The Hills Have Eyes II – Unrated Edition

R4 DVD

Fox 2007

Released in a 2 DVD set with The Hills have Eyes 2.

Personally I thought it would be difficult to follow on from the sheer brutality of The Hills Have Eyes I and on watching the sequel it seems I was right. While the combination of Wes Craven as the writer and Martin Weisz as the Director creates a suspenseful but not especially subtle sequel, it certainly lacks the look, feel and depth of the first film. Not only is the sequel primarily an action film, but it also lacks a lot of the intelligent sub text which made the first film so notable. It should also be said that while Alexandre Aja was able to give the first film a incredible look through superior cinematography, this seems to have been totally overlooked in the sequel.

A team is sent into Region 16 to install surveillance devices after the disappearance of a family travelling through the region (i.e. the first remake). One of the devices they are installing is damaged by a rat and they order a replacement. At the same time we are introduced to a National Guard squad undertaking a training exercise and failing miserably. They are a motley crew and seem to have more problems that the most dysfunctional family.

When they arrive they cannot find the tech team and things soon go from bad to worse. Their jeep is blown up, their guns are stolen and they find one of the tech team locked in the latrine (literally IN the latrine). The battle lines are soon drawn between the mutants and the squad in a battle for survival. A lot of the action takes place down in the mines and this certainly adds to the suspense, dark, cramped spaces, mutants, a rape and lots of violence certainly creates an action packed experience. At times these sequences remind me of Descent and certainly the claustrophobic mood adds to the experience.

However, there is a real lack of finesse and subtlety in this sequel, even though the first film was extraordinarily violent, there was a certain intelligence to the plot which is missing here. The character development is nowhere near as good and the special effects are quite second rate. When you compare how impressive the mutants looked in the first film, these creatures at times simply look like they are wearing Halloween masks.

There is lots of action and certainly the suspense created works and it offers an enjoyable 90 minute horror romp, but there is nothing especially innovative or creative and it certainly cannot be compared to The Hills Have Eyes I.

A very enjoyable extra was the documentary on The Hill Have Eyes: The Beginning, a graphic novel which has been written to explore the back story before the two films, it looks very impressive and well worth looking out for.

I wouldn’t run out and get this film, however, if you can pick up the dual pack of The Hills Have Eyes I and II at a good price then it is worth watching simply as an action horror film, just don’t expect too much.