#18 - The Hills Have Eyes (2006)
(dir. Alexandre Aja)
While on a road trip to California, a family ends up stranded in the middle of the New Mexico desert, where they are attacked by a clan of mutant cannibals. Bummer! I haven't seen Wes Craven's original 1977 film in a pretty long time, and don't remember too much about it, so I can't really compare the two versions. I wasn't really expecting much here, but I was pleasantly surprised by how good this was. The acting is great, the characters behave like actual human beings, and for a movie that is 90% dust and blood, it is surprisingly good looking.
It probably goes without saying that this is an extremely violent movie, and not for the squeamish. Aja does not pull any punches here - the violence is brutal and visceral, and there is a crazy amount of gore. What impressed me the most, though, is that the violence rarely felt sadistic or unnecessary (at least in the context of the film). The violence here exists to serve the plot, and not the other way around. Even though things get extremely over the top by the end, it always felt like the violence was there to move the story forward, and not just to shock or gross out the audience.
If you can stomach the violence, I highly recommend this one. A smart, intense, and brutal horror film.
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