YMMV / The Hills Have Eyes (2006)

• Anvilicious: Big Brain's "The Reason You Suck" Speech towards the American Government hammers out exactly what Alexandre Aja wants us to think.
• Awesome Music:
  • "Leave the Broken Hearts" by the Finalist, the end credits song.
  • The music that plays when Doug kills Pluto, as well as when he beats the shit out of Lizard can best be described as complete triumph in music form.
• Catharsis Factor: After spending the entire movie's run-time being violent sadists, seeing the mutants get their just deserts at the hands of the very family they put through hell is nothing short of satisfying. Special mention goes to Doug killing Pluto and delivering a No-Holds-Barred Beatdown to Lizard.
• Ensemble Dark Horse: Ugly Cute Token Good Teammate Ruby is only in a few scenes but makes a very powerful impact on the fanbase. Don't believe it? Just take a look at the comments section on the YouTube video of her death scene.
• Faux Symbolism: Doug impaling Pluto with a American Flag through the neck.
• He's Just Hiding: Some people like to think that Ruby survives going over a cliff and that Lizard's body might have cushioned her fall.
• Moral Event Horizon:
  • Lizard crosses it with his invasion of the trailer. He rapes Brenda, kills one of the birds, shoots Lynne and Ethel, and considers shooting Catherine. Easy to say he's probably the most despicable character in the movie by that point.
  • Big Brain ordering Lizard to kill Catherine just to spite Doug for killing Pluto.
• Narm: A brutal scene where a girl is being raped by one of the mutants is undercut by the fact she tries fending off her attacker by whacking him with a pillow. And then the mutant grabs the pillow off her and starts hitting her back. Maybe director doesn't understand that pillow fights are normally just a good bit of fun between couples rather than intensely dramatic affairs?
• Ugly Cute:
  • Ruby, the mutant who protects Doug and Catherine from her mutated family.
  • Venus and Mercury, the two mutant children. The fact that they don't attack Doug and act like normal kids (in contrast to their family) is a bonus.
  • As noted by his actor, Michael Bailey Smith, Pluto almost qualifies, with his simplistic, childlike mindset. Unlike Lizard, hurting Catherine doesn't appear to cross his mind, though raping Brenda certainly does.

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