untitled
THE
HILLS HAVE EYES
Directed by: Alexandre Aja
Written by: Alexandre Aja & Grégory
Levasseur
Internet
Movie
Database Entry for full details
GRADE: C -
2006.
When
the remake of Wes Craven’s 1977 gorefest first hit the theaters,
I wanted to see it, though I'm not quite sure as to why. But, after
reading the critical reception (universal pans), I resigned that I
probably wouldn’t after all. We’re only alive for so long,
and there’re so many movies to see. But then, many months later,
I stumbled across an evangelical Christian movie message board, and
their repulsion and revulsion at the film piqued my interest anew.
Isn't the enemy of my enemy my friend?
Well, apparently not always, and the lesson learned is that when my
instincts tell me to trust my beloved critics, I oughtn’t betray
them for the sake of spiting the born-agains. (Although, surprisingly,
the film's cinematography is fantastic!) The Hills Have Eyes
follows in the tradition of atomic monster movies in which detonated
(American) nuclear bombs cause far more trouble than anyone
would’ve bargained for. But rather than adhere to the usual
allegory in which mother nature, in the shape of some grossly enraged
and enlarged creature, metes out her revenge for the abuse of her green
Earth, in The Hills Have Eyes the monsters are deformed human beings, which complicates the metaphor.
In a bit of cheap filmmaking—essential expository information is
culled from serendipitously placed newspaper clippings, which have
large, juicy, informative headlines—we learn that when the
American government ordered some miners in the desert to abandon their
land so that it could be utilized for nuclear experiments, the miners
refused; the American government went ahead and conducted the
experiments anyway, setting off their atomic weapons and driving the
miners and their families underground, where they mutated into savage
murderous beasts with a penchant for cannibalism, apparently. Running
afoul of these monsters years later are a bickering family of
vacationeers, each of whom represents the worst of America: a meek and
whiny Democratic son-in-law; a hollowly religious matriarch; a slutty,
spoiled and shallow daughter; a violent, hard-assed, right-wing
patriarch; etc.
At first it all plays out as an allegory for 9-11, as
“monsters” born out of American arrogance and aggression
attack us at our most unsuspecting. But by siding with the family and
making their struggle for survival drivingly sympathetic, the film
doesn’t say anything interesting, merely suggesting that when
American might gets its comeuppance, the best recourse is to grow some
balls (that means you, Democrats!) and kick some ass. They even manage
to kill one of the mutants by driving an American flag through its
throat—no joke! While the crowd-pleasing violence is deliciously
over-the-top, it never gets campy enough to read sarcastically (or even
gruesome enough to be shocking, except by sensitive Christian
standards), thereby offering a jingoistic point-of-view I
could’ve gotten from the nightly news. The Hills Have Eyes, Brian Williams: either one’s a waste of time.
--
Henry Stewart
Post a
comment/reply on our Discussion Board
-------
© 2007
Send Us an Email
Cinepinion Home
The
Cinepinion Archives
bravenet.com