The Hills Have Eyes
I just watched the appalling piece of shit that was 'The Hills Have Eyes'. I questioned to myself while I watched this exercise in sheer barbarism, "why am I watching this? What purpose does it serve?"
In one scene, a mutant rapes a screaming woman and proceeds to point a gun at another woman's baby. Then both of these women's mother walks in and another mutant immediately blasts the mother in front of them. Then one of the screaming women, her baby held at gunpoint, has her head blown off in graphic fashion by the merciless mutant. Meanwhile, outside, the father and husband is burned alive, crucified on a tree.
Sick, yes?
Well, more sickening was the 'Making of the Hills Have Eyes'. I must admit to being interested in just how they made the mutants look like they did. Undoubtedly, there was some skilled CGI and make-up effects on display. Alexandre Aja, the director, however proceeds to rationalise this movie: "it's a film about survival, you know." A producer talks about how extreme situations brings out love within a family. Another producer talks about how 'Pluto', a maniacal, enormous lunatic who leeringly jests as he kills with a massive axe, chopping off fingers and threatening babies, is a "sympathetic" character. "He's kind of like a small child in his innocence".
What kind of hooch have these fuckos been smoking? It's not a film about survival as only a couple survive. Pluto, sympathetic? Hardly.
Why is such crap even made? It was like living within a nightmare for 1 hour 40 minutes. Was this the point? Even as far as the film goes, it sucked. The script was nothing more than people screaming. The 'tension' was built up by the usual thing - the horrific image flying past the camera, quickly becoming out of sight, as the prey turns - just to miss it. Worse still though was this horrific exercise in sheer misogyny and sickness. A lingering close up on a head as it explodes after a suicide. Zooming in on an axe burying into the skull of another. Close up of the horror of the young girl as she is raped at gunpoint. And then to rationalise it with this pissweak morality about what the film is 'about' - that, to me, was the most horrifying thing of all. Was the film frightening? No. Was it tense? No. What was it? Visceral, yes. Graphic, yes.
There's this finishing scene where a young mutant girl - a 'good' mutant - gives her life to save the life of one of our heroes. She takes the shotgun wielding maniac out with a rugby tackle and flies off a cliff. If I was to speak like one of the producers, "confined to her life of misery - the social outcast - she makes her sentence absolute."
But did we really need the following scene where she is seen splayed over a rock with blood splashed everywhere?
In one scene, a mutant rapes a screaming woman and proceeds to point a gun at another woman's baby. Then both of these women's mother walks in and another mutant immediately blasts the mother in front of them. Then one of the screaming women, her baby held at gunpoint, has her head blown off in graphic fashion by the merciless mutant. Meanwhile, outside, the father and husband is burned alive, crucified on a tree.
Sick, yes?
Well, more sickening was the 'Making of the Hills Have Eyes'. I must admit to being interested in just how they made the mutants look like they did. Undoubtedly, there was some skilled CGI and make-up effects on display. Alexandre Aja, the director, however proceeds to rationalise this movie: "it's a film about survival, you know." A producer talks about how extreme situations brings out love within a family. Another producer talks about how 'Pluto', a maniacal, enormous lunatic who leeringly jests as he kills with a massive axe, chopping off fingers and threatening babies, is a "sympathetic" character. "He's kind of like a small child in his innocence".
What kind of hooch have these fuckos been smoking? It's not a film about survival as only a couple survive. Pluto, sympathetic? Hardly.
Why is such crap even made? It was like living within a nightmare for 1 hour 40 minutes. Was this the point? Even as far as the film goes, it sucked. The script was nothing more than people screaming. The 'tension' was built up by the usual thing - the horrific image flying past the camera, quickly becoming out of sight, as the prey turns - just to miss it. Worse still though was this horrific exercise in sheer misogyny and sickness. A lingering close up on a head as it explodes after a suicide. Zooming in on an axe burying into the skull of another. Close up of the horror of the young girl as she is raped at gunpoint. And then to rationalise it with this pissweak morality about what the film is 'about' - that, to me, was the most horrifying thing of all. Was the film frightening? No. Was it tense? No. What was it? Visceral, yes. Graphic, yes.
There's this finishing scene where a young mutant girl - a 'good' mutant - gives her life to save the life of one of our heroes. She takes the shotgun wielding maniac out with a rugby tackle and flies off a cliff. If I was to speak like one of the producers, "confined to her life of misery - the social outcast - she makes her sentence absolute."
But did we really need the following scene where she is seen splayed over a rock with blood splashed everywhere?