Aja knows how to layer the creepiness until it's almost too much to bear. The first half hour is rife with building tension, pitting various characters against each other before the real horror strikes, encouraging the viewer to try to predict when things will start going to hell. Fortunately the film stays a couple steps ahead of the audience, making The Hills Have Eyes one of the very rare remakes that stands strong by itself … The Texas Chainsaw Massacre remake being pretty much the exact opposite. The plot is nothing new: family's vehicle breaks down in an isolated place and soon they are beset by unspeakable horrors. What is different here is Aja's sociopolitical commentary, which is both incredibly cynical and quite convoluted. By the end I couldn't tell whether the movie was against the American government, its people, or both, but even so I'd put the film on par with the original Dawn of the Dead for horror flicks that attempt political subtext. The gore is absolutely terrific: a mutant eats a parrot head, then squeezes the body to drink its bloody juice! The expected bloodbath turns out to be exceptionally brutal and horrific, quite above and beyond what needed to be done. It's less and less common for a film to be able to shock with its gore these days, much less substantiate its gore with purpose.
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