The Hills Have Eyes – Unrated (DVD)

The Hills Have Eyes is a remake. Some horror fans won't see remakes strictly on principal, but the original director, Wes Craven, produced this one, and Peter Locke is back on board as well. Add to that the fact that talented young helmer Alexandre Aja and his filmmaking partner Gregory Levasseur have the utmost respect and love for the original, and you really can't turn a blind eye to this one.

I have not seen the original The Hills Have Eyes in many, many years but if I remember it well enough, then I daresay the remake is an improvement. The original was obviously very low-budget, and the killers were more cartoony than scary. They're still stylized here, but thanks to top notch character actors and superb makeup and visual effects, they are truly menacing and memorable.

The bleak horror story follows a typical suburban American family being stalked by a clan of psychotic mutants who live in the desert, far away from civilization. It's brutal, bloody, and unflinching. Read my review of the theatrical release here.

As for the goodies, Fox has really let it bleed. There's tons of extras, many of which are sure to please even the most bloodthirsty horror fans.

Commentary Track One — Director Alexandre Aja, Art Director Gregory Levasseur, and Producer Marianne Maddalena. As the opening credits roll, Aja talks about how he came up with the shots, as inspired by Sergio Leone's Once Upon A Time In The West (a true classic; if you haven't seen it, you're missing out). He also reveals that some of the footage intercut with the landscape (the 50s cake-baker, for one) are genuine, and furthermore that those are some of David Lynch's favorite film clips. I also found it interesting to learn that the mine shaft was found as-is, on location in Morocco. The three commentators later jokingly speculate on alternative realities for the characters, and talk about the brutality of the production (wind and heat were the main bedevilments). Aja and Levasseur have fairly strong French accents, but I never found them difficult to follow.

Commentary Track Two — Producers Wes Craven and Peter Locke. For those who need a memory-fresher on the first movie, Craven and Locke (who produced, and played Mercury back in the day) are happy to oblige. I thought it was very interesting to hear what is the same, and what is different (and how so) in the two versions. Locke was actually on set for the remake so he has more to say about the production, but Craven was there "in spirit", working very closely with everyone via electronic means. There are lots of stories about the first movie — and some funny anecdotes about Michael Berryman, who played Jupiter — even talking about the tarantula on the jacket (Locke wound up keeping it as a pet, but not before it enjoyed a few adventures). This is a jokey pair, but even they can't keep up the yuks when the really vicious, gory scenes play out.

Surviving the Hills: Making of The Hills Have Eyes — This nearly one-hour documentary really delves deep into the day-to-day making of the film. It's just a hair shy of the making-of docs for Hostel and The Devil's Rejects (still the gold-standards for this sort of thing). Unlike most rosy making-of featurettes, Surviving The Hills pulls no punches. We get to follow Aja from preproduction through shooting the feature in the Moroccan desert, then on into post production for editing and fine-tuning.

Video Production Diaries — Separated into 7 separate segments (or all as one continuous view), these diaries provide a more casual look into the production. It provides different info from Surviving The Hills, so it's worth a look for those interested in the filmmaking process.

Music Video: Leave the Broken Hearts — by The Finalist (I didn't watch this… I don't typically enjoy music videos made for movies, and as The Hills Have Eyes reminds us: life is short).

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Reviewed by Staci Layne Wilson