Independent Study 1st Draft

“Were not alone, there is something living in the hills”[1]
To what extent is “The Hills Have Eyes” (2006) a typical horror film?

According to Steve Neale the word typical represents the “repertoire of elements”[2]. The repertoire of elements refers to themes and conventions which are repeated in a certain genre. The horror genre has many conventions that stand out that have been recognised as key aspects of the horror genre, things such as “The Final Girl”[3] and “Evil Entity”. Many contemporary horror films have been accused of borrowing elements from other genres of film; this is known as “hybridity. These films are called hybrid films as they are two or more genres mixed together. Richard Maltby states “Genre is not fixed” [4] this suggests that genre is not based on recurring elements but based on the zeitgeist, the spirit of the age. The hills have eyes shows some of the conventions of a typical horror film but it has also borrowed many element from other genres of film, so can it still be classed as a horror? Or a hybrid genre?

The word genre is a French word meaning “type”, the concept of genre has been used since the ancient Greek times when plays were grouped into different categories such as “tragedies” and “comedies”, this was done so audiences would be able to recognise which type of play they wanted to see depending on the mood they was in. Many theorists dispute their ideas about genre conventions and recurring elements in films; Phillips argues that “the audience demand for predictability”[5] this suggests that the recurring elements are needed and are essential in films, this would mean that for a film to be effective it would have to follow the conventions of its genre as it is what the audience want to see. On the other hand some theorists argue that “genre is not fixed”,[6] Neale suggests that “difference is absolutely essential to the economy of genre”[7], he added “if each text within a genre were, literally, the same, there would simply not be enough difference to generate either meaning or pleasure[8]”. This quote suggests that difference is needed to attract audiences because if films were the same as previous films it would be too similar to generate the pleasures which the audience consume from films. The key to a effective film is to take both sides of the argument into consideration, audiences do need the elements of a genre to be in the film as it does make the genre of film clear to the audience, but there also has to be a sense of something new to keep the audience engaged and not feeling as if they have seen this before. To fuse the typical genre elements with some difference would create a effective film, this would mean that the film still shows the typical conventions of a film of that genre but with the difference, this would allow the film to still come under a certain genre as it follows the conventions of the genre but it will have some variance which make it less repetitive and more effective.

A genre of film is recognisable to its audience by the use of recurring elements also known as the “repertoire of elements[9]”, these elements are clear in every genre of film. These elements of film can be the scene or setting, it can also be identified by the props used, often the films would have a character whose role is similar to a character in another film of the genre, also the genre of film may contain a similar narrative or storyline. In horror films the key settings would be dark places with a gothic feel to it, the types of props used would be knives, masks also the horror film would contain large amounts of blood. In terms of similar characters a key character which has come up in horror films is known as “the final girl[10]”. The final girl is the name given to the last surviving female character in horror films, this character has been seen in films such as “Scream”(1996), “Halloween”(1978), Friday the 13th (1980) and many more. The final girl is typically a virgin[11] or sexually unavailable[12] the character itself normally shares some history with the killer of the film, for example in “Halloween H20” (1998) the final girl’s relationship to the killer is that she is the killer’s sister. The typical narrative that is key to horror films is the good vs. Evil storyline also known as binary opposition[13]. The storyline will be about a set of good characters fighting against the bad character, the evil character would normally be at a disadvantage because of the number of good characters, but this disadvantage is used to amplify the power of the evil character.

The horror genre could be said to be arguably one of the most popular genres of film in Hollywood, Wood states “the horror film has consistently been on of the most popular and, at the same time the most disreputable of Hollywood genres[14]”, this quote shows that horror from its beginning has been notorious amongst the film genres. The reason for the genres popularity is due to many things, one of the main reasons is because a horror movie offers its audience something that films from other genres cannot, the horror genre allows the audience to enjoy the thoughts which the mind oppresses, it allows the audience to be something which they normally wouldn’t, Wood suggests “one might say that the true subject of the horror genre is the struggle for recognition of all that our civilisation represses and oppresses[15]” this quote suggests that the main subject for horror is about the struggle for recognition that the audience feel when watching a horror. The horror genre plays on the on its audiences life and is allowing them to relate to the characters in the film, the genre confronts its audiences with ideas which they are not used to and often object, the horror movie aims to target the publics fears and nightmares and show them that in the film.

One of the other aspects which is important to the horror genre is the way in which it uses realism and reality. Many theorists and authors have stated that the reason why the horror genre is so effective is because of how it uses realism in movies such as “Scream” (1996). Scream is based on a serial killer who is tormenting a group of teenagers, the settings in the film show this aspect of realism, the settings show classrooms, schools, college parties, all things which would be associated with the life of teenagers, this makes the film more realistic because the audience who would watch this film would be able to relate with the film therefore putting themselves in the places of the characters in the film which in turn leads to them being scared which fulfils the purpose of the horror genre. In the book “Monster Movies” (1995) Murphy states “horrors never never land is bearable because it is so entirely rational[16]” this supports the idea that horrors key point is to be realistic as the quote says that horror has to be rational. Realism plays an important part in the horror genre, and because of this “The Hills Have Eyes” (2006) can be accused of not being a true horror film, the film is based in a desert which is not realistic also the villains of the films are mutants that have been effected by nuclear bombs which have been tested in the area. The film does not show the realism which is seen in other films of the horror genre.

The genre of “The Hills Have Eyes” has been classed as horror, but after viewing the film the viewer will notice that the main villains are mutants, and the plot involves a disaster struck by nuclear bombs both of these aspects give the film a sci-fi feel to it. “The Hills Have Eyes” could be said to be a hybrid genre of horror and sci-fi, this combination of genre has been made before, films such as “Frankenstein” (1910) was also a hybrid genre of sci-fi and horror, the film meets the science aspect because it is about a scientist who creates a living person, the horror aspect is made because the scientist makes a monster who terrorises people. The fact that this film was a hybrid genre supports the idea that the genre is based on the zeitgeist; this is because at the time of “Frankenstein” the world was obsessed with science and technology and therefore this was shown even in the horror genre, this supports the idea that the main influence of genre is what is happening in the social world.

Another factor of the genre which is based on the spirit of the age is within the representation of women. Women in horror films have been portrayed in different ways through the ages, the common representation of women is that they are shown to be weak and inferior to the male characters, they are shown to be incapable of looking after themselves. Smith argued that “The role of women in a film almost always revolves around her physical attraction and the mating games she plays with the male character[17]” this quote suggests that the role of women in films is not of a real character, they are only there to engage with the male character and look good which links to the “Male Gaze[18]”. When looking at the representation of women a comparison has to be made about the representation through the ages, after looking at the original of “The Hills Have Eyes” (1977) there was some noticeable differences between the original text and the more contemporary text. One of the most interesting changes that was noticed was how women were shown as being stronger in the original film and weaker in the modern film, this was interesting because at the time of the original film women’s rights had not fully been acknowledged by society, women were still seen as being housewives and mothers and the idea of them being shown as strong wouldn’t have been accepted by the audience. In the 1977 version of the film the female characters put up a fight against the mutants but in the more contemporary film they are seen as being passive and just let the violence happen.

One of the possible reasons for this representation could be down to the rise of feminist movement, because of the controversy that was going on at the time the writers and directors may have thought it was a good idea to show women being shown as strong otherwise the film would have been accused of following the patriarchal society and not allowing women to be shown as strong. Another reason why the representation for the 70s version to show women as strong is because of who the film was aimed at, theorists argue that the main reason why genre itself changes is due to either the change in society or the change in the target audience, this is what may have caused the change in the representation of women. Horror movies were likely to be seen by university students of both genders equally this may be the reason why in the original film the women are seen to be stronger because the films were being watched by men and women and women would like to see the character that they associate with being able to defend themselves. This idea would explain why in the modern version of the film the female character is seen to be weaker; the film is aimed more at men then both genders and because of this reason they represent women in the way that the male audience would like to see them therefore the female characters are easily manipulated and less powerful then males. Another reason for the representation in the original film could be because of the actual scene itself, the female characters are trying to save the child which shows their nurturing mother side which would have been a common view of women at the time and the reason for not including it in the new version of the film is because maybe that view of women isn’t as common as it was before due the rise of the new man and women working.

Often horror films show current issues which are affecting society, in “The Hills Have Eyes” the story line features issues about war and nuclear weapons this is because of the war which is going on in society, the violence and brutality which is shown in the film can often be meant to show the brutality of war. This idea can be supported because of the introduction of the film, the film starts with a explosion going off and witting explaining the effects of nuclear weapons this was done because at the time that the film was being made there wars going on and the film is supposed to provide a moral panic to its audiences. Another text in which a similar technique was used was “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre” (2003) this film like “The Hills Have Eyes” was a remake to an original film, the film was originally made when America was at war and was remade because of the war, the film was remade when America was at war with Iraq. The chaos and the brutality shown in the film represents the consequences of war. This point supports the idea that films are based on the zeitgeist more then generic conventions as both “The Hills Have Eyes” and “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre” have adopted current issues in their films which shows the more important factor in a film is to reflect the state of society.

From the beginning of the film the directors make it clear that the film has a story line to do with government wars and nuclear weapons. The film expresses the problem by having the main story line to with the mutants who survived the atomic bombs but have been deformed due to the weapons this is similar to what happened in reality with the war in Vietnam as the people who lived around the area were born deformed because of the effects of the nuclear power. The film sets off to inform its audience about the effect of the war, by using the mutants as the villains it shows how wars can damage peoples lives and how the effects will be worse as the mutants in the film are set on killing the group of humans. The audience is shown the extent of the effects of war due to deformation of the villains, in the beginning of the film in the introduction pictures of the mutants are shown to emphasise the effects of war and the extreme conditions of the survivors, images show babies being born with oversized heads, also two babies joined by the head these images are shown to show the severe consequences of war.

There are many factors which make the genre of “The Hills Have Eyes” arguable; the first was mentioned previously, horror films have always been about realism “horror genre exists alongside the conventions of realism[19]”, since the early films such as “Halloween” (1978) and “Psycho” (1960) the horror genre has always based its scenes and story line around being realistic. “The Hills Have Eyes” can be said to be unrealistic, the setting of the desert makes it hard for audiences to relate to the characters as the majority of the audience would have never been to a desert. The fact that the main villains are mutants who survived atomic bombs is also unrealistic for this reason it makes it arguable if the film follows basic horror conventions. However one side of the argument could be that this realism of the genre has become to repetitive and giving the film something new allows its audience to have new uses and gratifications of the text. However there is evidence to support the idea that the film is a typical horror, the first piece of evidence is the use of the final girl. The final girl is present in the “The Hills Have Eyes” and she does follow the regular conventions of the final girl with being sexually unavailable, but she doesn’t fully follow the role. The final girl normally has a history with the killer as seen in movies such as “Scream” and “Halloween H20” but in “The Hills Have Eyes” final girl doesn’t have any history with the mutants she is a random victim which challenges the idea of the final girl. Also another aspect of the final girl role which is not met in this film is that normally the final girl is the last surviving character but in “The Hills Have Eyes” she is not the only character which survives, along with her 2 other character survive.

“The Hills Have Eyes” meets some of the “repertoire of elements[20]” which is mentioned and is key to the horror genre but like the final girl it follows the role differently, the film offers thrills and fright as every other horror film does, the villains also conform in a way that the typical killer would in the slasher genre, the film also features use of blood and violence which is also recognisable as being apart of the horror genre. Genre was seen to be made up of key elements which would allow its audiences to recognise the genre but as seen with films such as “Frankenstein” often genre can adapt to show social changes in a film. To sum up “The Hills Have Eyes” is a typical horror film which included the key elements of the genre in the film, however the film is not just made up of the typical elements the film has been effected by the zeitgeist. The film has found a way to include the conventions of horror but adds a difference which has been impacted by the spirit of the age, by breaking away from the typical elements the film has been able to avoid repetition and become more effective which has lead to audiences being more satisfied.

Word count: 3,044


[1] “ The Hills Have Eyes” (2006)
[2] Steve Neale (2002), Genre and Contemporary Hollywood
[3] Carol Clover(1992), Men, Women, and Chainsaws: Gender in the Modern Horror Film
[4] Richard Maltby(2003), Hollywood Cinema
[5] Patrick Phillips (1996) Understanding Film Texts
[6] Richard Maltby(2003), Hollywood Cinema
[7] Steve Neale (1980) Introduction
[8] Steve Neale (1980) Introduction
[9] Steve Neale (2002), Genre and Contemporary Hollywood
[10] Carol Clover(1992), Men, Women, and Chainsaws: Gender in the Modern Horror Film
[11] Carol Clover(1992), Men, Women, and Chainsaws: Gender in the Modern Horror Film
[12] http://www.screams-of-terror.com/finalgirl.asp
[13] Claude Levi-Strauss
[14] Wood (1979): introduction
[15] Wood (1979): introduction
[16] Brian Murphy (1995) : Monster Movies
[17] Sharon Smith (1972): Women and Film
[18] Laura Mulvey (1975): Visual pleasure and narrative cinema
[19] Carol Clover(1992), Men, Women, and Chainsaws: Gender in the Modern Horror Film
[20] Steve Neale (2002), Genre and Contemporary Hollywood