The Hills Have Eyes
Alexandre Aja directs this remake of Wes Craven's film The Hills Have Eyes. In this update, a family is taking a cross-country road trip when their trailer breaks down, leaving them stranded in the desert of New Mexico. There, they find themselves under attack by the savage "hill people," who were deformed by radiation during nuclear testing.
Director: Alexandre Aja
Starring: Aaron Stanford, Ted Levine, Kathleen Quinlan, Emilie de Ravin, Dan Byrd
If studios insist on remaking classic horror films, this is definitely the way to do it.
Hills is a far cry from its cheesy and predictable predecessor. "Gruesome" doesn't begin to describe the horrors that are revealed on-screen here.
French up-and-comer Alexandre Aja's full-bore do-over is a shockingly successful update of a seminal 1970s shocker.
This remake of the 1977 Wes Craven cult classic is brutally horrific. And that's a compliment.
Where Craven and his director, Alexandre Aja, may have miscalculated is in making the genetically damaged demons, with their flesh-potato foreheads and minimal verbal skills, into monster action figures who take vengeance on the world that created them. They're not scary because they're victims themselves.
Best Make-Up
Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films (2007)
Best Horror
Empire Awards, UK (2007)
Bloodiest Beatdown
Fangoria Chainsaw Awards (2006)
Best Feature Film
Neuchâtel International Fantasy Film Festival (2006)
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