The Hills Have Eyes (2006)
As a kid I had a passing interest in horror; I read Goosebumps and liked monster movies (in fact, we’ll visit one of my favorites in a couple weeks). That all came to an abrupt albeit brief stop when I was 12 and watched the American remake of The Ring. That movie, to put it bluntly, scared the fuck out of me. For a year I would only sleep with the television in my bedroom turned on having convinced myself that Samara could only come out of the TV if it was off first (please don’t question my 12-year-old logic). I decided then that horror wasn’t for me. Too fucking scary.
Then, the very next year, I saw the trailer for The Hills Have Eyes. I didn’t know it was a remake; I knew nothing about it other than that I really wanted to see it. I don’t know why, but that trailer intrigued me and I watched it almost daily. Despite my earlier swearing off of horror, I wanted to see this movie.
Unfortunately, being that young, I couldn’t go see it by myself. My parents definitely weren’t going to take me--not because they forbade it, they just weren’t going to sit through it. So I waited. I continued to watch the trailer obsessively, being particularly intrigued by a brief shot of mutant children and I read everything about it that I could find online. The film received mixed reviews upon release, but that didn’t deter me.
On June 20th, the day the film was released on DVD, I begged my mom to take me to Blockbuster so I could rent it. It was absolute torture waiting until after dinner to go. When we got to the rental store, I went straight to the new release wall (I can still picture it), terrified that there wouldn’t be any copies left. To my great delight not only did they still have some, they also had the Unrated Cut. I grabbed a copy and waited while my brothers (5 and 7 at the time) picked out a movie. When we got home, I locked myself in my bedroom in the basement and started watching.
I fucking loved it. It scared the shit out of me, but this time I got such a rush out of it. If we want to go for an obvious drug metaphor, The Hills Have Eyes was my gateway. My love of horror had begun.
Now, it’s fourteen years later (nearly to the day), I’m 27, and my horror knowledge and experience have only grown. So, you may be asking, with that life experience, what do I think of the movie now? While I definitely have much more nuanced thoughts than my 13-year-old self did, I still fucking love it.
Now, with all of that out of the way, let’s get to the meat of things. As mentioned above, The Hills Have Eyes is the 2006 remake of Wes Craven’s original film of the same name. This version was directed by Alexandre Aja (at the time most well known for directing High Tension). The film had a budget of $15,000,000, made $15,708,512 upon opening, and went on to make $70,008,952 worldwide. Reviews were mixed, with some critics labeling the film as “torture porn” (a phrase I detest).
Like its precursor, The Hills Have Eyes follows a family driving cross country that is ambushed and attacked in the hills of New Mexico by a family of cannibal mutants. After an attack that leaves half of the family dead, infant Catherine is kidnapped by the mutants and her father Doug (Aaron Stanford) must track them down and rescue her while siblings Bobby (Dan Byrd) and Brenda (Emilie de Ravin) make efforts to ward off other potential attacks. The film ends on a bittersweet note with Catherine rescued and most of the mutants killed, but with Doug, Bobby, and Brenda still stranded in the desert and someone else watching them from the hills.
Nearly everything about this film works for me. The movie starts strong with a brutal opening kill of two scientists studying the water in the area before introducing a gas station attendant named Jeb (Tom Bower) and the Carter family. To the film’s benefit, we spend quite a bit of time with the Carters before the action starts. The family and their interpersonal dynamics are much more developed in this version, which makes the deaths of Big Bob (Ted Levine), Ethel (Kathleen Quinlan), and Lynn (Vinessa Shaw) during the trailer attack hit much harder. Even Jeb’s limited screen time is given pathos as we see him regret his role in the deaths of innocents.
The horror elements work extremely well. The gore is great and the set pieces are exciting. In particular, the aforementioned trailer attack scene that centers the film (and I would argue is the high-point) is exciting and scary, and Aja does a great job of keeping the frenetic energy up while not sacrificing coherence. The score during the sequence and throughout the film is wonderful and one of the first things I get excited about when I revisit it.
I do have a few minor quibbles and one major one. The first is that despite the family’s development that I mentioned earlier, I can’t stand the character of Big Bob. He represents the worst of toxic masculinity. When he puts Bobby (the youngest family member other than the baby) “in charge” of his mother and two olders sisters while he and Doug go to find help, my teeth start to grind. I’m sure that this was partially on purpose, as the film has an ironic-patriotism streak throughout, but I can’t say I’m sorry when Big Bob goes.
My second issue is with the mutant family. They all have distinct features and names, but otherwise are largely one-dimensional, especially when compared to their counterparts in the original film. The movie gives the Carters more development than the original, but it does so at the expense of the mutants. I do think a scene or two more of seeing the mutants interacting would have benefited the film.
My other issues are with the character of Brenda. Emilie de Ravin gives a great performance but her role in the latter half of the film is largely relegated to the “hysterical woman” trope, which is disappointing when she’s the only major living female character outside of the mutant girl Ruby. However, Brenda is slightly redeemed with a very satisfying kill of the one of the mutants.
However, the biggest problem with the movie is the rape scene. As much as I love the trailer attack, I can’t stand the inclusion of Brenda’s sexual assault. This is partially personal; I really don’t like seeing rape depicted in film unless it’s necessary for the story and that’s not the case here. It’s included to be shocking but feels extremely gratuitous, and the movie doesn’t have the time or desire to really unpack Brenda’s reaction aside from relegating her to the screaming woman role.
Overall, as I think I’ve made pretty clear, I really do love this film. The cast, music, direction, and scares all come together for a really solid whole. There’s definitely a lot of nostalgia in my love of this movie, but putting that aside it is a really strong film that has received unfair criticism for its gore and its status as a remake. Though I have some issues, I’d strongly recommend this movie.
Rating: 4.5 bloody pickaxes out of 5
Other Observations
Does the Dog Die? The Carter’s have two German Shepherds, Beauty and Beast. Beauty is killed, but Beast gets to wreck bloody vengeance on her killers during the climax. A bird is also graphically killed.
Harrison’s Favorite Scare: The trailer attack is my favorite scene, but the moment when Doug is attacked in the bathroom in the climax always makes me jump even though I know it’s coming.
The score is really amazing, but my favorite piece of music in the film is “California Dreamin’” by The Mamas and the Papas. It really does fit perfectly into the film.
After I finished my first watch of the movie back in ‘06, I felt I needed a cool down movie so I watched the movie that my brothers had rented: Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius.
At 14, I had such a crush on Bobby in this movie. Something about those baggy jeans.
- Next Week: I will be covering Alice, Sweet Alice, which I have never seen. See you then!
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