A remake's sequel remade

DVD: The Hills Have Eyes 2 Unrated

Genre: Horror, remake, mutants, bad horror movies
DVD released: July 17, 2007
Director: Martin Weisz
Cast: Michael McMillian, Jessica Stroup, Daniella Alonso, Jacob Vargas, Flex Alexander, Lee Thompson Young, Eric Edelstein
Verdict: &1/2

Is it a sequel, a remake or both? Turns out the original The Hills Have Eyes also had a sequel, The Hills Have Eyes Part 2, released in 1984 and directed by Wes Craven. Its storyline, however, involving bikers, bears no resemblance to this pointless addition to the Hills filmography, on which Wes Craven and Jonathan Craven share producer and screen-writing credits. Here we have a cast of unlikable National Guard members probing the same rocky desert of Sector 16 as the doomed family of the far more watchable 2006 movie, reviewed here. Early on, there are a few decent moments of anticipation as this green bunch gets split apart, loses its bearings and becomes vulnerable to the inevitable (one in particular while seated in a portable potty). The first kill is the best, with a cocky member of the crew getting pulled through a tiny cave opening in a scene that might make you squirm. From there, it's terribly predictable and never engaging, and the viewer wonders why anyone with nothing fresh to add wants to rehash this same kill-'em-off scenario again and again. // DVD NOTES // Extras include a handful of deleted scenes, an alternate ending, several featurettes, a Fox Movie Channel special and a slight gag reel, which was the only one of the extras for which I could muster any interest. The unrated cut is, of course, more graphic than the theatrical cut.