PALMIOTTI & GRAY ON THE HILLS HAVE EYES: THE BEGINNING

[MattBrady]

Back in 1977, when a large chunk of today’s genre fans were signing their souls over to George Lucas and Star Wars, horror fans were doing something else entirely. Back then, a then-newbie filmmaker named Wes Craven had released his second feature, The Hills Have Eyes. The quick and dirty of Hills - nuclear fallout from the original atomic tests had resulted in survivors in a small down in the desert hills being horribly mutated…wait for it…cannibals.

Add in the requisite family breaking down in the middle of the barren desert near where these critters live (and that weird bald guy with the bug eyes who would later be in Weird Science - no, not the lead singer of Midnight Oil, that’s just a freaky coincidence that they look the same), and you’ve got a horror movie.

In 2006, Fox remade Hills for a new generation. On March 23rd, The Hills Have Eyes 2 opens.

And in July, Jimmy Palmiotti, Justin Gray and John Higgins take it back to the start for Fox Atomic, with the 112 page full color, The Hills Have Eyes: The Beginning. While the release of the graphic novel may be a little ways off, we caught up with Palmiotti and Gray anyway, and got a peek at the art by Higgins.

Newsarama: What got you guys on to this project in particular? You've got a wide-open field...why'd you land here?

Jimmy Palmiotti: We were approached by Eric Lieb at Fox Atomic Comics about the book because he knew were both horror fans, were familiar with the material and he enjoyed our work on Jonah Hex and a number of other titles. He also knew we would turn in a story that would smoothly tie with the movies. Eric knew were working on film and TV properties and thought it was a good fit since we have our hands in both worlds these days. Both Justin and I have experience with working with the protocol of movie studios and that always helps as well. It’s totally different than dealing with the comic book industry. A much more involved process of development and execution, but we had a great editor in Heidi McDonald.

Justin Gray: Absolutely, Heidi has been great and after years of knowing her it was fun to finally work together on this. Hills gave us another opportunity to work in one of my favorite genres and it also allowed us to expand on Wes Craven’s classic horror film. I can’t say no to a gig that is connected to the man who gave us Last House on the Left, Nightmare on Elm Street and Hills.

NRAMA: Just as a quick note - how does this work with your exclusive contract with DC?

JP: We wrote the book before we signed any exclusive so there never was any problem with that. Remember, this is a big book, so the art is really the time consuming aspect of the book.

NRAMA: Got it – so compared to the movies, when is this story set?

JP: We tried to give the reader a little bit of history about the town and the people that inhabit it. The timeline covers decades and all the key points of the story. It really is a much bigger tale than any of the movies has covered to date and the great thing about the graphic novel format is you really can go crazy without ever worrying about things like budget and location as the films are limited to. This was a very well researched account of three generations of people that have been through hell and then turned their own world into a hell on earth.

JG: We’ve been able to go back to the genesis of the Hills franchise and explore exactly how the mutants came to be, what their lives were like before atomics and explore the degradation of a small town in 1950’s America. By the time you see what happens in the first and second movie the mutants are the monsters but when you read the beginning you see that humanity is nearly always at the root of any horror story, what humans do to each other is always worse than what a screen monster does.

NRAMA: Going with what Justin said, while the final product, that is, The Hills Have Eyes and Hills 2 are horror movies, The Beginning - given the premise, it almost sounds like there's more tragedy involved in there than horror…

JP: There is always tragedy in any horror, and we really wanted the reader to get to know the people that lived in this town and made it their home. It would be so much easier to just do a straight horror tale but the way we approach everything we work on is to get to the soul of the characters, spend time with them and understand that because we have gotten so involved with these peoples hopes and dreams, we can better understand the horror show they are going through. That said, we also have the point of this story where the hunted and beaten become the antagonist and it turns into a completely different story. Our focus and the thing we wanted to nail in this book is that both sides, the good guys and the bad guys are real people that have hit a wall and reacted to their environment. There is some crazy stuff in this book that I am awfully proud of.

JG: Yeah, and this goes back to what I was saying about man being the ultimate monster. It is our pursuit of atomic power and a desire to kill our enemies that ultimately creates these monsters. In a lot of ways these mutants can be seen as people trying to survive any way they can. It just so happens that their survival is dependant on killing other people.

NRAMA: Spoil things just a touch here - for people who haven't seen the film, what happens to these people? These aren't the kinds of mutations where you end up with wings, optic blasts, and the rest of the nice, cosmetic changes, are they?

JP: Let’s be realistic, can we? If that were the case, then we would have people getting 8000 x-rays at the dentist and walking out with the power to fly through assorted dimensions.

NRAMA: I’m somewhere in the 7500’s, and now you tell me? Seriously…though – this goes back to radiation is not your friend, right?

JG: Right. This isn’t the glamorous world of the X-Men.

JP: This property is so scary on so many levels because its based in reality…its not a friggin house what had a murder in it 100 years and there are white children coming out of closets screaming…its an idea that strikes fear because it could have happened. These freaks could be out there hungry for human flesh. This book deals with the realistic fallout of radiation and what happens to the physical and mental status of the victim. There is tissue mutation, ulcers, tumors and severe brain damage. Do a search of any radiation disaster and you will find out some frightening effects of radiation…it’s why I keep my cell phone as far away from my crotch as humanly possible.

JG: You had to go there didn’t you?

NRAMA: And let’s stop that line of conversation right there. The graphic novel release is still a few months away, but tease it a touch – what are some of the high and low points?

JP: The army running off the town people. The people striking back and waging war. The first mutant birth. Murder while having sex. Tanks blowing up tanks. A town of mutants on a killing spree. Life , death, sex, murder, betrayal, insanity, mutation…so many wonderful reasons to pick up the book. For me, one of the best parts of the book is the amazing art by John Higgins…a good friend and super talented artist. Just look at these pages…they are worlds better than anything I have seen him do in the past. It really is inspired work.

JG: Exactly. It’s the timeless beauty of childbirth captured in surround sound and liquid digital technology…only on paper.

NRAMA: Finally, given that this is Fox Atomic making the comic, and all under one umbrella, how tightly are these tied to the films? For example, will we see references in Hills 2 to events and people in the comic?

JG: The graphic novel is the foundation for the films and it is as closely tied as possible to help further the mythology of the story. Certain characters from the graphic novel cross directly over into The Hills Have Eyes 2.

JP: We tied in the films, past and future and created a brand new world that was naturally the next step in the story of these peoples lives. Its more than a horror show, it’s a generation spanning tale of caution to everyone that when they mess with things they don’t understand there will be repercussions. It’s also about the idea that when people think they are superior than others and feel a need to do something about it there is also a price to pay…and sometimes that price is your life.



For more on fox Atomic, click here.

[JDoudican]

Nice. Didn't realize the second movie was coming out so soon.

[Alexlucard]

Not of fan of either of the original films and the remake was way too intense for the girls a friend and I took to, but if it's by the Jonah Hex guys, I'm buying it!

[Eddie Young]

In the remake that came out a couple of years back, was I the only one who thought that the main non-mutant character looked like Dallas Green?

Looks good, will try.

[OM]

...This actually looks like it'll be a fun read, especially if you're playing The Atomic Cafe or Trinity and Beyond in the background.

[thinks]

...Heh, anyone for a musical version of the original? The Hills Are Alive With The Sound Of Murder!

Originally Posted by Alexlucard

but if it's by the Jonah Hex guys, I'm buying it!

...Hell, Jonah would fit right in with the locals!

[PhilipAMoore]

So far I have in joyed friday the thirteenth so I may pick this up
it also helps that it is being drawn by John Higgen easily the most verisital artist in the industry and by the looks of the sample pages he has gotten alot better his Hellblazer run is still classic

good day

[IronWolf]

My wife is gonna love this she really wanted more back story in the first movie awsome.

[Kolimar]

Originally Posted by MattBrady

NRAMA: Going with what Justin said, while the final product, that is, The Hills Have Eyes and Hills 2 are horror movies, The Beginning - given the premise, it almost sounds like there's more tragedy involved in there than horror…

JP: There is always tragedy in any horror, and we really wanted the reader to get to know the people that lived in this town and made it their home. It would be so much easier to just do a straight horror tale but the way we approach everything we work on is to get to the soul of the characters, spend time with them and understand that because we have gotten so involved with these peoples hopes and dreams, we can better understand the horror show they are going through. That said, we also have the point of this story where the hunted and beaten become the antagonist and it turns into a completely different story.

I like the way that sounds.

[Don Mega]

I recently saw the remake of "hills" but it was way too much for me. Well, not everything but having little kids/babies myself the scene involving the baby really made me sick.

[Kolimar]

Double.....

[JDoudican]

the rape scene always got me

[Kolimar]

Originally Posted by MattBrady

Do a search of any radiation disaster and you will find out some frightening effects of radiation…it’s why I keep my cell phone as far away from my crotch as humanly possible.

JG: You had to go there didn’t you?

Heh...

[Kolimar]

Originally Posted by MattBrady

JP: The army running off the town people. The people striking back and waging war. The first mutant birth. Murder while having sex. Tanks blowing up tanks. A town of mutants on a killing spree. Life , death, sex, murder, betrayal, insanity, mutation…

I really like the sound of that.

[deathmasterj]

I love the original but the re-make was one of the most boring films I have ever forced myself to sit through, it was almost a shot-for-shot re-make. However, the artwork for this looks good and the premise sounds good so I may just have to check it out

Just to be annoyingly pedantic for a second:

Originally Posted by MattBrady

The quick and dirty of Hills - nuclear fallout from the original atomic tests had resulted in survivors in a small down in the desert hills being horribly mutated…wait for it…cannibals.

Does the original ever say this? I'm sure this was a new addition to the re-make, but I could very well be wrong.

[Royal Nonesuch]

I never saw the remake, and probably won't be seeing the sequel, but I do appreciate the fact that this article had a Midnight Oil reference.

[Switch]

Go big for bald blokes with bug eyes. Remake by Aje was pretty intense, had a girl with me who was reading the press material most of the way through. Prequels, probably could get enough of them.

[javito]

Lookin´forward to this.
Friday the 13th is very well too.
And with TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE it is horror fans year.