Thursday, March 30, 2006

The Hills Have Eyes- Not a great time for travelling

Its been a while since the Movie Junkies been at it so the day before Yan and I headed down to TM to catch this gorish flick -The Hills Have Eyes, by Alexandre Aja, a remake of the Wes Craven's 1977 vehicle.

Those who havent seen it, well its about a family who had to fight for their lives while stranded in a blistering desert zone during their vacation. The enemy? Very savage and bloodthirsty family of cannibals, some of which were were born deformed and crazy due to a prior government atomic experiment. The desert itself was a great choice cos the horror stories that really spooks would be those in the desert where you have nowhere to run or hide and its an endless run on unforgiving sand and rock. When you're hunted down almost intelligently by terrifying cannibal mutants, the movie is guaranteed to sear a permanent scar.

I was hesitant to watch it. Having read the script online, i was imagining how sick this movie would be. While I've always been fascinated with serial killers and their motivation (its a mystery how damaged the mind can be if its drawn to necrophilism and cannibalism), I didnt wana feel depressed a day after turning 26 cos getting older was already doing a fine job of making me feel that way.

So Yan had to drag me to watch the flick and in his usual way, prophesise that I would end up liking it as always. Which i did. Its a gritty family yarn on survival where two factions pit against each other. Try transporting that grit to the corporate jungle? (hmm stalking with a machete in my hand, a la Jack Nicholson in The Shining hehe awesome). I think if you really want catch this horror/slasher flicks, its always good to go on a day where you are relaxed and free of worries. Cos if you go in feelin all wired up, it may have an adverse affect where depression descends faster. Imagine watching Texas Chainsaw Massacre or Ted Bundy's lifestory when you're feeling suicidal..sigh.

For the first time, I ordered a hot dog at the counter but they told me they could only deliver it to me 20min later. By then, the movie would have started and to eat a chilli hot dog while watching the movie would be too horrible to contemplate. Arrrgg, no choice, I was already committed to the hot dog.

Luckily for me it arrived during the commercials and I proceeded to munch hurriedly before the movie started. Yan laughed and helped me to finish slightly half of the hot dog when the movie came on. True enough, my hunger pangs dissipated with the first killings.

Gory yes, but I still watch with fascination at the brutality of the plot. That's one of the ironies of watching a horror/slasher movie, even though you're nauseated by it, you still
cant close your eyes.

Sometimes these movies can really scare you off travelling for a while. Movies like Hostel (where the body parts of foreign tourists are sold for high amounts according to their nationalities, you know like..an American head $50,000!) and rumours of urban legend-style killings go around would suddenly make Batam look like Wonderland. Yeah, I know you're probably thinking- babe everywhere else in this world is unsafe, Batam may even be a bomb waiting to explode but if you're gona fear every element, then your unfounded fears would really stunt your horizons. Luckily these feelings will only last briefly before another trip to a gory movie unravels your courage *grin*


“After that, everybody-assumed I must be a terrifying person who lived in a cave. We both tried to make other kinds of films, but we couldn't get any money. They were offering us money to make scary movies, so I went off and made The Hills Have Eyes , and Sean went off and did Friday the 13th "
- Wes Craven

(http://en.thinkexist.com/quotes)

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