The Hills Have Eyes

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)

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)

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)

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)