DVD Review: The Hills Have Eyes 2

This is a good example of what horror fans have to put up with. Horror fans all know about the good horror films that get everything firing on all cylinders, from acting, to story, to the all important scares. Horror fans all know about the bad horror films - the ones that are so inept that they wouldn't scare a child and are plagued by a bad story and even worse acting. Then there are films such as The Hills Have Eyes II, which, for my money, does a lot of things right, but is tempered by the presence of some awful dialogue and acting. It has a story that we have seen before, but builds enough tension and delivers enough gore to keep us - or me at least - interested until the inevitable conclusion.

Way back in 1977, Wes Craven delivered a film that would become a cult classic. It was followed by a vastly inferior sequel in 1985. So, it was inevitable that this horror re-make happy climate being cultivated in Hollywood that their dollar sign filled eyes would turn towards these films. The result was the 2006 film helmed by Alexandre Aja, who had proven himself with Haute Tension. The movie actually worked, bringing unease to the big screen. Then came the sequel, that takes the formula used to great effect in James Cameron's Aliens and sucks out everything that made it good, leaving behind just enough to keep the superficiality afloat. Oh yes, it is also not a remake of the original sequel, rather a sequel to the remake, and even then it is by title only. This could have been given a different title and no one would have known the difference.

In a nutshell, you have scientists working on a top secret project, attached by mutants living in the caves, rookie National Guardsmen are sent to investigate, they are attacked, as their numbers dwindle, they must find a way to survive. Sound familiar? It could be used to describe any number of films. If you are going to watch this, you are not going to do it for originality. Despite all of that, it has some nice cinematography, and number of good gore effects. I was also happy with the genuine tension that it built up. Despite the awful acting and the predictability of the plot, I still found the survival horror base to be quite effective.

This time around Aja did not return, instead the directorial reins fell to Martin Weisz, making the jump from music videos to the big screen. He does not bring anywhere near the style that Aja did, but still, it was effective enough for the mediocre script from Wes Craven and his son, Jonathan. Then there is the case of the cast, led by Michael McMillian doing his best impression of Eric Forman (Topher Grace from That 70s Show), they don't bring much to the table other than a series of mutant fodder. I think a good alternate title for this would have been Eric Forman Goes to War.

The Hills Have Eyes II is being released in an unrated form, which runs about a minute longer than the theatrical cut. The only changes that I detected was a little more gore, nothing in the way of character development (ha) or plot (haha). Still, nothing wrong with a bit more guts.

Audio/Video. I cannot give a final say on the tech qualities, the copy I have for review is a burned promo copy. It does not look or sound bad, but I cannot attest to this being exactly the same as what will appear on store shelves when it is released.

Extras. This disk comes complete with a host of extras.

• Alternate Ending. A little different from what ended up being the ending, it is not bad, but I much prefer the chosen ending and the implication that no one made it out alive.
• Deleted Scenes. About 3 minutes spread over 4 scenes, none of which wold have added much. My favorite of the lot is the one called "Missy Wakes Up."
• Gag Reel. 3.5 minutes of cut ups that really aren't all that funny.
• Featurette: "Mutants Attack." A 10 minute look into the mutants, their origins, and the mythology, and the effects design. It includes interviews with cast and crew, including Wes Craven.
• Birth of a Graphic Novel. A look into the graphic novel prequel that was designed for the new series. It is called The Hills Have Eyes: The Beginning, it is not an origin, but a tale before the filmed horrors. This runs north of 12 minutes.
• Featurette: Exploring the Hills - The Making of The Hills Have Eyes 2. This runs for about 13 minutes and has interviews with all the primary cast and crew, and is actually pretty decent, even if there is a lot of backslapping.
• Fox Movie Channel Presents: Life After Film School with Wes Craven. A conversation between Craven and three students on the making of the film. It is pretty interesting. This runs 10 minutes.
• Trailer. We get a trailer for the original remake, but not for the sequel, which had a great teaser.

Bottomline. I liked it, it is no masterpiece, it doesn't even live up to its predecessor, but it still has some tension and nice dose of blood and guts. You could do much, much worse than this. Definitely worth checking out, so long as you keep your expectations in check.

Recommended.