Customer Reviews

The Hills Have Eyes II (Uncut)

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Alexandre Aja and Greg Levasseur breathed new life into Wes Craven's 1977 horror classic The Hills Have Eyes, remaking the film in 2006, and giving it a gory more modern edge. Turnabout was apparently fair play, as capitalizing on the popularity of Aja's reimagining, Wes Craven and his son Jonathan wrote a sequel that continues the story of deformed cannibalistic inbreds living in the mountains of New Mexico.

With the element of surprise gone, as often happens with sequels, the focus shifts from generating suspense, to cranking up the violence. Alien (1979) and its sequel Aliens (1986), is a classic example. The Hills Have Eyes 2 (2007) follows a similar path, as the hill people are on the warpath, killing or raping anyone who happens into their territory. Directed by Martin Weisz, the film opens with a woman tired down to a bed, giving birth to a deformed baby. Having outlived her usefulness, she then receives an axe to the head. More of that kind of brutality lies ahead, so stop here if you are squeamish.

Rather than a defenseless family, this time the primary victims are a fully armed group of National Guard soldiers on training maneuvers in a remote mountainous region known as Sector 16. As part time soldiers, they aren't experienced in real combat, and when tested beyond their worst nightmare, the guardsmen demonstrate a lack of teamwork, discipline, and judgment, that often directly contributes to their demise. While mostly inept, what happens isn't entirely the soldier's fault, as the hyper-violent hill people are everywhere, literally popping out of holes in the ground like gophers.

Logic and reality are non-existent, as the goal is to simply showcase the soldiers being slaughtered in a series of ferociously brutal attacks. The Cravens really don't hold back, as the gore is plentiful and the violence extreme. Those caught unaware, usually wind up dead. If watching a group of mostly clueless idiots getting massacred is your idea of a good time, this is the film for you.

You might be able to predict those who will die, but there are still many surprises, including a suicide, death by friendly fire, accidental demolition, romance in a cave, and a man swimming in a chem-toilet. While character development is heavy among the soldiers, it is almost nonexistent for the hill folks. Papa Hades (Michael Bailey Smith) is the leader of the inbred clan, and his frantic fight with the survivors is truly magnificent, with absolutely no mercy being shown on either side. After this epic struggle, that includes impalement and sledgehammer blows to the crotch, the ending of the film with some weak drivel about Sector 16 is a disgrace, and a major flaw in what is an otherwise uncompromising vision of terror.

In only his second feature film, Martin Weisz (Grimm Love) demonstrates a flair for shooting action and violence, working in some challenging conditions in Morocco. The cinematography is often impressive, in this thriller that tops Aja's, in terms of violence and pure visceral impact.

Most of the soldiers serve as lambs for the slaughter, and the cast do a good job of filling roles that are written as clichéd mostly one dimensional stereotypes. Jessica Stroup (Homecoming) and Daniella Alphonso (Wrong Turn 2) play female soldiers who have a little more intelligence and depth to their characters, but neither is able to escape the abuse of the hill people.

Critically panned and decried by many, The Hills Have Eyes 2 isn't sophisticated or clever, but intended to shock and revolt, it probably achieves all that it was intended to do, with a devilish charm and ruthless efficiency. A twisted minority may appreciate the pure evil and brutality of creatures who sneak up with the intention of splitting open a skull with an axe. Rating: 4.5 stars.

I saw the movie and it wasn't good as first one. the story was same as first one. This time military army fights the mutant people. I just don't understand why they put first scene was pregnant woman tortured. that was horrible. The military army was good to be fight them but some missing the part. First one was better not the second.