The Hills Have Eyes 2

This article is about the sequel to the 2006 remake. For the sequel to the original 1977 film, see The Hills Have Eyes Part II.
The Hills Have Eyes 2

Theatrical release poster
Directed by Martin Weisz
Produced by Wes Craven
Johnathan Debin
Peter Locke
Written by Wes Craven
Jonathan Craven
Starring Michael McMillian
Jacob Vargas
Flex Alexander
Jessica Stroup
Music by Trevor Morris
Cinematography Sam McCurdy
Edited by Sue Blainey
Kirk M. Mom
Production
company
Distributed by Fox Atomic
Release dates
  • March 23, 2007 (2007-03-23)
Running time
 90 minutes
Country United States
Language English
Budget $15 million[1]
Box office $37.4 million[2]

The Hills Have Eyes 2 is a 2007 American horror film, and the sequel to the 2006 film The Hills Have Eyes which was a remake of the 1977 horror film The Hills Have Eyes. The film follows several U.S. Army National Guardsmen as they fight for survival against the mutant people living in a military base in the New Mexico desert. The Hills Have Eyes 2 was directed by German film director Martin Weisz and written by father and son team Wes and Jonathan Craven.

A graphic novel titled The Hills Have Eyes: The Beginning was published by Fox Atomic Comics to accompany the release of the film; it was released July 3, 2007.

Plot

A captive woman—forced to breed mutant children—gives birth to a stillborn. She is then killed by mutant leader Papa Hades (Michael Bailey Smith) for being unable to provide healthy offspring. Later, scientists working in the New Mexico desert are attacked by Letch.

A group of National Guardsmen in training are sent into the desert to resupply the scientists, who were working for the United States Department of Defense on installing a surveillance system (implied to be a result of the events in the first film). The soldiers arrive to find the camp apparently abandoned, and outside radio contact impossible due to the topography. When the radio operator, Spitter (Eric Edelstein), picks up a faint distress call, the sergeant (Flex Alexander) organizes a search and rescue mission, leaving behind Napoleon (Michael McMillian) and Amber (Jessica Stroup).

The search party discovers the mutilated body of a scientist in the hills, while Amber and Napoleon pull another dying scientist out of the portable toilet. On her way to join the group Amber is attacked by Stabber (Tyrell Kemlo), but a returning Mickey (Reshad Strik) wards him off. Just as Napoleon catches up, Mickey is pulled into a bolt-hole and killed. At the same time, the remaining troops are attacked by Letch, and the sergeant is accidentally killed by Spitter's friendly fire. Napoleon and Amber reunite with the group, and Spitter is killed by an unseen mutant sabotaging his rappelling gear as the others attempt to lower him down the hill. With their remaining gear stolen they are forced to try to find another way down.

The remaining troops soon locate their commanding officer, who has clearly become unhinged from recent events. He warns them of the mutants' plans to capture women for breeding and kill everyone else. He then commits suicide after telling them the only way down the hill is through the mining caves. After the group kills Stabber, Missy is captured and taken into the mining caves by Chameleon. Chameleon attempts to rape her, but Missy fights him off, only to be captured by Hades, who scares Chameleon away and savagely rapes Missy himself. The remaining troops attempt to rescue her, with the exception of Stump (Ben Crowley), who is killed by Letch while attempting to climb down the hill without ropes. After being separated from Crank (Jacob Vargas) and Delmar (Lee Thompson Young), Napoleon and Amber cross paths with Chameleon, who they kill. They later locate a non-violent mutant named Hansel (David Reynolds), while escaping Grabber (Gaspar Szabo). Grabber is killed by Crank after shooting Delmar. After reuniting with Napoleon and Amber, Delmar dies from his wounds, and Hansel leads Napoleon, Amber, and Crank to the exit. Along the way Crank is killed by a trapped crate of dynamite that he attempts to take with him, incidentally triggering an explosion.

After killing Letch, Napoleon and Amber find the captive Missy, and all three fight Hades, who they manage to kill as well. The three leave the mines, but are watched by an unknown mutant using their surveillance equipment.

Cast

Production

The Hills Have Eyes 2 began filming in the summer of 2006 in Ouarzazate, Morocco, where the previous movie was filmed. The alternate title was The Hills Have Eyes 2: The Hills Still Have Eyes.

Writer Wes Craven's initial inspiration for the film came during a casual conversation with producer Peter Locke. Craven envisioned that the previous film's character, Brenda (Emilie de Ravin), traumatized by her suffering during the events of The Hills Have Eyes, joins the National Guard to overcome her fears. Barely finished with basic training, Brenda receives a call from her sergeant, who explains that they are sending a team back to the New Mexico desert to eradicate the remaining mutants. Her sergeant and the team need her, for she is the only one left alive who knows the mutants' location. Because of de Ravin's involvement in the television show Lost, her schedule was unable to accommodate the filming of the sequel. Wes Craven replaced her character, but retained much of the original concept, including the group of National Guard soldiers in training.[3]

A one-minute teaser trailer was released on December 12, 2006. The teaser featured "Insect Eyes," a song by indie folk recording artist Devendra Banhart. In addition to that, a series of clips with an introduction by Wes Craven and a small gallery can be found on the Fox Atomic website. Also on Fox Atomic is a soundless clip of the mutant Grabber attacking Amber. Later on a full length trailer and two clips were released to Yahoo! Movies.

Craven originally looked at Michael J. Bassett, the director of Deathwatch, to take over the directing role, but ultimately chose Martin Weisz after scheduling conflicts with Bassett.

Box office and reception

The Hills Have Eyes 2 was generally panned by critics, garnering an 11% (Rotten) rating from review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes.[4] It grossed $37,405,247 worldwide.[5] The film also grossed over $30 million in domestic DVD sales, for a total of $67,915,885.[6]

Soundtrack

The Hills Have Eyes 2
Film score by Various
Released July 31, 2007
Genre
Length 48:08
Label Bulletproof Records
Various chronology
The Hills Have Eyes The Hills Have Eyes 2

The soundtrack was released on July 31, 2007 via Bulletproof Records.[7]

Track listing (US edition)[8]
  1. "The Hills Have Eyes" – Loudlion
  2. "My Fork in the Road (Your Knife in My Back)" – Atreyu
  3. "Unretrofied" – The Dillinger Escape Plan
  4. "Redemption" – Shadows Fall
  5. "Darkest Nights" – As I Lay Dying
  6. "Hard Rock Hallelujah" – Lordi
  7. "Prayers" – In This Moment
  8. "I Know Hollywood and You Ain't It" – Walls of Jericho
  9. "Throwing Stones" – The End
  10. "Failure in the Flesh – Through the Eyes of the Dead
  11. "Sleeping with the Fishes, See?" – The Number 12 Looks Like You
  12. "Own Little World" (Remorse Code Remix) – Celldweller

References

  1. ↑ Goodman, Dean (2007-03-25). "Four turtles overtake "300" soldiers at box office". Thomson Reuters. Retrieved 2008-08-08.
  2. ↑ "The Hills Have Eyes 2 (2007)". Box Office Mojo.
  3. ↑ Carolyn, Axelle (February 2007). The Hills Have Eyes 2- Military Fright. Fangoria.
  4. ↑ "The Hills Have Eyes 2". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 2007-06-12.
  5. ↑ The Hills Have Eyes 2. BoxOfficeMojo. Accessed 2007-09-12.
  6. ↑
  7. ↑ "Various — The Hills Have Eyes 2 — The Album". Discogs. Retrieved July 17, 2014.
  8. ↑ http://www.soundtrackinfo.com/title/tracks.asp?hillshaveeyes2
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