HillsHaveEyes2 Tagged Articles at Cinematical

I don't know how many of my horror geek brethren out there enjoyed last year's Hills Have Eyes remake as much as I did, but in a sub-genre filled with mindless chaff like When a Stranger Calls and The Fog, I think it's important to throw some love towards the hardcore horror remakes that aren't afraid to "go extreme" once in a while. (Hey, the pre-teens have their PG-13 "thrillers" to enjoy; let us grown-up gorehounds get a treat every now and then!) So when I heard that Fox Atomic was mounting a "quick turnaround" sequel, I was partially psyched and partially skeptical. And then I visited the Hills 2 set ... and then I watched this brand-new theatrical trailer.

The first flick(s) dealt with a domesticated family that ends up stranded in the middle of a New Mexico desert populated by mega-freaky mutant cannibals. Written by horror-master Wes Craven and his son Jonathan, The Hills Have Eyes 2 subtracts the families, adds a platoon of soldiers and retains all the mega-freaky mutant cannibals. Check out the promo piece and see if this is the kind of horror you dig. The Martin Weisz-directed (and inevitably hard-R rated) flick opens March 23, so you still have a few weeks to decide. (Chicken.) And to those among you who vaguely remember a movie called The Hills Have Eyes Part 2, fear not: This sequel is NOT a remake of that sequel ... thank the lord.

Those gore-soaked knuckleheads over at Bloody-Disgusting.com have had themselves one helluva busy day! First up is some wacky Uwe Boll news: Not only is the German goofball hoping to do a BloodRayne 3 some time soon, but it also looks like Christian Slater has signed on for Alone in the Dark 2. Ha! Take this news with a grain of salt, because Uwe is known for doling out press releases and gossipy tidbits at the drop of a hat -- but he's always good for a laugh, that Bollman.

Next up we got the brand-new trailer for Scott Glosserman's rather excellent Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon, which Anchor Bay will be releasing theatrically in February. The trailer blurbs about nine different critics, but left out the guy who wrote the planet's very first BTM review: Me! :-( Ah well, the movie still rocks. Horror fans should be prepared to fall madly in love with this clever little indie.

THEN we get the very first teaser trailer for Fox Atomic's The Hills Have Eyes 2 over at IGN Movies, which is suitably short, slick and spooky. (This sequel hits on March 9.)

Closing out the horror hijinks is an all-new international poster (also courtesy of IGN) for Eli Roth's Hostel 2 -- which really has to be seen to be believed. Let's just say it's ... meaty. (Hostel 2 now has a release date of June 8, by the way.)

Keep up the great work, o bloody & disgusting ones!

Last month we pointed you towards some footage of Fox Atomic's The Hills Have Eyes 2, and since then we've been treated to an all-new one-sheet (which is pretty cool but nothing too thrilling), but get this: That poster was the second version, one that was slapped together after the MPAA censors refused to approve the initial concept. (I've included a little snip of it on the top-right of this post, but to see the whole thing visit EatMyBrains.com.) And then feel free to compare the first poster with the one that the MPAA censors DID approve. Notice a big difference?

Yeah, the first poster had a human hand hanging out the back of the bag, whereas said hand has been deleted for the censor-approved one-sheet. This teaches us many fascinating things about the MPAA members:

1. They don't like hands.
2. They really have nothing better to do with their time than make stupid and arbitrary decisions about things they couldn't care less about.
3. They're starting to really piss me off, and no, not because of one silly horror poster. Just in general I mean.

Look, it's a horror movie. The hand on the original poster is kinda creepy, whereas the lack of a hand on the censored poster implies, what, that this mutant just might have had to get up early on trash day to lug some garbage down to the corner? Do the oh-so-admirably-concerned censors believe that by removing that hand from the poster they're protecting millions of extra-sensitive children from something?

Or do they just not like/get horror movies, and so they choose to flex their muscle extra hard when the "low-rent genre fare" is concerned? Meh, I know it's such a minor little thing, but I'm known to get irked at tons of minor little things. And here's a question: If this Hills 2 poster was deemed too harsh for multiplex usage, what would the MPAA do with THIS poster if it were submitted today?

First there was Wes Craven's The Hills Have Eyes. And it was good. And then came The Hills Have Eyes Part 2. And it was, by just about every conceivable measure ... not so good. (Like, at all.) Just over two decades later came Alex Aja's rendition of The Hills Have Eyes. And (if it's me you're asking) it was also quite good. So don't act all shocked when you learn that there's a new sequel -- and based on this new teaser clip (and the stuff I saw while on the set), The Hills Have Eyes 2 also looks pretty darn good. Obviously we won't know for sure until the flick hits theaters next March, but hey, we horror geeks are as perpetually optimistic as we are intolerant of crap. So fingers crossed on Hills 2, which was directed by Grimm Love helmer Martin Weisz and stars the likes of Derek Mears, Michael Bailey Smith, Mike McMillian, Jacob Vargas, Jessica Stroup and Daniella Alonso -- both of whom are all sorts of gorgeous.

The sequel's plot centers on a group of National Guard neophytes who trek out into the desert -- only to find a whole bunch of ridiculously and ravenously brutal mutant-type monster-folks inhabiting the area. The "workprint" teaser material does a fine job of whetting a gorehound's appetite, to be sure, but I saw some make-up FX and subterranean gore-splatters that are not included in this footage -- and suffice to say they were pretty darn wild. The Hills Have Eyes 2 opens on March 2nd, and here's some extra good news: The screenplay was written by original Hill-master Wes Craven and his son Jonathan. So at least you know it comes from folks who have a vested interest in keeping the series strong.

Then again, Mr. Craven also wrote and directed that other Hills sequel -- although I seriously doubt he considers it one of his finest works.

By now you've probably heard a little bit about Fox Atomic, the studio's new "youth-friendly" division that promises all sorts of comic books, sequels and remakes for the discerning young entertainment geek. If you head on over to the official Atomic site, say, right now, you'll find your standard trailers, promos, posters and what-not.

But if you head back to the same website on October 31, you'll find it's been overtaken by the Carnival of Lost Souls, which basically means you'll get brand-new access to all sorts of goodies on Atomic's horror slate. Previously unseen materials on Turistas, 28 Weeks Later and The Hills Have Eyes 2 will be yours for the salivating, plus you'll get a lot more info on the (various and numerous) comic book tie-ins for each of these flicks. Interviews, contests, random eye-candy and more will arrive on Halloween, so if horror's your thing (and if you fit into the Atomic demographic, unlike me) you'll definitely want to check out the Carnival on October 31.

Oh yeah, didn't I tell you? They're making sequels to 28 Days Later and The Hills Have Eyes. I could've sworn I mentioned it.