The Hills Have Eyes (2006)

The American horror film, The Hills Have Eyes (2006), marks the English-language debut of both director Alexandre Aja and co-writer Grégory Levasseur. This remake of Wes Craven’s 1977 original follows retired detective Bob Carter and his wife Ethel as they journey from Cleveland to San Diego for their silver wedding anniversary. They are accompanied by their three children (Lynn, Brenda, and Bobby), Lynn’s husband Doug and their baby daughter Catherine, as well as their two German Shepherds named Beauty and Beast. During a stop at a gas station, the attendant suggests an alternate route through the hills to save them time. However, things take a dark turn when their truck and trailer crash due to a hidden spike strip on the road. As Bob and Doug search for help in opposite directions, the rest of the family remains by the trailer. But when Beauty escapes and Bobby goes after her into the hills, he makes a gruesome discovery.

Horrified, he rushes back to the trailer but tumbles down the hill, rendering himself unconscious. A kind-hearted girl named Ruby protects him from her brother Goggle. Meanwhile, Bob returns to the gas station and finds newspaper clippings detailing disappearances in the area after nuclear testing by the US government at a mining town that resulted in mutants. He also discovers a bag of presumed stolen belongings from missing victims. Confronting the attendant, he is met with the tragic sight of his suicide. Trying to escape in an abandoned car, Bob is interrupted by Papa Jupiter. On the other hand, as Bobby is discovered by Brenda, Doug returns from his journey towards the interstate, where he stumbled upon a huge crater filled with abandoned vehicles and possessions. Fleeing from Papa Jupiter’s pursuit, Bobby reveals his story to Doug and Lynn, while Pluto and Lizard infiltrate their trailer.