]](http://images-eu.amazon.com/images/P/B000FDK69W.01.THUMBZZZ.jpg)
Final Destination 3 [2006]
![The Hills Have Eyes/The Hills Have Eyes 2 [2006]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/3175DBDNB0L.jpg)
![Hostel 1 & 2 Box Set[2005] [2006]](http://images-eu.amazon.com/images/P/B000TQLISS.01.THUMBZZZ.jpg)
![The Hills Have Eyes 2 - Part 2 [1984]](http://images-eu.amazon.com/images/P/B000GQMLMS.01.THUMBZZZ.jpg)
![Texas Chainsaw Massacre - Beginning (Uncut) [2006]](http://images-eu.amazon.com/images/P/B000MQCBHC.01.THUMBZZZ.jpg)
![Vacancy [2007]](http://images-eu.amazon.com/images/P/B000SNUQYO.01.THUMBZZZ.jpg)
![The Hills Have Eyes [2006] (REGION 1) (NTSC)](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/318KVKNBVRL.jpg)
![The Hills Have Eyes 2 [2007] (REGION 1) (NTSC)](http://images-eu.amazon.com/images/P/B00005JPLQ.01.THUMBZZZ.jpg)
![Wolf Creek [2005] (REGION 1) (NTSC)](http://images-eu.amazon.com/images/P/B000EOTVU2.01.THUMBZZZ.jpg)
![High Tension [2004]](http://images-eu.amazon.com/images/P/B000AOGLTA.01.THUMBZZZ.jpg)
![Land of the Dead [HD DVD] [2005] [US Import]](http://images-eu.amazon.com/images/P/B000GFLEGI.01.THUMBZZZ.jpg)
![The Hills Have Eyes [2006]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/21c3Eagn-LL.jpg)
![Saw 3 (Extreme Edition) [2006]](http://images-eu.amazon.com/images/P/B000LXS8MS.01.THUMBZZZ.jpg)
![The Ring Two [2005]](http://images-eu.amazon.com/images/P/B000A5RLH0.01.THUMBZZZ.jpg)
![The Hills Have Eyes [2006] (REGION 1) (NTSC)](http://www.germanelectronics88.com/noimage.gif)
![The Hills Have Eyes [2006]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/31s5oekk8TL.jpg)
![The Hills Have Eyes [2006] (REGION 1) (NTSC)](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/215J37G79RL.jpg)