Okay, caught this flick yesterday and I'll give my review here cause I know some of you are just dying to hear about it (right Gonz?

)
First off, If you liked the original, you will like this remake, period. Unlike the remakes of TCM & When A Stranger Calls, this is pretty much the
exact same movie with only a couple of minor changes to the story (that actually improves it in my opinion) and much better makeup & special fx. BE WARNED THOUGH: the blood, gore, & violence has been ramped up to Resevoir Dogs proportions & there are several graphic and disturbing scenes.
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Alright, basically the only real changes are that in the original, the family was traveling to California in search of a silver mine that they aquired

, and thier car breaks down in the middle of nowhere. In this version, they are headed to California to celebrate the parents wedding anniversary, and after getting directions from the old gas station attendant (who is really related to the mutants) the car and motorhome are disabled by the mutants using those tire spikes that you pull across the road. After that, basically everything is the same - the father is crucified and burned alive, the teenage daughter is raped and her older sister and mother are shot to death in the trailer, and the baby is kidnapped. The husband goes after the baby with the dog (yes, the first dog Beauty is killed & Beast survives) and winds up killing most of the mutants while the brother & sister kill one by blowing up the trailer after he gets inside.
It even ends the same with the husband holding the baby in one arm while holding Beast on his leash in the other. Even the classic mutant line "Baby fat, baby look tasty" is there.
One other difference though is also the emphasis that these mutations were caused by US government nuclear testing. I don't really remember that from the original, but it doesn't take away from the story.
My only real problem with the movie is the overall stupidity/lameness of the family members. In the scene before they blow up the mutant in the trailer, the brother races off in search of his mother's body (she was removed from the car by one of the mutants) and comes upon him feasting on her corpse. He then runs screaming and has the mutant chase him to the trailer. But, he's carrying
a fully loaded Glock 9mm. I mean, your standing five feet away from the guy and he's to busy chowing down on mom's remains to even notice you, emty the damn clip in his head. But maybe that's just me

. This is the point in horror movies where you actually want to see these people get killed for being so stupid. But, I suppose these movies would be 5 minutes long if anyone actually showed the slightest bit of common sense so I'll just let it go.
All in All, a fine remake (for a change) and worth the price of a ticket.