The Hills Have Eyes

This modern-day remake of horror classic ‘The Hills Have Eyes’ kicks off with a brief but brutal pre-title massacre that will have gore-hounds licking their lips in anticipation. Unfortunately, director Alexandre Aja appears to have shot his bloody load during this early sequence, as the rest of the film fails to live up to such early promise. In fact, if you’ve seen Wes Craven’s 1972 original, it’s probably best to skip the next 45 minutes as it’s practically a scene-for-scene retread involving a squabbling family, a cross-country trip, a wrong turn and a band of mutant cannibals hungry for flesh. The second half of the flick features a few detours, including a little more motive and back story involving the creation of the ultimate nuclear family. Yet while the screenplay is tight, the performances solid and the direction superior to many of the horror reconstructions churned out in recent months, one can’t help thinking that ‘The Hills Have Eyes’ is a rather pointless exercise that reinforces the age-old adage ‘If it ain’t broke, don’t remake it’.