Known by most people for his work as the man behind the first two popular "Nightmare on Elm Street" films and all three installments of "Scream," Wes Craven has carved a solid niche for himself in the horror movie community. As producer of the remake of his 1977 cult classic "The Hills Have Eyes," Craven remains firmly implanted in the scary movie pantheon.
This time around, screenplay duty was handed to Alexandre Aja (also the director) and Gr?gory Levasseur. Adding a few new elements to the plot, Aja and Levasseur are faithful to the original script and somehow make the already creepy screenplay creepier and far more disturbing.
Both versions follow the same plot, as would be expected. A family from Ohio is celebrating not only the father's retirement from the Cleveland Police Department but his and his wife's silver anniversary. While driving through the desert, their car and trailer both crash. Since it's the desert, there is nobody and nothing around - except an inbred family of psychotic, cannibalistic mutants. After the horribly disturbing deaths of one of the family dogs, the father, mother and oldest daughter, the rest of the movie centers around the survivors' quest for revenge against the mutated menace.
The first difference in the screenplays is that the mutants in the original were not connected in any way to nuclear testing, as in the remake. Additionally, the man who runs the auto shop originally advised the family that they should have stayed on the main road and to not get off of it. In the remake, the attendant seems as if he's helping the evil mutants, informing the Carter family of a short cut through the desert.
Aside from the differences in the screenplay, the biggest difference between the two versions is how disturbing the remake is. Far more graphic (also thanks to a larger budget - hey, Craven's made a lot of money for himself) and violent, the movie grabs the viewer by the throat from the very beginning and refuses to let go, even at the end. The movie itself begins with a montage of nuclear test footage with a country song playing in the background, and every few seconds a loud, piercing screech sounds. Then for about a second, all sorts of medical deformities appear onscreen, showing the effects of nuclear testing on people. The makeup and costuming is fantastic, making the mutants look garishly realistic. It might be argued that the movie can serve as a critique on the inhumanity of nuclear warfare. While that's true, that's not the focus of the movie. Rather, it's a story of survival and revenge, and how people will do whatever it takes to survive and to protect their family.
Granted, nobody goes to horror movies to get a message about the importance of sticking together and being brave in terrifying danger. No. Rather, horror movies are meant to scare and disturb. This movie accomplishes that. Very, very well. There's blood, rape, disembowelment and cannibalism, and the deaths are violent, gory and just plain wrong enough to fit on a Cannibal Corpse record. For moviegoers who are tired of lame teen slasher flicks trying to pass themselves off as horror when they aren't at all scary or disturbing, this movie is a breath of fresh air. Or a drink of fresh blood. To each his own.
