The Carter family is on a cross country drive when their RV breaks down in the middle of nowhere. With cell phones on the blink, the Carter’s decide to make due but soon learn that they are not alone. In the desolate desert surroundings a strange family is stalking them, or more accurately, hunting them. Two things are for sure, they are not alone and the hills have eyes.

The remake of the 1977 Wes Craven classic has hit the screens and I have to say I was fairly impressed. The Hills Have Eyes ’06 is a pretty gritty and intense little flick, I was a fan of the original and I have to say that this one holds true to it’s classic roots, yet adds a few new leaves to the tree.

First we actually get a little back story on the cannibal clan that’s lurking about, and it works. It really gave the film a kind of “Hey it could happen” vibe which I really liked and it was done really well.

Also the effects and the cast were both extremely well done. I especially liked the performances of Ted Levine, who puts on a few pounds and plays a beefed-up tough guy, and Billy Drago who plays an uber-creepy cannibal. What surprised me the most was Aaron Stafford as Doug. Aaron played Pyro in X2 so you may have seen him before, but in this film he really shows some serious acting ability and I really enjoyed watching his character grow, especially in the last segment of the film.

The kills and the killers both look good as K.N.B. Effects do another top notch job, but I wish that on a few occasions they would have went just a touch more brutal, but all and all everything is very well done and very believable.

I do have one major gripe about this film that I wish they would have done without, the whole cell phone and technology thing was just way too predictable and clichéd by this point. If they would have set the remake in the 70’s or early 80’s it would have gotten rid of this flaw, but other than that this flick is pretty sweet.

Written and directed by the Alexandre Aja, the man behind High Tension, The Hills Have Eyes remake is damn fine and with two good flicks under his belt, Aja may become one of the new kings of horror.

The best thing I can say about this film is that not only will it please new fans, but fans of the original as well and that’s all you can really ask of a remake. If you’ve seen the classic go watch this one, if you watch the remake, do yourself a favor and rent the classic this weekend, either way your gonna get a good flick.

7 of 10

I was completely blown away with the quality of this flick. If all the remakes were done like this, having everything good about the movie being the same or better, than I'd be all for remaking everything.

This is one scarily intense flick, full of brutality and gory goodness.

Unlike Prime, I do understand that all movies from now on can't all be set in the 70's or early 80's to avoid cell phones. It's a crazy idea, especially considering there are lots of places without cell towers. Lots, fool.

There was a grittiness about this movie that was very appealing, and the violence was so frantic it was unnerving at times. I felt both of these gave it much in common with the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre in that regard.

I did have a couple complaints, the biggest being if your dogs run off every time you open the door and never come when you call them, either put them on a leash or train them, dammit! There are no bad dogs, just bad owners!

Anyway, great flick. I was a fan of the first one and actually do feel that you can use this one to replace it if you want. It's that good. [authors note: I've actually watched the original again since writing this, and no longer feel this way, the original is really cool in some ways that can't be lost forever. Forgive my excitement.]

8 out of 10 really elaborate ways to kill someone when you're holding a gun with seven shells in it. (hint: instead of shooting backwards while running forward, turn and aim)