Remakes: The Hills Have Eyes

The Hills Have Eyes

            Movie remakes are often a hit or miss for the viewer. Often the movie is something they enjoyed previously so while the remake does need to have it’s own spin it still needs to appeal to the audience that is already there. The two films also differ in what they focus on within the story itself, and the small changes you see directly reflect the dominant ideologies of the time they were produced in. In The Hills Have Eyes (1997), directed by Wes Craven, and The Hills Have Eyes (2006), directed by Alexandre Aja, you can see differences based on the genre phase, the ideologies, and moral values. While these films both follow the same story, they are presented in different ways based on the time of their production.

            The ideologies introduced in Craven’s film weren’t altered for Aja’s remake, the main one being the family home as a place of horror. This is one ideology that was prevalent in horror films in the 70’s and still is today. The family home is the one place people feel they will always be safe, by invading that space and turning it into the place of horror the director is effectively making the viewer uncomfortable and achieving the scare-factor. Craven’s film is centered on the mobile home for the entirety of the film, while the characters do deviate from this area they always return. In Aja’s version of the film you not only see the invasion of the mobile home but you also see the invasion of the mutants home. Another dominant ideology in horror films is that the killer is an ordinary person who has suffered. This is seen in both films but like the invasion of the family home, it is more exaggerated in Aja’s film. The 1977 version of the film briefly touches on the nuclear testing that took place in the desert hills, the only time you are aware of it is during the title sequence. In the remake you are shown a montage of photos and short video clips, all pertaining to the mutation that the testing caused. You are also reminded of the testing halfway through the film when Doug (Aaron Stanford) finds their houses. Everything has been left behind from when the area was evacuated to do the testing and this emptiness reminds the viewer that these people are mutants because of what the government did. This also gives you a background for the villain, which you aren’t really given in the original. Giving you more information about the villains can be a bad thing though, “One of the rules of this sort of film is that the less we know about the monster(s), the greater the suspense. Because they have been “explained” (if not necessarily humanized), these cannibals aren’t as frightening as their counterparts from 1977.” (Berardinelli) In the remake of this movie, Aja sacrificed the scare factor of the villains to further build on the invasion of the family home. This compensates for what is lost in his film by uncovering the unknown.

            Other differences in these movies can be chalked up to the genre phase they were produced in. While both these films are slasher films one was produced during the revisionist phase and the other was produced during the reflexive phase. Some of the characteristics of a revisionist film were kept in the film for the remake. Both films are extremely realistic. The movies present you with a story that is believable which makes the film more effective.  By including a small portion of background information the realistic aspect of the film is kept intact by the mutant cannibals. Both films also use the technique of showing rather than telling, “…the distancing effect that comes naturally with all the usual Hollywood varnish is totally absent here, and the Carter family’s peril seems far more real than it would if the film have been made according to modern big-studio practices.”(Ashlin) The raw grittiness of this film makes it more believable. The remake does not eliminate these characteristics but following the reflexive phase it starts to veer more in the direction of “torture porn”. The viewer is still shown instead of told but the scenes of violence become more detailed and more is shown. This is especially true for the rape scene in the mobile home, in the original film this is more implied then it is shown whereas in the rape scene it is shown clearly what is happening. Even the violence in the remake has a higher gore factor than the original film. In the original film when someone is killed, be it cannibal or vacationer, they are killed with minimal blood factor and their death is not prolonged. With the remake the blood factor is exaggerated and the characters are often beaten first. When Doug is in the cannibal’s house, he is being chased by one mutant and has already been severely injured. When this chase scene does finally end with the mutant being murdered, and Doug covered head to toe in blood he still goes on to kill the mutant who is incapable of even moving from his chair. Aja used every opportunity he had to throw in more violence and more blood and the audience is forced to watch it, they aren’t shown short clips of what happened they are given the whole thing, no questions asked.

            These films also vary in their structure. While they both use isolation as a major theme, about half way into the film they both take different routes to show what is happening. In the original film only Doug and the baby survive, the whereabouts of the other Carter’s is left unknown, whereas in the remake Doug and the baby as well as the brother and sister are alive and together at the end of the film. While both these films offer the possibility of a happy ending, these vacationers are still stranded in the desert with the cannibals. The original film also presents the viewer with moral issues. Brenda and Bobby are deviant teens and they need to be punished, they are no longer moral characters according to 1977 standards. Bobby swears and Brenda admits to doing drugs, while they are punished for this behavior in both films they are allowed to survive in the remake. These moral issues are not prevalent in society in 2006 so they aren’t punished with death. They are allowed to survive but they are still being forced to suffer. The beginning of these films is also altered; the original simply gives you a title card as a back-story into what happened where as the remake gives you an entire montage illustrating the past. This traumatic past event, while established in both movies, is more intertwined in the remake of the film than it is with the original. Halfway through the film the remake deviates from what the original laid out, “…the movie flips horror conventions midway through, turning the victims into the aggressors.”(Hartlaub) In modern society people are attracted to films where the underdog rises up and takes control. People watched earlier horror films because it made them feel better about their own lives. With the change in society came people wanting to see themselves in the films. The viewer wants to be able to relate somehow to the character and be shown that they can beat whatever is thrown at them.

            At first glance these films are almost identical, a family gets trapped in the desert with mutated cannibals. But once you get further into the film the viewer can see that while these films stick to the same story and follow relatively the same plot the remake does deviate from the original. Aja did this because society has changed and expectations are different. Movie remakes are almost always guaranteed to immediately have a fan base, because it is something that has already been established as successful. The Hills Have Eyes (1977) and The Hills Have Eyes (2006) are both tailored to the audience they were released to, and because of this there are minor differences in both the story and the way it is shown to the viewer.

Works Cited

Ashlin, Scott. The Hills Have Eyes (1977). 01 04 2013 <www.1000misspenthours.com>.

Berardinelli, James. The Hills Have Eyes. 01 04 2013 <www.reelviews.net>.

Hartlaub, Peter. 'Hills' remake a gruesome, over-the-top thrill ride. 10 03 2006. 02 04 2013 <www.sfgate.com>.

The Hills Have Eyes. Dir. Alexandre Aja. Perf. Ted Levine, Kathleen Quinlan, Dan Byrd. 2006. Fox Searchlight Pictures, 2006. DVD.

The Hills Have Eyes. Dir. Wes Craven. Perf. Suze Lanier-Bramlett, Robert Houston, John Steadman. 1977. Anchor Bay, 2003. DVD.