Film Forum

Episode Recap

Episode 10

3/14/06

Films Reviewed: The Hills Have Eyes (2006) and The Shaggy Dog (2006)

Commentary: Going to the dogs. 

Featurette: The animal training behind The Shaggy Dog

Regarding The Hills Have Eyes:

Matt: Remaking Wes Craven’s 1977 “cult classic” may have been dictated by box office, but was it really necessary?  I didn’t think so.  But the characters here were smarter than your average horror film.  It just wasn’t all that scary, but horror fans should like it.  Two stars.

Aron: No, the film wasn’t scary at all.  In fact, this movie was made a few years ago when it was called Wrong Turn, which substituted inbred humans for nuclear mutated humans.  The film goes from light to dark (literally) and was a complete waste of my time.  One star.

Average Rating: *1/2 (out of ****)

Regarding The Shaggy Dog:

Aron: I loved the original 1959 classic.  This movie is not the original.  But I was pleasantly surprised.  The film doesn’t go for the low humor jokes, which is nice.  But there really wasn’t anything wrong with the 1959 film nor its 1976 sequel.  Two stars.

Matt: I liked the original film and its sequel.  Surprisingly, I thought this movie worked very well.  Tim Allen makes a great title character, voice over wise.  The film has things to stay about standing up for what you believe in and doesn’t hammer the cruelty to animals message too hard.  Three stars.

Average Rating: **1/2 (out of ****)

Note: This is the first time Aron has given a lower star review than Matt for both films reviewed on any episode on Film Forum.

Commentary: Since we reviewed The Shaggy Dog earlier in the show, we took a few minutes to talk about our favorite movie dogs, including dogs from the 1930s (Asta and Toto) to today (the terrier in Best in Show and the title characters of Eight Below)

Featurette: The animal training behind The Shaggy Dog.  The title character was played by an English Sheepdog named Cole, who really steals the film.