Movie Review: The Hills Have Eyes

The Hills Have Eyes

Okay, true confession time: I've not seen the original 1977 Wes Craven production of The Hills Have Eyes, so I'm unable to tell you whether this updated version is better, worse, different, or just another remake. What I can tell you is that, as horror movies go, it's more horrible than horrifying.

The movie focuses on the extended Carter family as it makes its way cross country in celebration of the elder Carters' 25th wedding anniversary. Bob Carter (Ted Levine) is a bit of a curmudgeon, albeit one who loves his family dearly. His wife, Ethel (Kathleen Quinlan) is largely along for the ride, but is clearly still in love with her husband. Their two teen-aged children, Brenda (Emilie de Ravin) and Bobby (Dan Byrd) are also there, the former grudgingly. The group is joined by eldest daughter, Lynne (Vinessa Shaw), her cell phone salesman husband, Doug (Aaron Stanford), and their infant daughter, Catherine (Maisie Camilleri Preziosi) as well as the family dogs, German shepherds Beauty and Beast.

Towing their Airstream trailer behind, the Carter family is crossing the New Mexico desert when they stop at a small gas station to refill their tanks and to review their route. The gas station's sole attendant is surly, but does offer the family directions to a shortcut that will save them a couple of hours' driving time to get back to the main freeway. Though the rest of the family isn't keen on taking any back roads, Bob is enjoying the sights of the desert's stark beauty and the idea of a shortcut is even more broadly appealing.

Scant miles after taking the obscure turn off, their vehicle suffers a catastrophic tire blow-out. With severe damage to their truck, the Carters have no option but to walk for help. Bob determines he'll walk back to the gas station from whence they came; Doug, meanwhile, will walk onward to see if there are any people ahead who might help. What nobody knows is that the blow-out was no accident, and that both their accident and their subsequent decision-making is being watched from the hillsides above.

It seems that the government's above-ground nuclear tests in the two decades beginning in the 1940's were conducted nearby, and some miners who refused government demands to relocate have suffered grave genetic damage from the radiation since then. Their descendents are all too often monstrous, but they're not stupid. Unfortunately, all of their cleverness is devoted to sidetracking and killing innocent travelers. All the Carters have is their wits and their survival instinct to get through the next hours, and there's some question as to whether that will be even close to enough for them to live through the night.

Wes Craven wrote and directed the original version of The Hills Have Eyes which, by all accounts, is a cult classic. He's listed as a producer of this version which was written and directed by Alexandre Aja. There's clearly been money spent on this remake as the cinematography, sets, make-up, and other effects are very good. That doesn't mean, however, that the movie itself was all that great!

Ted Levine is a capable actor, but not much more than that; Kathleen Quinlan, who is better than capable, has a small role here that never lets her really prove it. The other actors are perfectly fine, with the stand-out exception of Aaron Stanford whose metamorphosis from metrosexual to real man is not only sensible within the context of the movie, but purely fun to watch.

The script is only okay (you can only do so much with the hokey and much over-used notion that radiation results in hungry flesh-eating monsters), and while the editing is quite good, the movie never really succeeds in being scary. There are some excellent startle moments, but there comes a point where they're so expected that they, too, lose their effect. Perhaps the most horrific moment in the movie involves the young mother, Lynne, and what she forces herself to do to save the life of her child. If more of the movie had been like that, it would have been a horror flick indeed!

POLITICAL NOTES: I'm going to dismiss the idea that the government was very, very bad when it conducted above ground nuclear testing so many years ago. It's not that that's not true; it's that even the government doesn't seem too proud of itself, and the very notion of criticism at this point seems both overkill and redundant. What is fascinating is what happens to change Doug and his attitude.

At one point early on, Bobby is loading a handgun and Doug is obviously disgusted. When Bobby offers to let Doug shoot to see what it feels like, the elder Carter laughs and says that Doug's a Democrat and doesn't like guns. Doug doesn't argue the point. But later on, we learn that hell hath no fury like a man trying to save his wife and child, and Doug's willingness to use firearms — and clubs and his bare hands — is more than impressive: it's real. This shows, in turn, that firearms are tools for both good and evil, and that they're dependent on the hands that wield them rather than on their bare existence to be either.

FAMILY SUITABILITY: The Hills Have Eyes is rated R for "strong gruesome violence and terror throughout, and for language." The Hills Have Eyes is, indeed, gruesome. In fact, it originally received an NC-17 rating. The movie we're seeing in the theatres now was edited to make it an R, and it's a well deserved R. The gruesome scenes are graphic more often than not, and the suspense involving the Carters (including the baby) is quite adult in nature. The violence, once it gets started, is almost non-stop. That being said, in this country we apparently think sex is worse, and though there's some intimations of sexual matters, there's nothing terribly graphic about it. I'd suggest that The Hills Have Eyes is suitable for those with strong stomachs from age 15 or so and up.

ADDITIONAL NOTE: I mentioned in a political commentary column recently that if people want better movies to come out of Hollywood, they should buy tickets for them so that movie makers are more willing to make them. I said that in light of watching the purely delightful Mrs. Henderson Presents as the sole member of the audience. This weekend, at the same theatre and at the same movie time, I sat down to watch The Hills Have Eyes in a theatre that was nearly sold out. I think I rest my case.