Reviews: The Hills Have Eyes II (2007) Movie Review / Ending Explained / FAQs
Genres: Horror, Thriller, Action
Subgenres: Gore, Survival, War, Cannibalism, Mutants
HellHorror’s review of The Hills Have Eyes II (2007) breaks down the plot, scares, cast performances, and its lasting impact on the horror genre.
The Hills Have Eyes 2 (2007) – A Brutal Desert Sequel That Doubles Down on Gore and Survival
The Hills Have Eyes 2 (2007) serves as a follow-up to the gritty 2006 remake of the original Wes Craven classic. Directed by Martin Weisz and written by Wes Craven and his son Jonathan, the sequel takes a more action-focused route while keeping the core elements of backwoods brutality and relentless survival intact. This time, instead of a stranded family, the victims are a squad of National Guard trainees who find themselves in the mutants’ deadly territory during a routine supply mission.
Set against a bleak, sun-scorched military test site, the film trades subtlety for chaos, offering an adrenaline-fueled horror experience that leans heavily into its violence, intensity, and twisted desert warfare.
Plot, Themes, and Character Development
The story kicks off with a National Guard unit sent to deliver supplies to a remote outpost in the New Mexico desert. When they arrive, the base is deserted—eerily quiet and unsettling. Shortly after, they are attacked by a hidden group of mutated, deformed residents who have been living in the surrounding hills, the result of past nuclear testing.
Cut off from the outside world and lacking real combat experience, the squad must band together to survive. As they are picked off one by one, the group descends into panic, forcing the remaining soldiers to face both the horrors around them and their own untested resolve.
Key Themes Explored:
Man vs. mutation in an unforgiving landscape
Loss of innocence under extreme pressure
Isolation as a catalyst for fear and desperation
The brutal cost of military experimentation
Survival as both instinct and transformation
While character development takes a backseat to action and carnage, a few soldiers do undergo arcs—from nervous recruits to hardened survivors. The theme of survival-of-the-fittest is strong, though largely delivered through relentless attacks and grim set pieces rather than introspective dialogue.
Acting, Cinematography, and Direction
The performances in The Hills Have Eyes 2 are functional, with the cast portraying a range of soldiers-in-training thrown into a waking nightmare. Though the film doesn’t offer deep emotional moments, the actors bring enough fear and urgency to sell the chaos.
Visually, the film thrives on claustrophobic desert settings, dark tunnels, and desolate outposts. The cinematography captures the vast, unforgiving terrain with dusty, sunburnt tones while quickly shifting to tight, frantic sequences during attacks. The mutants—grotesquely disfigured from radiation—are shot in harsh lighting, emphasizing their primal appearance and making each encounter jarring and intense.
Director Martin Weisz focuses on pacing and shock value. The film wastes little time on setup and dives straight into survival horror with military grit. While not as psychologically grounded as its predecessor, it delivers for fans seeking pure action-horror with a gruesome twist.
Directing Style, Strengths, and Weaknesses
Weisz takes a fast-and-hard approach, keeping the momentum high and tension constant. Where the first film built dread slowly, this one erupts into chaos early and rarely lets up.
Strengths:
High-octane action and sustained tension
Mutant designs that push the horror envelope
Brutal kill sequences that genre fans will appreciate
Dusty desert locations that feel isolating and oppressive
Relentless pacing that never lingers too long
Weaknesses:
Shallow character development
Predictable plot progression
Less psychological depth than its predecessor
Heavy focus on gore over suspense
Mutants lack individual identity or motivation
Final Verdict & Score: 5/10
The Hills Have Eyes 2 (2007) is a fast-paced, ultra-violent sequel that delivers raw horror thrills but sacrifices depth in the process. It appeals most to viewers who want action and gore without waiting for buildup. While it doesn’t match the tension or emotional resonance of the 2006 remake, it holds its own as a savage survival horror film filled with desert dread and relentless assaults.
Who Will Enjoy It:
Fans of high-intensity survival horror
Viewers who enjoy militarized action mixed with horror
Audiences seeking relentless pacing and brutal encounters
Genre fans who liked the 2006 remake’s graphic violence
Who Might Be Disappointed:
Those expecting layered characters or emotional arcs
Fans looking for psychological suspense over shock horror
Viewers uncomfortable with graphic or aggressive content
Audiences hoping for a deeper connection to the original film’s lore
Top FAQs About The Hills Have Eyes 2 (2007)
What is The Hills Have Eyes 2 (2007) about?
The film follows a group of National Guard trainees who stumble into the territory of mutated cannibalistic survivors during a supply run to a remote desert base. Unprepared for real combat, the squad is ambushed, hunted, and forced to fight for their lives in an environment filled with booby traps, dark tunnels, and relentless predators.
Are the mutants in The Hills Have Eyes 2 the same from the first movie?
The sequel introduces a new group of mutants. While they exist in the same irradiated region and share similar deformities and brutality, this film focuses on a different hill-dwelling clan. The new mutants are more physically imposing, often ambushing their victims using the cave system beneath the base.
Where does The Hills Have Eyes 2 take place?
The story is set in a fictional desert location within New Mexico, near a former nuclear testing site. The desolate landscape, extreme heat, and abandoned military outposts add to the isolation and tension. Much of the action occurs in underground mines and hidden tunnels.
Is The Hills Have Eyes 2 connected to the original 1977 version?
This sequel is part of the rebooted timeline that began with the 2006 remake. It does not directly connect to the 1977 original’s sequel. Instead, it builds on the modern reimagining by continuing the story in the same radioactive wasteland but with a new cast and a fresh survival scenario.
Is the movie based on real events?
No. While inspired loosely by legends of wild, isolated communities (like the Sawney Bean myth), The Hills Have Eyes 2 is entirely fictional. It uses the idea of hidden horrors within America’s forgotten lands as a backdrop for horror.
How does The Hills Have Eyes 2 differ from the first remake?
The first film focused on a civilian family caught off-guard. This sequel centers on military trainees, giving the film a more combat-oriented and aggressive tone. While the original remake leaned heavily on suspense and dread, this one opts for nonstop action and physical confrontation.
Are there any survivors at the end of The Hills Have Eyes 2?
Yes, but the final body count is high. Only a few soldiers survive the carnage, and their journey to escape is marked by brutal encounters and heavy losses. The survivors manage to overcome the final threats using strategy and teamwork.
The Hills Have Eyes 2 (2007) – Ending Explained
As the surviving members of the National Guard unit fight their way through the tunnels, they are forced into a final confrontation with the largest and most vicious mutant. Using improvised weapons and raw determination, they manage to kill the last major threat in a brutal hand-to-hand battle.
The survivors emerge from the underground system, bloodied but alive, and reach a communications tower. Before the film ends, a final shot reveals a hidden camera watching them—hinting that the horrors of this desert aren’t entirely over and that someone, or something, is still observing from the shadows.
The ending reinforces the franchise’s core message: survival is temporary, and in this forgotten wasteland, the true threat may be bigger than anyone realizes.
Key Ending Themes:
Survival through unity and adaptation
Military strength tested against unpredictable horrors
The lingering presence of evil in abandoned places
Warning against unchecked scientific and governmental experiments
The illusion of safety in a still-monitored world
Sources Used to Shape This Review
Insights in this review are drawn from director interviews, fan commentary, production notes, and long-form breakdowns across genre-specific platforms. Content is written uniquely and reviewed for accuracy.
- The Hills Have Eyes II Rating Scores
- Our Score: 5/10
- Overall Score: 3.81/10
- IMDB: 5.1/10
- MetaCritic: 3.2/10
- Rotten Tomatoes: 1.2/10
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