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.
Two teenage girls head to a rock concert for one's birthday. While trying to score marijuana in the city, they are kidnapped and brutalized by a gang of psychotic convicts.
A group of bikers, heading to a race, become stranded in the desert and find themselves fighting off a family of inbred cannibals who live off the land.
Director:
Wes Craven
Stars:
Robert Houston,
David Nichols,
Virginia Vincent
Two siblings and three of their friends en route to visit their grandfather's grave in Texas end up falling victim to a family of cannibalistic psychopaths.
A teenage boy and his friends face off against a mysterious grave robber known only as the Tall Man, who keeps a lethal arsenal of terrible weapons with him.
Director:
Don Coscarelli
Stars:
A. Michael Baldwin,
Bill Thornbury,
Reggie Bannister
After being sent to the electric chair, a serial killer uses electricity to come back from the dead and carry out his vengeance on the football player who turned him in to the police.
A demonic force has chosen Freddy Krueger as its portal to the real world. Can Heather Langenkamp play the part of Nancy one last time and trap the evil trying to enter our world?
Director:
Wes Craven
Stars:
Heather Langenkamp,
Robert Englund,
Jeff Davis
A family going to California accidentally goes through an Air Testing range closed to the public. They crash and are stranded in a desert. They are being stalked by a group of people, which have not emerged into modern times.Written by
Paul Popiel <marekp@interlog.com>
(at around 15 mins) Dee Wallace said little acting was required in the scene where Lynne encounters the tarantula. Wallace said her fear of the spider was very much authentic. See more »
Goofs
(at around 1h 15 mins) When Jupiter and Pluto are running down the wash, just prior to Beast attacking Pluto, you can see a couple of equipment bags belonging to cast or crew sitting at the right side of the wash. See more »
The original UK cinema version was cut by the BBFC and lost part of the final climactic stabbing plus the closeup shot of Pluto's bloodied and mauled ankle. The initial 1987 video release on the Palace label surprisingly restored all of the previous cuts but lost a brief 2 second scene where Mars points a gun at Brenda's open mouth. The 2003 Anchor Bay release saw all BBFC cuts fully restored. See more »
Wes Craven first directed a film back in 1972 called Last House on the Left. If you haven't seen it...do so...for it is quite an experience. It blends dementia, depravity, cruelty, and blood and guts with values and basic moral and philosophical questions(at a very base level). He next directed The Hills Have Eyes, which many feel might be his best work. It is a horror classic to be sure for a number of reasons. It has the struggle of an innocent typical American family with a gang of cannibalistic subhumans that live in the desert. This struggle is intense, and blurs the boundary between normal and abberant behaviour(just as Craven did in LHOTL). The basic story is one of survival, not just survival of life but a way of life. The cast does a fine job...some of the psychos are quite convincing, as are the "normal" characters rather good in their roles. The story builds rather slowly but crescendos after the first death and we are given one climactic event after another. The real stars of the film, however, are the dogs...which are integral to the plot, and the desert itself, which establishes a mood and atmosphere of bleekness, desolation, and futility. Craven did a fine job with his second feature, and I would have no problem saying it was one of his better films. I would even concede that technically it is vastly superior to Last House on the Left, however, for me at least, not as horrific or chilling. Just as with Last House, much of the subject matter of the film is decidedly outrageous, with an infant possibly being served up for Thanksgiving Dinner its high point(or low point if you prefer). Unlike Last House, Hills is not nearly as graphic in its action, leaving a bit more to the imagination.
17 of 22 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful to you?
| Report this
Wes Craven first directed a film back in 1972 called Last House on the Left. If you haven't seen it...do so...for it is quite an experience. It blends dementia, depravity, cruelty, and blood and guts with values and basic moral and philosophical questions(at a very base level). He next directed The Hills Have Eyes, which many feel might be his best work. It is a horror classic to be sure for a number of reasons. It has the struggle of an innocent typical American family with a gang of cannibalistic subhumans that live in the desert. This struggle is intense, and blurs the boundary between normal and abberant behaviour(just as Craven did in LHOTL). The basic story is one of survival, not just survival of life but a way of life. The cast does a fine job...some of the psychos are quite convincing, as are the "normal" characters rather good in their roles. The story builds rather slowly but crescendos after the first death and we are given one climactic event after another. The real stars of the film, however, are the dogs...which are integral to the plot, and the desert itself, which establishes a mood and atmosphere of bleekness, desolation, and futility. Craven did a fine job with his second feature, and I would have no problem saying it was one of his better films. I would even concede that technically it is vastly superior to Last House on the Left, however, for me at least, not as horrific or chilling. Just as with Last House, much of the subject matter of the film is decidedly outrageous, with an infant possibly being served up for Thanksgiving Dinner its high point(or low point if you prefer). Unlike Last House, Hills is not nearly as graphic in its action, leaving a bit more to the imagination.