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Arts & Life
The Clarion — April 14,2006
‘The Hills Have Eyes’, but you won’t after watching it
by Matt Rutherford
Arts & Life Editor
The Hills Have Eyes
Directed by Wes Craven
(Universal, 2005)
★ ★
For those of you who don’t
know, the current The Hills Have
Eyes movie is a remaice of the
1977 Wes Craven film, with the
same title of course.
This tongue-in-cheek horror
flick is one of the most predict
able films I’ve seen in a while.
Not because I had already seen
the original, but because this
movie borrows heavily from the
plot of 2003’s Wrong Turn.
You are introduced to a
rather large family. You know the
one with the overbearing mother,
testosterone maddened father,
bitchy Hilton sister, and Paxil
addicted son. This is obviously
done so that you feel loss when
these stereotypes are cornered
and killed with makeup’s finest
monstrosities. Along the way,
the family stops at a rather
sketchy gas station and receives
directions from an even
sketchier gas station attendant.
Just like in Wrong Turn.
Of course, the family takes
the suggested
shortcut and gets
stranded by the
traps of the local
hill mutants. In
Wrong Turn the
same occurs, how
ever, it just hap
pens to be in West
Virginia’s national
forests, as where in
the current The
Hills Have Eyes
takes place in the
desert of New
Mexico.
Something
slightly more inter
esting about this
film is that it is laden
with the theme of,
“Watch out, your
government is mak
ing atomic mon
sters and blowing
things up out west
without you know
ing it.” I’m pretty sure that most
people in the United States are
aware that we have blown up the
desert many a time, and the ef
fects of the radiation can cause
great disfigurement, cancer, and
more than likely, death. But that’s
why we have that lovely televi
sion show The Swan, right?
This is also the biggest
change from Craven’s original
film. In the 2006 version, the
monsters are the result of the
nuclear testing around towns.
These mutants apparently had
to breed in order to survive,
since the nuclear testing in New
Mexico took place July 16,1945,
How’s that for your thought of
the day?
However, in Craven’s film
the monsters were just inbred
families feuding in the desert
and an innocent, yet annoying,
family just happens to get
caught in the middle of it all.
The only minute saving
grace of this film was that the
gore and special effects were
topnotch. There were enough
random scares to make me jump
a few times, and that’s honestly
all I ask from a horror movie.
However, in terms of innovative
plots and character develop
ment this movie is a total flop.
So do not waster your hard
earned work study checks on
this one. Wait until your buddy
who works at Flick or Block
buster can get you a discount
on the rental.
Matt's Take
Pop culture lacking in originality
by Matt Rutherford create is to borrow from prior cre
ations; however, that doesn’t
mean that you have to take an
Arts & Life Editor
Are you feeling as though
you’ve seen it all? Been going
in circles?
Or maybe you’re just one of
those complacent people who
doesn’t even know its morning.
Well, if you are anything like me,
then you’ve noticed that the
media is constantly regurgitat
ing various genres: everything
from rap music to film. Leave it
alone, I say.
Remakes seem to be the hot
ticket for film as of late. King
Kong is a remake of a remake,
which is a tad ridiculous.
Where have all the interest
ing ideas gone? I realize that to
idea that's been done and done
well, and reform it again. At least
let the original take its place in
the greater history of the said
genre before splicing it into
something horrific.
Not that Peter Jackson did
this. I actually thoroughly en
joyed his version of King Kong.
It’s simply the fact that the core
idea was nothing new.
Within music, there are
countless “artists” who think by
sampling another artists’ work
they have some type of vintage
edge that will push them to the
top.
Sadly enough, it does be
cause it gives us that sense of
familiarity. I, on the other hand,
remain unimpressed.
Sampling consists of digi
tally recording acoustic, synthe
sized, or previously recorded
sounds for the purpose of elec
tronically manipulating them
(e.g., changing pitch, changing
timbre, looping them, etc.); some
times in rap and pop music en
tire musical phrases from old al
bums are often implemented and
then synthesized as the basis for
new recordings.
Kanye West is a prime ex
ample of those “artists” who
sample. In his recent song “Dia
monds (From Sierra Leon),”
West samples from Shirley
Bassey’s hit “Diamonds are For
ever” from the old James Bona
films.
I’m not saying that sam
pling is an atrocity, what I am try
ing to convey is that originality
is becoming harder to achieve.
Those artists who aren’t bank
ing on there own sounds, ideas,
and words are the ones who will
be the tastes of the month.
Originality is something that
is difficult to come by, but I think
it would be a wonderful thing if
people could recognize what is
truly new and what is a definite
imitation.