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The Hills Have Eyes

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The Hills Have Eyes (2006)

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Reviews Counted:134

Fresh:66

Rotten:68

Average Rating:5.3/10

Consensus: Faster paced for today's audiences, this Hills remake ratchets up the gore for the hardcore horror fans, but will turn away casual audiences.

Runtime: 1 hr 51 mins

Genre: Horror/Suspense

US Box Office: $41,685,824

Synopsis: In the annals of modern fear, few films have had as deep an impact as Wes Craven's 1977 cult classic THE HILLS HAVE EYES. With its gritty, ferocious and relentlessly suspenseful tale of a... In the annals of modern fear, few films have had as deep an impact as Wes Craven's 1977 cult classic THE HILLS HAVE EYES. With its gritty, ferocious and relentlessly suspenseful tale of a vacationing family who suddenly face a desperate battle for survival, the low-low-budget but no-holds-barred film was resonant with both intriguing themes and outrageous shocks to the nervous system. Now, inspired by the wild imagination of suspense-master Craven – who serves as producer along with Marianne Maddalena and Peter Locke – comes a contemporary reinterpretation of THE HILL HAVE EYES from the cutting-edge young filmmakers, Alexandre Aja and Gregory Levasseur, whose recent hit HIGH TENSION won acclaim and controversy for raising the bar on horror films again with its graphic, white-knuckle take on psychological terror. Aja and Levasseur bring this chilling horror story of ever-intensifying dread hurtling into the 21st century, refashioning it with a raw, gut-wrenching realism and hard-driving visual style to terrify a whole new generation of filmgoers. It all begins with a typically dysfunctional cross-country family road trip. It's the wedding anniversary of rugged Cleveland police detective "Big Bob" Carter (TED LEVINE) and his chatty wife Ethel (Academy Award® nominee KATHLEEN QUINLAN) and to celebrate, Bob's asked his extended family to cruise to California with them, hoping the joys of the open road might help fuse their frayed connections. No one is particularly happy about it. Eldest daughter, Lynn, (VINESSA SHAW) worries about her new baby's safety and comfort while her husband, mild-mannered tech geek, Doug (AARON STANFORD), worries about close encounters with his father-in-law. Meanwhile teen daughter, Brenda, (EMILIE DE RAVIN) detests the idea of leaving her friends for a family bonding trip, while young prankster Bobby, (DAN BYRD) is anxious to entertain the family's two German Shepherds, Beauty and Beast. Nevertheless, the entire clan piles into a weathered Suburban pulling Bob's beloved '88 Airstream trailer and heads west. Then, Big Bob takes a detour. Suddenly, the Carter family finds themselves in a desolate stretch of desert, with nothing seemingly alive for miles. When they run into a little unexpected vehicle trouble, they realize they are in dire straits, far from help, with a relentlessly sweltering desert sun overhead. But even as they fight to survive the deadly desert, a far greater threat emerges. Now the Carters become aware that they are not quite as alone as they first thought. There is another group of survivors in the hills surrounding the desert: a genetically mutated, insatiably hungry, blood-thirsty clan – the terrifying offspring of miners left behind in the days when atomic tests spread radioactive fallout across the desert – who will stop at nothing to prey on the Carters one by one. Facing the very depths of savagery, the Carter family must pull together if they are to find any hope of returning to civilized life again…alive. --© Fox Searchlight [More]

Starring: Emilie de Ravin, Kathleen Quinlan, Vinessa Shaw

Starring: Emilie de Ravin, Kathleen Quinlan, Vinessa Shaw

Director: Alexandre Aja

Director: Alexandre Aja
Screenwriter: Alexandre Aja, Gregory Levasseur
Producer: Wes Craven, Peter Locke, Marianne Maddalena
Composer: Tomandandy
Producer: Wesley Earl Craven
Studio: Fox Searchlight Pictures

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Reviews for The Hills Have Eyes

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1 - 20 (sorted by critic A-Z; Australian critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 >> >|
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I suppose what the core fans want to know is: is it really horror? The ayes have it...

Full Review Source: Urban Cinefile | comment Comment
04/16/06
Urban Cinefile Critics
Urban Cinefile Critics
Urban Cinefile
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Gore disciples rejoice: Alexandre Aja's remake of The Hills Have Eyes hits like a hot blood baptism.

Full Review Source: Rue Morgue Magazine | comment Comment
03/09/06
Dave Alexander
Dave Alexander
Rue Morgue Magazine

When Aja does get going, he subtly and surprisingly elevates the tension like someone who knows what he's doing.

Full Review Source: Combustible Celluloid | comment Comment
03/09/06
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Combustible Celluloid

The net effect would be doze-inducing if in fact the Dolby didn't attempt to wake the dead.

Full Review Source: Village Voice | comment Comment
03/07/06
Michael Atkinson
Michael Atkinson
Village Voice

Alexandre Aja's remake is remarkably faithful, directed with the same stark, stripped-down style as the original (but with considerably more flair...

Full Review Source: Seattle Post-Intelligencer | comment Comment
03/09/06
Sean Axmaker
Sean Axmaker
Seattle Post-Intelligencer

"The Hills Have Eyes" combines psychological tension with visceral scenes of gore and the odd laugh or two.

Full Review Source: Sympatico.ca | comment Comment
03/21/06
Angela Baldassarre
Angela Baldassarre
Sympatico.ca

After being led into the sandy middle of nowhere by an arrogant but ill-prepared conservative, a Democrat pushed to the edge savagely skewers a desert terrorist during a skirmish in a village inhabited by the victims of an American military operation.

Full Review Source: Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN) | comment Comment
03/13/06
John Beifuss
John Beifuss
Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN)

Every time the movie veers toward political commentary and threatens to become interesting, Aja just throws some more severed limbs onto the screen.

Full Review Source: Las Vegas Weekly | comment Comment
03/09/06
Josh Bell
Josh Bell
Las Vegas Weekly

It's fair to say that this is one of the better horror films in recent months but that's more a comment on the weak field than it is a statement of unqualified praise.

Full Review Source: ReelViews | comment Comment
03/09/06
James Berardinelli
James Berardinelli
ReelViews

The resulting bloodbath, both nasty and hilarious, is a master class in the art of the remake, wavering somewhere between respectful reimagining and gleeful pastiche.

Full Review Source: Eye for Film | comment 1 Comment
07/09/07
Anton Bitel
Anton Bitel
Eye for Film

a carefully plotted, brilliantly coiled example of suspenseful horror filmmaking

Full Review Source: Filmcritic.com | comment Comment
03/10/06
Keith Breese
Keith Breese
Filmcritic.com

As skillfully made and genuinely horrific as it is a pointless rehash....there's more than a whiff of smug cynicism in the dry air of this conflicted satire.

Full Review Source: Groucho Reviews | comment Comment
03/10/06
Peter Canavese
Peter Canavese
Groucho Reviews

The Hills Have Eyes isn't the kind of movie to go see with your family... or your mother... or with your prayer-warrior girlfriend.

Full Review Source: 7M Pictures | comment Comment
03/10/06
Kevin Carr
Kevin Carr
7M Pictures

I don't care for a French filmmaker making a contemptuous, smug, proselytizing allegory about the legacy of Yankee colonial/expansionist violence.

Full Review Source: Film Freak Central | comment Comment
03/09/06
Walter Chaw
Walter Chaw
Film Freak Central

As for Aja's future in horror he better find some original material because hitching a ride on other people's glories will always be the other's glory.

Full Review Source: eFilmCritic.com | comment Comment
03/09/06
Erik Childress
Erik Childress
eFilmCritic.com

The Hills Have Eyes is a solid horror film; it seems like a diamond in the rough compared to the innumerable god-awful remakes of late.

Full Review Source: FromTheBalcony | comment Comment
03/09/06
Bill Clark
Bill Clark
FromTheBalcony

The Hills Have Eyes involves one basic premise: freaks with very rusty weapons eviscerating, disemboweling and decapitating stupid travelers lost somewhere between Point A and B ...

Full Review Source: West Valley View | comment 1 Comment
07/27/06
Michael Clawson
Michael Clawson
West Valley View

Blood and guts are de rigueur here and the imaginative makeup (by a big team of artists) is first-rate

Full Review Source: Reeling Reviews | comment Comment
03/10/06
Robin Clifford
Robin Clifford
Reeling Reviews

A bleak, gripping, refreshingly non-Hollywood shock-fest.

Full Review Source: Shadows on the Wall | comment Comment
03/01/06
Rich Cline
Rich Cline
Shadows on the Wall

... a surprising and welcome interpretation of the material ...

Full Review Source: Boxoffice Magazine | comment Comment
03/10/06
Tim Cogshell
Tim Cogshell
Boxoffice Magazine
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by critic A-Z; Australian critics are listed first)
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Latest News for The Hills Have Eyes

October 10, 2008: Exclusive: Alexandre Aja talks Mirrors and Piranha 3D
We caught up with Aja for his only UK interview to learn more about the movie as well as his latest project, a 3D remake of Joe Dante's classic Piranha. More...

October 04, 2007: Trailer Exclusive: Parking Lot Thrills, Chills in P2
RT's got the first trailer for November's horror-thriller P2, from the people who brought you High Tension! More...

April 21, 2007: Craven to Produce "People Under the Stairs" Remake
Under his new deal with Rogue Pictures, Wes Craven is going to continue producing remakes of his own movies like "The Hills Have Eyes" and "Last House on the... More...

March 22, 2007: Box Office Guru Preview: Six New Films Try to Shoot Down Spartans From #1 Spot
A half-dozen new soldiers enter the marketplace this weekend trying to topple the kingdom of "300" which has reigned supreme at the box office for the past two weeks. More...

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