Susan Lanier

Robert Houston

Martin Speer

Dee Wallace

Russ Grieve

John Steadman

James Whitworth

Virginia Vincent

Lance Gordon

Michael Berryman

Janus Blythe

Cordy Clark

Brenda Marinoff

Peter Locke

Wes Craven

Don Peake

Eric Saarinen

Gus Schirmer

Joanne Jaffe

Moe DiSesso

Tom Morrocco

Ron Stein

Al Jones

John Frazier

Greg Auer

Jim Dannaldson

Leslie Otis

Joanie Blum

Jan Schulte

D. G. Fisher

Dennis Bishop

Paula Cain

Ken Wheeland

Richard Scheid

Bill Moore

Larry Boyd

Rose Marie Yurinko

Rhonda Hopkins

Florence M. Amico

J. Larry Carroll

Ray Fischer

Tom Pickette

Tim Wawrzeniac

Bob Eber

Rick Braverman

Craig Felburg

Karen Grant

Carolyn Ames

Robert Alsheimer

Peter Hitchcock

David Marsh

David Lee Fein

Jill Debin

Hal Watkins

Lynn Rogers

Donald Mulderick

Ken Horn

Robert A. Burns

Dave Ayres

Walter R. Cichy

Valley Hoffman

Mary Church

The Hills Have Eyes (Original) Collection

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The Hills Have Eyes

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United States of America

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rape

government

mutation

murder

cannibal

desert

camper

set on fire

You folks. Stay on the main road now you hear!

After having announced himself to the horror hordes with The Last House on the Left, Craven's next horror pick would be this, The Hills Have Eyes, another slab of grit and grime. 

A nuclear family head across the desert in their giant trailer only to break down and find there's beasties in the hills hungry for their blood.

It has become very much a popular cult pic with Craven fans, which is understandable given the brisk pacing, moments of intensity and suspense, while the allegories and messages are smartly inserted. But the low budget does affect the product, it looks cheap and renders much of the violence and sexual aspects (implied or otherwise) as being not very frightening or stomach churning. While some of the acting is very poor, further adding a cartoonish feel to what should have been a nerve shredding experience.

Above average for sure, but not the masterpiece some would have you believe. 6/10

Gimly

Though the case of _The Hills Have Eyes_ is a rare one wherein I feel that the remake is in its entirety a better film than the original, Wes Craven's 1977 exploitation horror is still a solid movie, just one that doesn't succeed in its totality. Gimme a Beast spin-off anyday though.

_Final rating:★★★ - I liked it. Would personally recommend you give it a go._

This is one I could've sworn I had seen before and while I think I remembered a few scenes, the rest was a blank. In any case, I thought it was okay for a independent horror film with characters that at least weren't obnoxious. It's nothing special but I suppose entertaining enough. **3.5/5**

CinemaSerf

Despite being warned by a cranky old garage owner to stay on the highway, know-it-all "Big Bob Carter" (Russ Grieve) decides to take his family on a dirt track so they can try to find an old silver mine. The road is barely designed for a donkey, much less a car towing a caravan and so into a ditch they go and their troubles begin. Initially, that is just the inconvenience but when one of their dogs heads off, chased by his son "Bobby" (Robert Houston - clad in the tiniest pair of shorts that still appeared perfectly adequate for modesty, though), we start to realise that there is danger all around them. Yep, they have strayed into the territory of a family of interbred hillbillies who are quite happy to terrorise the family. Should they stay in their van or try to escape? What about the baby they have with them? At least they still have one more dog! Can they survive? To be honest, a combination of hysterical screaming and some terrible acting (except from the dog) made this nigh-on unwatchable for me. The production - single camera with terrible editing and continuity - seemed to lurch from one badly framed shot to another and the fact that this family of urban drips developed some ruthless desert-ninja skills in a matter of moments - especially the hapless "Bobby" who at least put some jeans on - just contributed to a scare free story that left me bored. Nope, just not for me...

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The Hills Have Eyes( 1977)

The lucky ones died first...

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A review by John Chard

Written by John Chard on Fri Oct 30 2015

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