![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
The Hills Continue to Have Eyes: a Spoilery Review
Even though some of the mutants were actually missing eyes, presumably there were still enough for the Hills.
As you have no doubt inferred by now, I decided to Demand The Hills Have Eyes (2006). I enjoyed this movie much more than I thought I would. Being a horrorfan, I'm quite fond of the original and I honestly think that this remake stands on it's own on many levels.
It was more of a straight up remake than those tedious "reimaginings" they do nowadays. That's usually code for I thought up the script for this movie after watching some classic horror, and I'm ripping that movie off so much that I might as well use its good name to hype my derrivative crapfest. Sometimes not though.
THHE stars Kathleen "I haven't seen you in anything in awhile" Quinlan, Ted "Put the fucking lotion in the basket" Levine, and Marc "remake of Salem's Lot" Byrd. The chick who plays Clare on LOST (Emilie Raven or something) was also in it, and happily she didn't cry out for her BAY BAY even once. I guess because the baby wasn't hers. Some other people I didn't recognize also appeared, and I daresay Levine was almost unrecognizable as Big "I wonder if he's gonna get BBQ'd" Bob. They kept plenty of things I like, such as the dog's names (indeed, most of the names--but not so much the mutants), the big trailer scene, and the Father Flambe. The gore was good all around, as was the mutant makeup. And in the tradition of all horror movies, a normal sized girl was called "Fat and Juuuuuicy."
Overall, it was suspensful, scary, and only Big Bob comes across as being particularly stupid and deserving of his grisly demise. The film is also a powerful lesson in how prayer doesn't work. Okay, that's a joke; but one could certainly make that argument about the film. I would also say that the anti-nuclear message is shoved down our collective throats more obviously than last time. And man, that pacifist turns out to be a total badass! I don't recall that they were set up for the slaughter last time. That gas station guy was a dick, and his death was hardcore gornography.
And now a word about The Baby. I suppose I should preface this by saying that I have no unnatural or perverse desire to see a baby killed onscreen. As some of you may know, the plan in the original THHE was for the baby to be killed and eaten. Much of the cast, led by Dee Wallace, said they'd walk off the film if that happened. In a way, that actually added suspense to this film because a contemporary cast is less likely to stop filming over content. And I'm fairly sure only hugely successful actors get to make those kind of demands. To my mind, there was a very real possibility that the baby would be killed. It wasn't though. I wonder why, as long as you're remaking and taking liberties, that they never make the choice to go ahead and kill the baby. After all, the director here, Alexandre Aja, also did Haute Tension where a young boy is gunned down in a corn field. It's quite disturbing. I have also noticed that this is a largely unique to American films. The Asians, for example, have no problem killing off people of any age (BTW, if this paragraph is horrifying you, never watch Dumplings by Fruit Chan--seriously).
So yeah, if you like a bit of the old ultra-violence do give THHE a try. Then you'll be all caught up when THHE 2 comes out next year. It's already up on IMDB, so morons are already talking about how much it will suck. Look for the thread from the guy who hates Aja's remake because of it's anti-american messages!
But I ask you, how hard would it have been to have Michael Berryman in a cameo?!?
As you have no doubt inferred by now, I decided to Demand The Hills Have Eyes (2006). I enjoyed this movie much more than I thought I would. Being a horrorfan, I'm quite fond of the original and I honestly think that this remake stands on it's own on many levels.
It was more of a straight up remake than those tedious "reimaginings" they do nowadays. That's usually code for I thought up the script for this movie after watching some classic horror, and I'm ripping that movie off so much that I might as well use its good name to hype my derrivative crapfest. Sometimes not though.
THHE stars Kathleen "I haven't seen you in anything in awhile" Quinlan, Ted "Put the fucking lotion in the basket" Levine, and Marc "remake of Salem's Lot" Byrd. The chick who plays Clare on LOST (Emilie Raven or something) was also in it, and happily she didn't cry out for her BAY BAY even once. I guess because the baby wasn't hers. Some other people I didn't recognize also appeared, and I daresay Levine was almost unrecognizable as Big "I wonder if he's gonna get BBQ'd" Bob. They kept plenty of things I like, such as the dog's names (indeed, most of the names--but not so much the mutants), the big trailer scene, and the Father Flambe. The gore was good all around, as was the mutant makeup. And in the tradition of all horror movies, a normal sized girl was called "Fat and Juuuuuicy."
Overall, it was suspensful, scary, and only Big Bob comes across as being particularly stupid and deserving of his grisly demise. The film is also a powerful lesson in how prayer doesn't work. Okay, that's a joke; but one could certainly make that argument about the film. I would also say that the anti-nuclear message is shoved down our collective throats more obviously than last time. And man, that pacifist turns out to be a total badass! I don't recall that they were set up for the slaughter last time. That gas station guy was a dick, and his death was hardcore gornography.
And now a word about The Baby. I suppose I should preface this by saying that I have no unnatural or perverse desire to see a baby killed onscreen. As some of you may know, the plan in the original THHE was for the baby to be killed and eaten. Much of the cast, led by Dee Wallace, said they'd walk off the film if that happened. In a way, that actually added suspense to this film because a contemporary cast is less likely to stop filming over content. And I'm fairly sure only hugely successful actors get to make those kind of demands. To my mind, there was a very real possibility that the baby would be killed. It wasn't though. I wonder why, as long as you're remaking and taking liberties, that they never make the choice to go ahead and kill the baby. After all, the director here, Alexandre Aja, also did Haute Tension where a young boy is gunned down in a corn field. It's quite disturbing. I have also noticed that this is a largely unique to American films. The Asians, for example, have no problem killing off people of any age (BTW, if this paragraph is horrifying you, never watch Dumplings by Fruit Chan--seriously).
So yeah, if you like a bit of the old ultra-violence do give THHE a try. Then you'll be all caught up when THHE 2 comes out next year. It's already up on IMDB, so morons are already talking about how much it will suck. Look for the thread from the guy who hates Aja's remake because of it's anti-american messages!
But I ask you, how hard would it have been to have Michael Berryman in a cameo?!?
no subject
Speaking of Fruit (har)... while I had expected the full length Dumplings to disturb me more than the 3 Extremes version, the duck embryos did a far better job of that than I'd anticipated.
no subject
I wonder if it's the studio that puts the kibosh on the baby killing. I forget now, but I don't think it was Lion's Gate. The only movies I can even think of that have a violent baby death are DotD remake and Dead Calm.
It's wierd though what disturbs audiences, THHE illustrated a similar phenomenon that I have noticed in my own veiwing habits: specifically that the Big Bob BBQ didn't bother me nearly so much to watch as the bird drinking--which made me gag.
Cannibal Holocaust is the same way, the turtle killing is the most disturbing thing in it. And just articulating that thought makes me feel like a monster, considering everything else that happens.
no subject
no subject
But I was really surprised at how much I like it. Usually radioactive mutant cannibals is not something a film fan can take seriously. Yet somehow, it just works! I'm really taken with that kid from the remake of Salem's Lot. I'd like to see what he does with a solid dramatic role.
no subject