6.8 | / 10 |
Users | 3.7 | |
Reviewer | 4.0 | |
Overall | 3.7 |
Wes Craven produces this remake of his 1977 classic of the same name, about the Carters, an idyllic American family travelling through the great American southwest. But their trip takes a detour into an area closed off from the public, but more importantly from society. An area originally used by the U.S. Government for nuclear testing that was intended to be empty...or so they thought? When the Carter's car breaks down at the old site, they're stranded...or are they? As the Carters may soon realize that what seemed like a car casually breaking down, might actually be a trap. This trap might be perpetrated by the inhabitants of the site who aren't pulling a prank, but are out to set up a gruesome massacre.
Starring: Aaron Stanford, Kathleen Quinlan, Vinessa Shaw, Emilie de Ravin, Dan ByrdHorror | 100% |
Thriller | 49% |
Drama | Insignificant |
Action | 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)
Czech: Dolby Digital 5.1
French: DTS 5.1
Hungarian: Dolby Digital 5.1
Portuguese: Dolby Digital 5.1
Russian: DTS 5.1
Spanish: Dolby Digital 5.1
Thai: Dolby Digital 5.1
Turkish: Dolby Digital 2.0
All Dolby Digital 5.1 (448 kbps) / All DTS 5.1 (768 kbps) / Turkish: Dolby Digital 2.0 (224 kbps)
English SDH, French, Portuguese, Spanish, Arabic, Bulgarian, Cantonese, Croatian, Czech, Estonian, Greek, Hebrew, Hungarian, Icelandic, Indonesian, Korean, Latvian, Lithuanian, Polish, Romanian, Russian, Slovenian, Thai, Turkish
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region free
Movie | 4.0 | |
Video | 3.5 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 4.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
On a road trip through the vast emptiness of New Mexico, the Carter family (including Kathleen Quinlan, Ted Levine, Emilie de Ravin, Aaron Stanford, and Vinessa Shaw) has found themselves stuck in the middle of nowhere. Asking directions from a local gas merchant, the dysfunctional unit is purposely lead into hell where a macabre band of irradiated mutants (from government nuclear testing) attack the helpless clan, forcing the few remaining survivors to spend the next day battling a mysterious, resourceful enemy, trying to stay alive when certain doom is all around them waiting in the hills of this blazing wasteland.
French director Alexandre Aja made a glorious debut with the 2003 Euro chiller, “High Tension.” Admittedly, he screwed up the ending with useless twists and turns, but the core of the experience was pure, magical dread, promising a bright young talent with respect for the art of fright and fascinated with the screen power of the genre. That promise was kept for his Hollywood fat-cat debut.
An update of the 1977 feature, Aja’s “Hills Have Eyes” is eager to thicken the trauma inflicted by Wes Craven over 30 years ago. I wouldn’t call the earlier film a classic, but it certainly has retained a cult following -- devotees able to appreciate how Craven worked wonders with a non-existent budget and a screenplay geared toward shock value entertainment. Aja has a few more tricks up his sleeve, along with more coin and wonderful make-up work from KNB, ready to viciously and extensively realize the mutant rampage. Craven was looking to simply scare some folks with blunt violence and a lecture on the primal nature of man. Aja’s effort is an absolute declaration of war.
The AVC encoded image (2.39:1 aspect ratio) presentation creates an evocative feeling of isolation and heat exhaustion, offering excellent HD clarity during the film's daylight encounters, which floods the image with a bright, crisp appearance. Colors are saturated and sturdy, with blood reds (which end up the dominate hue in the finale) registering profoundly, while desert golds and browns also make a significant impression, generating the essential southwest ambiance. Blacks are only of moderate concern, offering more of an inky appearance when the sun goes down, though nothing is completely obscured. Detail is excellent throughout, exploring tremendous human concern and gruesome encounters, with the body trauma and mutant particulars creating a vivid BD image, where all the make-up details and horror confrontations are handed their proper fear factor. Skintones are stable, and a few print nicks were detected.
The 5.1 DTS-HD MA sound mix is a generous event that truly keeps the ears engaged as the film goes about its rampage. Directional activity is excellent, creating a haunting circular impression with stalking mutants, empty canyon movement (nice echoes here), and direct stabs of violence. There's also a hefty atmospheric feel as well, with the locations giving off a subtle sizzle and blistering shine, assisting the sweatbox hold of the movie. Low-end is consistent, providing the brutality with a heavy thump, also plumping the editorial chaos some. Dialogue exchanges are crisp and clean, capturing the tension and distress with a moderately rounded feel, achieving the group dynamic without introducing any shrillness, offering heavy, separate voices that maintain the tension. Mutant grunts and groans are also well cared for, elevated slightly to retain intimidation. It's a film of gunshots, beatings, and general gory commotion, offering the listener a smorgasbord of aural textures and wallops, with everything properly communicated on this track.
It's always tough to get behind a horror remake, most are so absurd and needless. However, Aja has chosen a movie that was ripe for a second chance, and I feel he's made a better piece of cinema as a result. "The Hills Have Eyes" might not have the sneak attack appeal of the original film or its provocative human questioning, but it cooks in ways Craven should be jealous of.
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