Horror fans have always had a love-hate relationship with remakes. More often than not, they miss the mark, but the 2006 re-imaging of Wes Craven’s 1977 classic The Hills Have Eyes rivals the original in multiple ways. Horror enthusiasts often hold their favorites close, making the effort to revisit a cult classic a risky undertaking. For every critically praised remake, such as John Carpenter’s The Thing or David Cronenberg’s The Fly, many others leave viewers questioning why the original was altered. When Alexandre Aja’s 2006 remake of The Hills Have Eyes was released, expectations were low for it to measure up to Wes Craven’s 1977 feature. Aja’s take on Craven’s work managed to appease many fans not simply by rehashing the original with simple plot changes, but by offering a more brutal and modern retelling.
By the mid-2000s, self-aware horror slashers of the ’90s, such as Scream and I Know What You Did Last Summer, were falling out of popularity in favor of more gritty and raw films. Movies like Saw and Hostel were making noise, ushering in a new wave of shock and gore-oriented horror. The remake of The Hills Have Eyes arrived at precisely the right time, when horror films and audiences were gravitating towards more brutal depictions. It leaned into the more extreme visuals and storylines that audiences were expecting. The era of meta-commentary and typical tropes was no longer satisfying theater-goers. The era became defined by horror movies that pushed boundaries and tested limits, and The Hills Have Eyes certainly did that.
Wes Craven’s Horror Classic Set the Tone for His Legendary Career
The Hills Have Eyes Followed Up The Last House on the Left
Michael Berryman in Wes Craven’s The Hills Have Eyes.
Image via Blood Relations Company
For longtime horror fans, the name Wes Craven carries enormous weight. Craven’s original film, The Hills Have Eyes, has carved out its own place in the genre thanks to its raw intensity and bold themes. For the era in which it was released, it was shocking and memorable, even if it showed the constraints of its budget. Like much of Craven’s work, it lingered in the minds of horror fans because it tapped into primal fears and dared to push boundaries when mainstream horror played it safer.
Alongside films like The Texas Chain Saw Massacre and The Last House on the Left, it captured a decade of horror cinema that focused on challenging taboos and showcasing human vulnerability. The Hills Have Eyes presented horror as a battle between ordinary people and unrelenting violence.
The Hills Have Eyes was a glimpse into Craven’s future as he would go on to reshape horror history throughout his career with films such as A Nightmare on Elm Street and Scream. By introducing the character of Freddy Krueger in the 1980s, Craven redefined the supernatural possibilities that could be explored within the genre. In the 1990s, as the slasher genre waned, Craven reinvigorated it with the clever deconstruction of horror tropes as seen in Scream. Craven’s fingerprints have helped mold horror in three distinct decades, which very few filmmakers can claim.
With that in mind, The Hills Have Eyes stands as a pillar in his storied career. While perhaps not as culturally recognizable as A Nightmare on Elm Street, it showcased his ability to predict the pulse of what fans were looking for, an ability that would define his career.
Horror films don’t create fear. They release it. – Wes Craven on horror
The 1977 version of The Hills Have Eyes established a strong basis for future projects, though its modest budget prevented it from reaching its full potential. It’s safe to say that all these years later, fans can recognize that Craven’s The Hills Have Eyes is a product of its time. That’s not to say that it wasn’t groundbreaking for the era, but it hasn’t aged as well as some of his other classic works. The villains were memorable, yes, but sometimes came off as a bit campy in retrospect. Like most films, The Hills Have Eyes was not without its critics at the time, with many finding the pacing rough. Despite this, Craven’s willingness to delve into darker territories with the movie set the foundation for a story with the potential to evolve.
Almost 30 years after the debut of the original, Alexandre Aja’s remake would seize the opportunity to refine those rough edges while staying true to the spirit of the original. Remakes can fall short if the proper respect to the source material isn’t paid. This has plagued many adaptations of classics, such as the 2019 re-imaging of Mary Lambert’s Pet Sematary, based on the Stephen King novel.
While Lambert’s film had its flaws, it managed to capture the dread of Stephen King’s work. The 2019 remake took the cheap route of adjusting plot lines for shock value at the expense of the emotional core of the story. In contrast, the remake of The Hills Have Eyes shows what can be accomplished when the filmmakers understand how to remain true to the original while adding aspects of their own vision.
The 2006 Remake Was Respectful to Wes Craven’s Vision
The 1977 Version of The Hills Have Eyes Walked So Its Successor Could Run
A member of the Carter family charges with an axe in the remake of The Hills Have Eyes.
Image via Fox Searchlight Pictures
Horror fans often approach the term remake with skepticism, as it typically suggests a lack of creativity or a studio attempting to cash in on an established fan base. The best remakes succeed by honoring the original while enriching its themes and impact, and Alexandre Aja’s The Hills Have Eyes does that. Wes Craven laid the framework, and Aja expanded on the foundation.
Craven’s film shows audiences the harrowing experience of the Carter family as they find themselves hunted by a band of brutal cannibals. It flipped the script on the dynamic of predator and prey, highlighting the fragility of society in the face of extreme violence. The premise is terrifying, but due to the time and the budget, the true horror of the situation couldn’t be fully realized.
Alexandre Aja took the bones of Craven’s story and added the horrific texture needed to paint the original premise in its full, brutal scope. The original idea is still very much intact, but amplified by a larger budget and the era of extreme horror movies in which it was created. As stated, the early to mid-2000s were a time for more heinous depictions of horror, and The Hills Have Eyes capitalized on that.
The Carter family remained at the center of Aja’s remake, with the characters being a bit more developed. This allows audiences to connect to the characters, making the terrible circumstances they face hit much harder. Fans were able to be fearful of the mutants, but also invested in the potential survival of some of the members of the Carter family.
Doing The Hills Have Eyes was a big challenge, yes, but also it was a potentially good remake to do, because it was possible to improve the subject, to go further with it and do something really extraordinary and different from the original. – Alexandre Aja on remaking The Hills Have Eyes
Perhaps Aja’s most potent contribution to the remake came in the re-imagining of the villains. In Craven’s version, the antagonists were depicted as monstrous, desert dwellers, partly based on the legend of Sawney Bean. Sawney Bean is a legendary Scottish figure, rumored to have led a clan of cannibals in the 15th or 16th century. Aja shifted the villain’s dynamic by explaining that they were victims of nuclear testing during the Cold War, leaving them twisted but also with a hint of a tragic past. The villains are visually more monstrous and menacing, leading to excessive violence that truly puts the Carter family’s dire situation in context.
What makes the 2006 remake so impressive is that none of these changes betray Craven’s original. If anything, Aja’s additions strengthen the ideas of Craven’s The Hills Have Eyes. Nearly every creative decision by Aja built upon Craven’s framework. Craven had an understanding of what unsettled audiences, and Aja’s remake simply updates the anxieties of the new millennium. The remake’s intense violence, moral complexity, and constant tension capture moods that resonated with an audience that was aware of the dangers of unpredictable brutality. In a world filled with bad remakes, the 2006 version of The Hills Have Eyes shows filmmakers how it should be done.
The Remake of The Hills Have Eyes Understood the Original
Wes Craven Gave Future Filmmakers the Ingredients
A survivor aims a baseball bat at a mutant in The Hills Have Eyes.
Image via Fox Searchlight Pictures
Wes Craven’s The Hills Have Eyes provided a horror blueprint, rooted in human fear, for Alexandre Aja to build upon three decades later. Craven’s original influence is present in the tone of the remake. Aja’s film mirrors his signature style of intertwining horror with social commentary, showcasing that a lot of the terror lies beneath the surface. The re-imagining proves just how relevant horror remains across generations. The fears of the audience of the original are still present, only translated to horror fans in the 2000s.
The 2006 remake of The Hills Have Eyes remains terrifying while honoring the legacy of its predecessor, a rare feat for adaptations of classics. Typically, re-imaginings rely too much on nostalgia or shock value, leaving audiences annoyed and the film feeling hollow. For many, Aja’s The Hills Have Eyes is a benchmark for what a remake should be and what it can accomplish by expanding on the ideas of the source material.