The Hills Have Eyes

By today’s standards, The Hills Have Eyes is an almost delicate slaughter flick whose climax lasts practically the the final two-thirds of the film. It’s juicy, morbid and visually attractive, with the right amount of action and black humor. And the screenplay is a significant upgrade of Wes Craven’s simpler 1977 original. (19.09.2006)

Suitably brutal for Aja (unrated version), with some delicious murders, but otherwise a step backwards compared to High Tension. The first half, including the attack on the caravan, was still decent, capable of sending chills down the spine. But in the second half the tension fades and it’s replaced by heroic pathos and clichés that buried even those extremely tense situations that should make the viewer tremble with fear. That's also why I wasn't worried about the main characters, which is bad. Aja is a very capable director but struggles with bad scripts. PS: Parrot lovers won’t be happy. (18.06.2006)

Excellent hixploitation! The attack on the RV is for me one of the best horror scenes since 2000. And it certainly should be in red. (14.08.2007)

Aja shows audiences an exhibition of bloody violence in the most stylish form currently available. With a perfect rendering of the psychological attachments to the individual characters (a very uncertain order on the death certificate!) and the utmost sense of craftsmanship in handling the tension, the horror, and the viewer's disgust, the director really does work miracles. The excellent soundtrack often does much more than the standard "jump-scare" and the endless desert environment is also quite unpleasant. However, it somewhat falters due to the poorly chosen script, but it is one in which a good dose of cynical detachment kicks in, meaning that the overly pathetic ending so many people talk about is more so funny, and I mean that in a good way. This is because the American national anthem sung by the mutant, or the entrance of one of the protagonists with a shotgun in hand to the accompaniment of an ultra-heroic musical score clearly proves that Aja has his head screwed on straight in addition to his talent. And if the plot of his next film is less predictable, it's clearer than ever that things will still happen in Hollywood thanks to this young Frenchman. (28.07.2006)

Aja is certainly not devoid of talent, but that makes it all the more incomprehensible why he's wasting it in a remake of a standard horror film, especially when it is an almost shot-by-shot remake. (18.07.2006)

With bloody horror filled with family values, the bag burst at one point and it was precisely about The Hills that so much was spoken that, despite my dislike for this subgenre, I embarked on them. But the journey with the Carter family doesn't work, and neither does bloodthirsty Aja or unfortunately, beautiful Emilie. The praised attack on the caravan proved to be nothing more than a bloody massacre, and the rest was just skillfully directed routine. A stupid and trivial spectacle that only cleverly hit the cravings of its audience target. (16.07.2006)

I have long lost any understanding of these types of productions, and the only adjective that comes to mind in connection with the film is "stupid." Even the timid hints of some atmosphere, which, however, fail due to the director's creative incapability and the demented script, are replaced with a completely linear massacre in the second half, which can only provoke aggression, but certainly not fear. In this film, nothing really makes sense, and it doesn't make sense to ponder too much about the logic of the plot. Overall impression: 10%. By the way, the attempt to graft some message about the danger of nuclear explosions and weapons of mass destruction onto this madness is completely out of place considering the quality of what is shown... (24.05.2010)

The only thing this film differs from the routine hixploitation flicks we’ve had bucketfuls of latelyis in the the amount of brutality and savagery shown, which oscillates excellently between tolerable and excessive. Of course, some scenes are overly hyped – in the end, the main hero is practically immortal and what he endures is beyond acceptable, even considering the genre. Unfortunately, the it is difficult to establish an emotional connection with the main characters. The dead List is unpredictable, but lacking in emotions and fear as well. The large amount of blood is nice, but the opening highly inappropriate credits with a satirical subtext and incredibly tasteless choice of music are directly offensive. (26.03.2007)

We could criticise the film and endlessly point out its lapses in logic and mistakes, but that wouldn't be entirely fair. The Hills Have Eyes is first and foremost a spicy, almost unprecedented nowadays killing spree that offers, besides several truly brutal scenes, a superbly dense atmosphere, supremely disgusting villains and an absolutely riveting last act, which I probably wouldn't want to watch in the dark at midnight. Yes, it is disgusting, but Aja knows the right amount and never overdoes it to the point of being unbearable or gratuitous – unless we take into account the final fight, which is actually over-the-top. I didn't expect to be interested in this kind of horror, and I was all the more pleasantly surprised. Aja squeezed the most out of it, but Martin Weisz in the sequel brought the entire good premise to its knees... (06.10.2012)