The Hills Have Eyes (2006) stands as a testament to the power of reimagining classic horror. It's a remake that not only survived but thrived in a genre dominated by remakes, and it did so by embracing a unique and unsettling twist on the original's raw exploitation concept. This article delves into the film's journey, exploring its impact, the creative choices that set it apart, and the reasons why it remains a standout in the horror genre, even two decades after its release.
A Remake in a Remake-Happy Era
The early 2000s were a golden age for horror remakes. Hollywood was in a remake frenzy, adapting Japanese horror like The Ring and The Grudge, and bringing back American classics like The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and The Amityville Horror. Among these remakes, Wes Craven's The Hills Have Eyes stood out. Craven, a legendary horror director known for the original Scream trilogy, was drawn to the financial success of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and The Amityville Horror, both of which earned over $100 million worldwide on modest budgets. This sparked his interest in revisiting his own catalog, and The Hills Have Eyes became the project he was most eager to tackle.
A Creative Team with a Vision
Craven and producer Marianne Maddalena found their creative partners in French filmmakers Alexandre Aja and Gregory Levasseur. Aja and Levasseur's previous work, the intense French horror film High Tension, impressed Maddalena, and their multifaceted understanding of what is profoundly terrifying resonated with Craven. The duo's vision for The Hills Have Eyes was to reinvent the story while maintaining its core premise: a stranded family fighting for survival against violent cannibals in the desert. However, they introduced a major twist to the villains' origins, tying the mutants to nuclear testing in New Mexico.
Real-World Inspiration for the Mutants
Aja and Levasseur had a very specific vision for the mutant family's appearance, drawing inspiration from real photographs and footage of radiation victims from Hiroshima and Chernobyl. This approach aimed to make the mutants feel disturbingly grounded in reality rather than fantastical movie monsters. While the only real nuclear test conducted in New Mexico was the Trinity test, the film expanded the concept into a fictional government testing area where generations of radiation exposure created horrific mutations. The opening credits reinforced this disturbing realism by featuring real images connected to the effects of Agent Orange exposure during the Vietnam War.
A Cast of Horror Veterans and Rising Stars
The Carter family was portrayed by a mix of veteran character actors and younger rising stars. Ted Levine, already iconic to horror fans for his role as Buffalo Bill in The Silence of the Lambs, played the stubborn family patriarch, Big Bob Carter. The supporting cast included Kathleen Quinlan as family matriarch Ethel, Vinessa Shaw as protective mother Lynn, Aaron Stanford as outsider son-in-law Doug, Emilie de Ravin as younger sister Brenda, and Dan Byrd as the youngest son, Bobby. Shaw was initially hesitant but was convinced by Aja and Levasseur's vision.
Creating the Mutant Family
Casting the mutants required actors capable of enduring extensive makeup and physical stunt work. Robert Joy, who played Lizard, and Ezra Buzzington, who played Goggle, were chosen after auditioning. Michael Bailey Smith, who played Pluto, impressed the filmmakers so much that he later returned to play a different character in the sequel. Billy Drago portrayed Papa Jupiter, and Laura Ortiz played Ruby, the youngest mutant and one of the film's few sympathetic characters.
Extreme Gore and Visual Effects
KNB FX, a legendary effects house, handled the film's makeup and gore effects, spending over six months designing the mutant family. They used early three-dimensional modeling technology to create prosthetics customized for each actor. Some transformations, especially Robert Joy's Lizard makeup, required up to three hours in the chair. Special effects legend Greg Nicotero even appeared onscreen as the mutant Cyst. The film also featured over 130 digital effects shots, enhancing mutant deformities and expanding the abandoned nuclear test town.
A Deleted Scene That Was Too Disturbing
One particularly bizarre unused idea involved Papa Jupiter originally having a parasitic twin attached to his body, similar to Kuato from Total Recall. However, a planned sequence that never made it into the movie was the Carter family bringing kittens along on their road trip, which would have been killed in an extremely graphic blender sequence. When Aja pitched this idea to Wes Craven, the horror master immediately rejected it out of concern that viewers might imitate the scene in real life.
Filming in the Moroccan Desert
The movie's production conditions were almost as punishing as the film itself. Temperatures during filming regularly exceeded 120 degrees. The production ultimately chose Morocco, often referred to as 'The Gateway to the Sahara,' to capture the harsh desert atmosphere. The production design became so convincing that people occasionally stopped at the fully constructed gas station set believing it was real.
Box Office Success and Horror Legacy
The Hills Have Eyes was released in 2006 with a production budget of roughly $15 million. It opened in third place at the box office and eventually earned more than $70 million worldwide during its theatrical run. The film's popularity continued to grow on home video, especially through its unrated edition, which became extremely popular during the DVD boom of the mid-2000s. While it currently holds a mixed critical score on Rotten Tomatoes, horror fans continue to regard it as one of the strongest horror remakes ever made, even considering it superior to the original film. The remake eventually received a sequel, The Hills Have Eyes 2 (2007), which remains divisive but is preferred by many fans over the original franchise's first sequel.
In conclusion, The Hills Have Eyes (2006) is a testament to the power of reimagining classic horror. It survived and thrived in a remake-happy era by embracing a unique and unsettling twist on the original's raw exploitation concept. The film's impact, creative choices, and enduring legacy make it a standout in the horror genre, even two decades after its release.
