The Hills Have Eyes

1977 "A nice American family. They didn't want to kill. But they didn't want to die."
6.3| 1h30m| R| en
Details

Taking an ill-advised detour en route to California, the Carter family soon run into trouble when their RV breaks down in the middle of the desert. Stranded, they find themselves at the mercy of monstrous cannibals lurking in the surrounding hills.

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Also starring Suze Lanier-Bramlett

Also starring Martin Speer

Reviews

Jeanskynebu the audience applauded
ChanBot i must have seen a different film!!
Acensbart Excellent but underrated film
InformationRap This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.
gwnightscream Wes Craven's 1977 horror film tells about a family heading to California, but have car trouble somewhere in the desert. Soon, they become terrorized by a family of brutal cannibals dwelling in the hills. Dee Wallace (The Howling, E.T.) is also featured in this. This isn't bad, except for some of the acting, but I like the settings and the score is eerie. I'd check this out at least once, especially if you're a fan of the late, Craven.
meathookcinema The film itself is about a family who are travelling to California but decide to look for silver mines that are off the beaten track. The family's car and mobile home attached to it swerve off the road and the family find themselves stranded. Unfortunately they also find themselves under the unwanted gaze of a local group of mutant cannibals who have grown up in the area which is used by the Army to test nuclear capabilities. The film then develops into a battle between the All- American family and the cannibals.On watching this film again for this review the strongest feeling I got was just how outrageous the film is. It certainly goes the extra mile in terms of plot and grittiness. In fact the film goes even further than director Wes Craven's previous film Last House on the Left. At one point during Hills a baby is kidnapped by the cannibals for food. If that isn't pushing the horror envelope then I don't know what is! But whilst the film and it's plot may be extreme there is never a sense that the film is ever gratuitous or sensationalistic but still sets precedents. A good point of comparison here is with the godawful remake from 2006. In this original version of the film there is a rape scene that is signified by the eyes of the victim widening. And thats enough for the audience to know whats going on. The same sequence in the remake is much more drawn out, unnecessary and involves the victim getting her face licked by her cannibal attacker. And thats just for starters. Enough said.Speaking of Last House on the Left, the artistic leap between these two films seems huge. The Hills Have Eyes is positively polished by comparison to Last House in terms of technical ability, acting and direction. However, The Hills Have Eyes still feels gritty, subversive and downright dangerous- like watching a renowned video nasty classic for the first time. Both Last House and Hills use their low budgets feels to their advantage. It seems like Wes Craven believed that a lower budget just means you adapt to this and rise to the challenge creatively without sacrificing quality. Both films have a documentary and realistic feel to them rather than just being examples of exploitation cinema awash with bad acting.In fact, one of Hills' many strengths is the acting. As soon as you see the name Dee Wallace on a cast list you know that the film will have a certain level of prestige and integrity. She is amazing as are all of the cast. In fact there are pieces of acting within Hills that seemingly exceed the horror genre. One example of this is when Doug gets back to the mobile home to find that family members have either been raped, shot or killed. And on top of that his baby daughter has been kidnapped. His acting on seeing his dead wife is incredible and extremely poignant.The movie also made a horror icon of Michael Berryman. Even the poster for the film featuring Mr Berryman's face was iconic. Imagine seeing that poster outside a cinema in 1977. Even if you didn't know anything about the film you'd still go and see it as the poster and tagline are so brilliant. Another example of The Hills Have Eyes as a cult classic is that it is endlessly quotable. It also goes to show that they might be nuclear mutant cannibals but they have some great oneliners. 'Whats the matter? You don't like dog anymore?!'Craven has some very perceptive insights to convey regarding issues such as the family, the relationships within the family, the differences between the two families but also the less obvious similarities between them. I could go into these in much more depth along with my other theories about the film but this will be done soon in a separate article about the movie.For me, The Hills Have Eyes isn't just a stunning piece of horror cinema it feels like an innovative and genre-defining film that is just as important as The Exorcist, Halloween or Night of the Living Dead.The Hills Have Eyes will always be in my Top 10 list of favourite films.
Steve Pulaski The one thing that Hills Have Eyes fans, I feel, find difficult to admit, no matter how great of a film they think Wes Craven's low-key, no-budget horror masterwork is, is that it's undoubtedly a film riding the coattails on the popularity of The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. Upon the release of Tobe Hooper's essential horror film that has become a genre gold-standard, nearly every film company - even ones that were created simply for this purpose - were jumping at the opportunity to hire directors, scour the neverending sea of casting calls and auditions, and looking for affordable effects artists in order to make a film that would be a frightening little flick people could catch on a Friday night.One of those directors was Wes Craven, who would later go on to create Freddy Kruger in the Nightmare on Elm Street franchise, one of the most well-received and highly regarded horror franchises ever made. Before that, however, Craven was a fairly inconsistent, unpredictable man in the director's chair, churning out as many winners as he did films like his pornographic venture Angela: The Fireworks Woman and eventually The Hills Have Eyes II. However, the original Hills Have Eyes is something to marvel at, much of its quality stemming from its universal plausibility and rawness. This is a film that personifies horror and uncertainty with a biting and unforgivable sense of dread that you can feel from the start.The plot isn't even worth digging into; a well-off suburban family embarks on a road-trip in their four-door, equipped with a full-size trailer, only to break down deep in the Nevadan desert and be the targets of animalistic savages that lurk in the mountainous parts of the desert. One of the savages is known as "Pluto," played by horror legend Michal Berryman, most notable for his facial deformities and distinctive look, who acts almost feral in his attempt to be the fearless do-boy of the group. The savages stalk and harass the family, making use of their insufficient firearms and easily spooked nature, even going as far as to attacking one of the young girls and leaving her a panicked wreck for much of the film.Watching it in present day, appropriately during the month of October, The Hills Have Eyes still has the ability to shock to the core, specifically in the way it executes its more suspenseful sequences. These are where the film's lower budget and small scale work in its favor. Consider the screams, the bloodshed, and the moments of sheer terror interjected in the long-term sequences of suspense in this film; all of these little quirks are elevated by naturalism. The screams heard by the characters rip through the film's audio-track, almost distorting every sound and hitting the center of your eardrum in a violent manner as if it's stabbing it in an unrelenting fashion. The bloodshed of the film isn't a bloodbath, but a sporadic showcase of the film's ability to make its gorier scenes as realistic and unsettling as the screams we so frequently hear.Finally, there's Craven's pacing and execution, which turn out to be successful almost all the way through. Craven is a fan of quiet, natural buildup; the kind that relies on the murmur of the water, the wind in the trees, and the chirping of crickets in order to create an environment that's equal parts believable and unnerving. Here, Craven builds slowly but surely, assuring that the execution is seamless and that nothing moves too fast, not even the scenes we've been waiting for since the start of the film. It's all even-handed and balanced and pleasantly so.The Hills Have Eyes lacks any kind of form or polish and that's precisely what makes it the movie that it is. Horror films don't need aesthetics that run studios millions of dollars, nor do they need proved greats as headliners or complex props and setpieces. The most memorable films are the ones conducted on that realistic, natural scale that leave us sleeping with one eye open and checking under our beds and blankets before we turn out the light. These are the films that personify the unknown and the elements of fear in a way that makes us remind ourselves to "sleep tight" at night.Starring: Martin Speer, Michael Berryman, Virginia Vincent, Dee Wallace, Susan Lanier, Robert Houston, Lance Gordon, and Russ Grieve. Directed by: Wes Craven.
Michael_Elliott The Hills Have Eyes (1977) **** (out of 4) Raw terror at its finest as a family from Ohio are traveling to California but they decide to go down a closed road in the deserts hoping to find a mine. They eventually end up wrecking their car and soon a group of cannibals from the hills are attacking them.Wes Craven's THE HILLS HAVE EYES is to me one of the greatest horror films of the decade and also one of the rawest. Craven had previously made THE LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT and when you compare the two films it's easy to see a certain vision on the screen. Craven's ability to make both film seem real and make both of them so raw and powerful really speaks to his talent and especially when you consider the budgets that he was working on. LAST HOUSE is a real mixed film as far as I'm concerned but everything came out perfectly with HILLS and that's why it remains so powerful no matter how many times you see it.There are a few sequences here that are so full of terror that you can't help but get curled up or be on the edge of your seat. The first time is when the attack finally happens on the family. When you really sit back and think about this sequence it's really amazing how much stuff is going on and how well the editing brings it all together. You've got stuff going on outside the trailer as well as inside the trailer. In both cases multiple things are happening and with so much going on it just keeps building the tension level.The second sequence happens during the extended ending where the family must fight for their lives. Again, multiple things are going on at once and the way Craven plays this sequence and the earlier one just makes things so suspenseful that you can't help but feel the terror.Of course, the terror only works if you care for the people you're watching. There's quite a bit of character development here as the start of the film gives you plenty of time to get to know this family, care for them and want to see them survive. Caring about the family really helps once they come under attack. It also helps that the performances are so good. Dee Wallace, Susan Lanier, John Steadman, Robert Houston are all extremely good as are the "other" family played by James Whitworth, Michael Berryman and Janus Blythe. It also doesn't hurt that we're given some realistic cinematography that puts you right there in all the action and the music score is one of the best out there for a horror movie.THE HILLS HAVE EYES is in my opinion Craven's masterpiece. Yes, there are a few flaws here and there but the power of the film is unquestionable and it's this terror that makes the film so memorable.