4.9 | / 10 |
Users | 3.2 | |
Reviewer | 2.0 | |
Overall | 3.2 |
Sequel to the popular 2006 horror remake. An isolated desert research camp has been mysteriously abandoned, and now it's up to an elite unit of soldiers to uncover the truth about the scientists who vanished without a trace. Their attention is soon diverted by a distress signal emitting from a distant mountain range, the squadron quickly regroups and sets out to investigate. Unbeknownst to the soldiers, however, is the fact that these are the very same hills where the Carter family recently fell prey to a flesh-eating pack of hideously deformed mutants. As the ranks of the cavalry unit steadily begin to dwindle, it soon becomes obvious that their guns provide little defense from an evil driven by hunger to commit the ultimate crime against humanity.
Starring: Michael McMillian, Jessica Stroup, Jacob Vargas, Flex Alexander, Lee Thompson YoungHorror | 100% |
Thriller | 68% |
Adventure | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
French: Dolby Digital 5.1 (448 kbps)
Spanish: Dolby Digital 5.1 (448 kbps)
English SDH, French, Spanish, Cantonese, Korean
25GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (locked)
Movie | 0.5 | |
Video | 4.5 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 2.0 | |
Overall | 2.0 |
Oh man, we’re getting picked off one-by-one here!
It's really a shame that the entire fictional National Guard unit depicted in The Hills Have Eyes
2
weren't picked off within the first five minutes of the film. It would have certainly saved both the
characters and the audience an awful lot of suffering. This is definitely the worst film I've
reviewed
to date. Even Hostel, a film I found despicable and gratuitous seemingly only for the
sake
of being as disgusting as possible, can at least boast halfway competent direction and acting on
top of a
paper thin story that seems as thick as a brick compared to the drivel that is the script for
The
Hills Have Eyes 2. The film offers nothing but less than one-dimensional characters whose
lot
in life seems to revolve around finding out who can insult the others the most while using the
foulest
language
this side of Pulp Fiction, a film whose language was a character itself, foul-mouthed yes,
but also witty, clever, and genuine. The Hills Have Eyes 2 features dialogue that may as
well have been written by a few pre-adolescent teenagers whose only objective was to throw as
many F-bombs in as they could. The characters are completely clueless, including the supposed
"leader" of the group, "Sarge" (how original). How these individuals progressed far enough in the
National Guard to be
allowed to carry weapons is beyond me, and it's just another in a mile long list of problems with
The Hills Have Eyes 2.
You maggots aren't worthy of the quality of this screenshot!
Fox has one again provided a tip-top Blu-ray transfer here. Contrary to the horrendous quality of the movie, this 1080p, 2.35:1 image looks fantastic. Thankfully, this transfer (along with stellar sound) made watching the movie slightly tolerable. The film offers two contrasting visual styles. The first part of the film takes place in the great outdoors, shot in locales lit naturally by a very bright sun, and the tans of the desert, mountains, and military uniforms look fantastic. Detail is high, clarity is amazing, and the image is crisp and sharp. As the film progresses, the action moves into a dark, poorly lit underground location where the monsters live, and the disc handles this startling transition with ease. Black levels are spot-on perfect and color reproduction remains excellent. Shadow detail and fine detail both receive high marks as well. Flesh tones are uniformly excellent, regardless of the setting or lighting conditions. Fox shows that they are dedicated to Blu- ray for the long haul, giving The Hills Have Eyes 2 a wonderful transfer, despite the questionable quality of the film itself, and that says a lot to me. Keep 'em coming, Fox!
As usual, Fox provides listeners with a lossless DTS-HD MA 5.1 soundtrack that, like the picture quality, ranks rather high amongst its peers. The sound quality on this disc is powerful and immersive. There is quite a bit going on, from gunfire and explosions up front to quite a few pleasant ambient sounds in the rear. The surround channels certainly do their part in creating the semblance of a spooky atmosphere. There is usually something going on in the soundtrack that tries to reel the viewer into a horrific atmosphere that the film fails to create. More mundane effects such as wind blowing, birds chirping, and insects buzzing create a believable, realistic atmosphere in the first half of the film that makes you feel like you are in the middle of the barren wasteland of the military encampment. Once underground, the focus of the sound shifts more to musical cues and creepy breathing and other sub-human effects to scare the viewer. It' mostly effective, and would have had a much greater impact had the action on screen matched the sound in intensity and scares. Dialogue and music reproduction are excellent as well. Even though the movie is lousy, this soundtrack is sure to please and give your sound system a decent workout in the process.
The Hills Has Eyes 2 features a plate full of extras which, on the whole, proved more interesting than the movie itself. Lacking is a commentary track, but in this case the absence of one was probably a smart move. Leading off are four deleted scenes (480p, 3:11) that really don't appear as if they would have improved the film one iota. Batting second is an alternate ending (480p, 0:55). Unfortunately, I couldn't understand what the bad guy was saying at the end, even listening to it three times, but I'm sure it really doesn't matter. Batting third is a gag reel (480p, 3:37) that proved more entertaining and funny than anything in the movie itself. Hitting cleanup is a feature entitled Mutant Attacks (480p, 9:47), which discusses the difference between the mutants from the first film and this sequel, the power structure among the mutants, and creating the unique look of each mutant. Batting fifth is Birth of a Graphic Novel (480p, 12:42). This is a look at the graphic novel prequel to the Hills Have Eyes franchise entitled The Hills Have Eyes: The Beginning. Hitting sixth is another feature entitled Exploring the Kills: The Making of 'The Hills Have Eyes 2' (480p, 12:43), which examines some of the stunts and the design of some of the sets. Batting seventh, we have Fox Movie Channel Presents: Life After Film School With Wes Craven (480p, 10:20). He discusses film and politics with several interviewers who seem awestruck to be speaking with one of the true Masters of Horror of the past few decades. Up to bat eighth is a trailer for The Hills Have Eyes (1080p, 2:25), and finally, batting ninth, we have 1080p trailers for other Fox Blu-ray discs, including Alien Vs. Predator, From Hell, and Sunshine.
Featuring unlikable characters and sophomoric dialogue that is more cringe-worthy than "funny" as I imagine that it was supposed to be, not to mention poorly structured villains, The Hills Have Eyes 2 proves to be one of the most disappointing films, ever. It's too bad there is no "reverse scale" to rate the quality of the movies here. Perhaps rather than just blue letter "B's," we could also have red letter "R's" that signify the negative scale, and The Hills Have Eyes 2 would definitely score a perfect 5/5 "R's." Other than that, Mrs. Lincoln, how did you like the Blu-ray? This one boasts spectacular video and audio quality and a nice helping of extras. I have a hard time believing even hardcore gore hounds will like this one. There's plenty of blood and guts and brains, but watching this film will probably kill more brain cells than if an IDIOT SOLDIER reached into a bullet wound in your head and started yanking out brain matter. Skip this one entirely.
Unrated Edition
2006
1977
Unrated
2009
2003
2003
Unrated
2007
Unrated
2012
Theatrical Cut
2006
Unrated Director's Cut
2006
2012
2013
Unrated Edition
2008
Collector's Edition
2013
2017
Collector's Edition
1991
1988
Unrated
2011
Original Unrated Cut
2005
2013
The Hills Have Eyes Part 2 | Standard Edition
1985