a review of The Hills Have Eyes

I was honestly expecting a little bit more from this one, given the pedigree. As it is, it feels like kind of a retread of 1974's Texas Chainsaw Massacre, but with the aesthetics of a late 60s/early 70s TV western. The thing that stuck out to me the most was the depiction of the family elders as being more or less wholly to blame for their children's (and grandchild's) predicament, which I could see being either a pointed statement about the domestic political turmoil of the previous decade or maybe just a bit of the zeitgeist sneaking into the movie. But all in all, I'll admit I was kind of bored by this one, even as I was able to appreciate it on a basic level as a straight-up action/suspense yarn with lurid horror elements.