The Hills Have Eyes- But I Wish I Didn't

This movie may be one of the extremely gruesome movie's that I can actually deal with. Not only is this movie better than the 1977 remake, but I find the gore more bearable.

In 2006 director and writer Alexandre Aja released a remake of the 1977 movie which was directed by Wes Craven (one of the best horror directors/writers ever. And yes, it is probably because the original came out in 1977, but this remake was actually better. "A suburban American family is being stalked by a group of psychotic people who live in the desert, far away from civilization." (imdb.com) Although, I disagree with the use of "psychotic" in the description (they're mutants... not retards) , I feel as though this is able to sum up the movie without an overuse of adjectives, unlike other synopsizes I stumbled across earlier.

Pros:
-Gruesome works.
Without all of the gore, I feel like this movie would be just a bunch of people running around a desert trying to escape a mutant-filled area....and that's just plain boring.
-Cool idea
The story idea was a good one for a horror movie, not a single-slasher movie, where there is one bad guy... instead there is a full town!

Cons:
-There's always some form of sex.
Rape...really? It was not necessary. AT ALL. It was just a time filler and I guess it was something to make horny guys watch? I'm not quite sure though.
-Scenes seem repetitive.
It may be just me but I feel like scenes are repeated a lot throughout the movie, and that most scenes are very similar if not exactly the same.
-....Derp.
So, this movie takes place in a desert that has been abandoned for multiple years, maybe even decades, because of an explosion, and radiation etc., BUT, somehow anyone can drive near it, or get out of it... how unrealistic.
-Questionable.
I question why some actions took place in this movie, but for fear I might give away something, I will keep what it is to myself, but I guess an overall characteristic is UNREALISTIC actions.
 -Characters.
You really don't like the characters. That's a problem, because instead of screaming in fear, you're cheering along with the bad guys saying, "YEAH! Rip his head off!"

Overall, this movie was lacking in certain areas but was able to pull it together to make a descent remake.

RATING: 7.9/10

"The film is intelligent and aware, if utterly gross, and on a technical level it's first-rate."
-Frank Lovece, Film Journal International 

Sorry this was a shorter review, I hope to add more to it soon.