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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

[See More Credits]

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Reviews for The Hills Have Eyes

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1 - 20 (sorted by rotten rating; 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

Them hills may have eyes, but they're missing a few other vital parts.

Full Review Source: E! Online | comment Comment
03/10/06
E! Online

Utterly trumps its source material on a technical level ... but that coveted nightmare vibe remains elusive.

Full Review Source: The Stranger (Seattle, WA) | comment Comment
03/09/06
Andrew Wright
Andrew Wright
The Stranger (Seattle, WA)

"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

The story is more focused on a kind of meat-market smorgasbord mixed with political the-government-did-this-to-us overtones. It doesn't really work.

Full Review Source: Atlanta Journal-Constitution | comment Comment
03/09/06
Bob Longino
Bob Longino
Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Hyper-violent, mean, and more interesting in what it does wrong than what it does right

Full Review Source: Bloody Disgusting | comment Comment
03/08/06
Brian Juergens
Brian Juergens
Bloody Disgusting

For me, life is too short for a movie that makes death inexorably long. I would say that it is unendurable. I endured it so you don't have to.

Full Review Source: Philadelphia Inquirer | comment Comment
03/09/06
Carrie Rickey
Carrie Rickey
Philadelphia Inquirer

If you like your horror movies with a high creep factor and more blood than scares, head for the Hills, if you don't fit in that category head for a different theater!

Full Review Source: TheMovieChicks.com | comment Comment
03/10/06
Cherryl Dawson and Leigh Ann Palone
Cherryl Dawson and Leigh Ann Palone
TheMovieChicks.com

A rather pointless exercise that reinforces the age-old adage ‘If it ain’t broke, don’t remake it’.

Full Review Source: Time Out | comment Comment
03/09/06
Chris Tilly
Chris Tilly
Time Out

Where is the fun in a movie like this? There are no jolts, no flashes of humor, no camp aspect, no winking at the audience--just bloodletting that crosses the line. Those who want this sort of thing can have it.

Full Review Source: Bangor Daily News (Maine) | comment Comment
03/24/06
Christopher Smith
Christopher Smith
Bangor Daily News (Maine)

There is a strange lack of tension and no real jolts of fear in this remake of the 1977 Wes Craven film.

Full Review Source: USA Today | comment Comment
03/09/06
Claudia Puig
Claudia Puig
USA Today
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Using considerable creative intelligence and millions of dollars with no purpose other than profit by inspiring bloodlust is monstrous.

Full Review Source: Minneapolis Star Tribune | comment Comment
03/09/06
Colin Covert
Colin Covert
Minneapolis Star Tribune

The tagline for the new "Hills" is "The lucky ones die first." Actually, the lucky ones skip this exploitative remake and either watch the original or just read a good book.

Full Review Source: Zap2it.com | comment Comment
03/10/06
Dan Fienberg
Dan Fienberg
Zap2it.com

As grim, grisly and gratuitous as the original movie, this remake serves about as little purpose.

Full Review Source: ComingSoon.net | comment Comment
03/08/06
Edward Douglas
Edward Douglas
ComingSoon.net

At some point, it stops being fun and just becomes grueling.

Full Review Source: EricDSnider.com | comment Comment
03/09/06
Eric D. Snider
Eric D. Snider
EricDSnider.com

...given its source material, there was much room for improvement. It's just too bad that the only things Aja could improve on were the makeup and gore.

Full Review Source: Lawrence.com | comment Comment
03/10/06
Eric Melin
Eric Melin
Lawrence.com

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

If you relish gore-fests, rest assured that Aja has concocted a savvy remake that should satisfy your blood-lust; if not, you're likely to find it overkill on a massive scale.

Full Review Source: One Guy's Opinion | comment Comment
03/08/06
Frank Swietek
Frank Swietek
One Guy's Opinion

Neither sickly brilliant nor twistedly clever... At least the message is family bonding leads to tragedy and prayers are useless.

Full Review Source: About.com | comment Comment
03/10/06
Fred Topel
Fred Topel
About.com

The whole thing has the detached air of an intellectual or artistic exercise ...

Full Review Source: Philadelphia Daily News | comment Comment
03/10/06
Gary Thompson
Gary Thompson
Philadelphia Daily News
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by rotten rating; Australian critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 >> >|
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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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