The Hills Have Eyes
1977
When their camper breaks down in the desert on their way to California, a desperate family struggles to survive the attacks of a bizarre cannibalistic family, hungry for fresh meat and determined to terrorize the innocent vacationers. As members of the Carter clan fall prey to these inbred marauders, only a son and daughter .. Read more
| Starring | Robert Houston, Susan Lanier, Michael Berryman, Virginia Vincent |
|---|---|
| Director | Wes Craven |
| Genres | Horror |
loading...
The Hills Have Eyes
When their camper breaks down in the desert on their way to California, a desperate family struggles to survive the attacks of a bizarre cannibalistic family, hungry for fresh meat and determined to terrorize the innocent vacationers. As members of the Carter clan fall prey to these inbred marauders, only a son and daughter remain to rescue their kidnapped infant and seek vengeance against the savages who have destroyed their family.
| Starring | Robert Houston, Susan Lanier, Michael Berryman, Virginia Vincent, James Whitworth |
|---|---|
| Director | Wes Craven |
| Studio | ANCHOR BAY HOME ENTERTAINMENT |
| Run time | DVD: 1 hr 29 mins |
| Certificate | |
| Genres | Horror |
| Language | DVD: English |
| Released | DVD: 29 Sep 2003 Production year: 1977 |
| Format | DVD |
The Hills Have Eyes (1977)
Or you can rent each disc individually:
-
Critics' reviews (3)
View all -
Drawing inspiration from the myth of Sawney Bean and his Scottish cannibal clan, director Wes Craven here crafted the best of his early low-budget horror epics. Brutal desert dwellers lay murderous siege to stranded innocent campers in the Scream maestro's exploration of depravity and the survival instinct. Using mirror images of two families at the opposing extremes of humanity, Craven's sharp sense of suspense and his willingness to take shock images to their limits carries a potent charge. The introduction of the extraordinary-looking Michael Berryman to the roster of unpleasant characters only adds extra punch to the charnel house terror invoked.
-
A baby cries, granddaddy is crucified, cannibals with CB radios stalk a land where even the hills have eyes. Somewhere... read more on Time Out
-
Most helpful member's review
View all -
7 out of 7 people found this review helpful
A Craven classic
While the monsters in his most popular films, Scream and Nightmare on Elm Street, have been made into funny, cult figures, those in The Hills have not - and the film is all the better for it.
You barely see them for the first half, but when they come out of the shadows they are horrific; their looks, acts and attitudes.
But the secret to the film is in the contrasting attitudes of the 'nice folk', all Americanised and blonde they get turned into brutal macabre masochists by the end.
Not as gory as was once thought, it is compelling and possibly the best open-staged slasher (other greats, Texas Chainsaw, Halloween etc used house set-pieces as the main stage for frights) and so that makes it a must see for horror fans. -
Most recent members' review
View all -
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful
Grisly, tense, but quite bare at the same time
Despite the 'Texas Chainsaw Massacre'-style setup (you know, sweet and clean American gang encounter murderous hillbilly family in the Southern backwoods) 'The Hills Have Eyes' is quite similar in style to Wes Craven's earlier 'Last House On The Left'.
It focuses on brutal violence and the shattering of family ideals; one of Craven's favourite techniques is to show a squeaky-clean family surrendering to the dark impulse of revenge. After the barbaric hick family deliver a devastating attack on their counterparts, that's exactly what happens.
Yet Craven doesn't explore these themes in any real depth - instead of questioning whether either family is 'good' or 'bad', we're simply expected to root for the goodies and hate the ugly baddies. We are occasionally reminded that the evil Southern beasts are only doing this because there's no other food around, but their sadistic tendencies tend to obliterate this subtle idea.
A decent horror yarn, but at heart it's a bit of water-treading from Craven. -
More like this
View allShowing 1 to 4 of 20
Related user collection
The best horror ever (100)
74.2% from 26 members
