The Hills Have Eyes (1977)

Director:

Wes Craven

Writer:

Wes Craven (writer)

Release Date:

22 July 1977 (USA)

Genre:

Horror | Thriller

Tagline:

The lucky ones died first...

Plot:

On the way to California, a family has the misfortune to have their car break down in an area closed to the public, and inhabited by violent savages ready to attack.

Plot Keywords:

Desert | Cannibal | Blood | Dead Animal | Shot In The Chest

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Susan Lanier	...	Brenda Carter
Robert Houston	...	Bobby Carter
Martin Speer	...	Doug Wood
Dee Wallace	...	Lynne Wood
Russ Grieve	...	Big Bob Carter
John Steadman	...	Fred
James Whitworth	...	Jupiter
Virginia Vincent	...	Ethel Carter
Lance Gordon	...	Mars
Michael Berryman	...	Pluto
Janus Blythe	...	Ruby
Cordy Clark	...	Mama
Brenda Marinoff	...	Katy
Peter Locke	...	Mercury (as Arthur King)
Flora	...	Beauty, the Carters' Dog

Also Known As:

Blood Relations (USA) (original script title)
Wes Craven's The Hills Have Eyes (USA) (LD title)

Runtime:

89 min | UK:86 min (cut version)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

New Zealand:R18 | USA:X (original rating) | USA:Unrated (unrated DVD version) | Finland:(Banned) (1986) | Finland:K-16 (1996) | USA:R (MPAA rating) | Italy:VM14 | Sweden:15 | UK:18 (cut) (1987) | UK:X (original rating) (cut) | Germany:18 (uncut) (2008) | Argentina:X (original rating) | Netherlands:16 | Argentina:18 (re-rating) | Australia:R | Norway:18 | UK:18 | USA:R | Iceland:16

Filming Locations:

Victorville, California, USA

Company:

Blood Relations Co.

Trivia:

According to Wes Craven the idea of actually having the baby killed in the film was considered. However the cast and crew strongly opposed the idea saying they would leave if the plot went that route.

Goofs:

Audio/visual unsynchronized: After Mars pulls Pluto off of Brenda and throws him onto the trailer floor, Pluto's lips don't move when he says, "You son of a bitch!"

Quotes:

Brenda Carter: We're gonna be french fries! Human french fries!

Movie Connections:

Spoofed in "Robot Chicken: Two Weeks Without Food (#4.8)" (2009)

Solid, original shocker

THE HILLS HAVE EYES is an example of a strong premise interpreted intelligently by an original, non-pussified director. If this had been made (for the first time) now, it'd be weak as pi**.

HILLS is a raw, solid, shocking little terror flick about a multi-generational family who get stranded in the desert. They are stalked and attacked by another multi-generational family.

"They wanted to see something different, but something different saw them first," is how the ad line ran for this classic. It sums up the premise nicely. The desert family is an ugly, in-bred, brutal unit, but, like our "heroes", they just want to survive the only way they know how.

Baldy Michael Berryman, who plays Pluto, is the standout sicko in this drama, but no actor fails to impress here as the terror mounts and survival instincts short like fuses.

Director/writer Craven does a superb job characterizing both families and keeps proceedings moving at a clip. The characters are no cliches, they are flesh and blood people, and it is so refreshing to not sit through another template terror flick with pre-ordained peaks and troughs.

This film gets nasty, too, yes, siree. There are shootings, stabbings, burnings and strangulation. Two Rin Tin-Tin-like dogs bring a little Barnum and Bailey to the action and the desert location, where the entire film is set, is a perfect, sun-drenched hell on earth.

Although much can be learned from rotten movies, much about staging realistic terror and keeping it simple, stupid, can be learned watching HILLS.

A classic.