Three out of
Five stars
Running time:
89 mins
Well made, nicely acted and inventively gory, The Hills Have Eyes 2 is an enjoyable sequel if you like this sort of thing.
What's it all about?
Films about bloodthirsty mutants are obviously a top priority at Twentieth Century Fox, because the sequel to last year's surprise hit has arrived with indecent haste. This time around, the plot concerns a group of rookie soldiers and their sergeant (Flex Alexander), who are asked to deliver some equipment to a bunch of atomic scientists in the New Mexico desert.
Finding the camp deserted, the rookies are understandably spooked and when they spot something moving up in the hills they foolishly decide to investigate. Soon, our friends the Radioactive Mutants are picking them off in a variety of inventively gory ways – all except the women, whom they need for breeding purposes.
The Good
German director Martin Weisz maintains an extremely tense atmosphere throughout, cunningly ensuring that the first couple of deaths occur off-screen, in order to heighten the suspense. This in turn allows for a gleefully gore-splattered finale, which contains what must surely be a nod to Peter Jackson's early work (Bad Taste, Braindead).
The actors do well to lift their characters above the obvious horror movie cliches, despite the occasional stating-the-obvious line of dialogue such as, They're picking us off one by one! The stand-outs include Jessica Stroup (as feisty blonde Amber), Michael McMilian (as nerdy outcast Napoleon) and Jacob Vargas as the mean-spirited, bullying Crank.
The Bad
The film lacks the subtlety and the cleverness of the first film and the late introduction of a more sympathetic mutant (where was he in the first film?) doesn't really work. Similarly, the unnecessarily graphic opening sequence of the film backfires because it gives a false impression of the film to follow.
Worth seeing?
Minor flaws aside, this is an inventively gory, frequently witty and enjoyable sequel that won't disappoint fans of the first film. Worth seeing.
Film Trailer
The Hills Have Eyes 2 (18)