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Life & Arts

Gruesome 'Hills' is just short of perfect

Director Aja delivers violence but fails to end on a solid note

by JASON GAGNON
The Daily Cougar

Alexandre Aja's international smash Haute Tension was a brilliant work of uncompromising brutality and suspense that was irreparably marred by a stupid twist ending. (M. Night Shyamalan couldn't have done it worse.) Still, the young director proved he had a wonderful eye for hardcore horror, which is why there wasn't the usual uproar when it was announced Aja would be helming the remake of Wes Craven's cult classic The Hills Have Eyes. Unfortunately, Aja leaves you frustrated with something just short of amazing and once again hindered by idiocy.

The story follows faithfully to the original and follows the Carter family as they go on a road trip from California through the New Mexico desert for mom and pop's 25th anniversary. Naturally, they stop at a remote gas station where some grease monkey tells them to take a shortcut, and they eventually are stranded and left to be picked off by a family of deranged mutant hillbilly cannibals. After an initial and ferociously violent attack, the remaining Carters must fight to survive and rescue their sister's baby before they find themselves in the lower intestines of their hideous attackers.

Sure, it all sounds a little silly, but it is a terrifically fun fright flick. Aja keeps the tension steady with a stream of "jump" scares that leave the viewer uneasy about what Aja will show you next. Once the big attack occurs, the suspense rarely lets up. 

The level of sadism, gore and violence the movie was allowed to get away with is almost unbelievable. The meanness with which the violence is executed goes way beyond anything you saw in Hostel, and audiences are sure to be satisfied with how the bad guys get their gristly due. 

But what pulls the film back from its glory are myriad horror cliches Aja should have known better to avoid. Someone overcomes his inner wuss and finds the strength to go on the attack, the mutants seem to possess supernatural strength, people let their guard down to easily, and, of course, the bad guy isn't dead when you think he is and promptly comes back to life for a final attack. 

This could all be forgiven if you just want a nasty, sick survival horror movie, but if you're looking for the total package with plot and without tired genre standards, you're going to be disappointed. 

Nonetheless, The Hills Have Eyes will prove to you that Alexandre Aja is the man who will keep horror bloody, intense and unsuitable for anyone younger than 17.

AT THE MOVIES

The following is a partial list of films opening today:

Failure to Launch
Matthew McConaughey and Sarah Jessica Parker star in this romantic comedy about a guy who needs a big push to get out of his parents' home. McConaughey seems like a nice guy, but he has bad taste when it comes to choosing roles. As for Parker, this is just life after Sex and the City.

The Libertine
Johnny Depp stars in the movie based on the life of John Wilmot, the Second Earl of Rochester and 17th century poet. John Malkovich also stars in the period piece about the alcoholic philanderer.

compiled by Life & Arts staff
 

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