''The Hills Have Eyes'' is a 1977 American
horror film
Horror is a film genre that seeks to elicit fear or disgust in its audience for entertainment purposes.
Horror films often explore dark subject matter and may deal with transgressive topics or themes. Broad elements include monsters, ap ...
written, directed, and edited by
Wes Craven
Wesley Earl Craven (August 2, 1939 – August 30, 2015) was an American film director, screenwriter, producer, actor, and editor. Craven has commonly been recognized as one of the greatest masters of the horror genre due to the cultural imp ...
and starring
Susan Lanier,
Michael Berryman and
Dee Wallace
Deanna Wallace (née Bowers; born December 14, 1948), also known as Dee Wallace Stone, is an American actress. She is perhaps best known for her role as Mary Taylor, the mother in the 1982 blockbuster film ''E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial''. She is ...
. The film follows the Carters, a suburban family targeted by a family of cannibal savages after becoming stranded in the
Nevada
Nevada ( ; ) is a state in the Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the 7th-most extensive, ...
desert.
Following Craven's directorial debut, ''
The Last House on the Left'' (1972), producer
Peter Locke was interested in financing a similar project. Craven based the film's script on the legend of
Scottish cannibal
Sawney Bean, which Craven viewed as illustrating how supposedly civilized people could become savage. Other influences on the film include
John Ford
John Martin Feeney (February 1, 1894 – August 31, 1973), known professionally as John Ford, was an American film director and naval officer. He is widely regarded as one of the most important and influential filmmakers of his generation. He ...
's ''
The Grapes of Wrath
''The Grapes of Wrath'' is an American realist novel written by John Steinbeck and published in 1939. The book won the National Book Award
and Pulitzer Prize for fiction, and it was cited prominently when Steinbeck was awarded the Nobel Priz ...
'' (1940) and
Tobe Hooper
Willard Tobe Hooper (; January 25, 1943 – August 26, 2017) was an American director, screenwriter, and producer best known for his work in the horror genre. The British Film Institute cited Hooper as one of the most influential horror fi ...
's ''
The Texas Chain Saw Massacre
''The Texas Chain Saw Massacre'' is a 1974 American horror film produced and directed by Tobe Hooper from a story and screenplay by Hooper and Kim Henkel. It stars Marilyn Burns, Paul A. Partain, Edwin Neal, Jim Siedow and Gunnar Hans ...
'' (1974). ''The Hills Have Eyes'' was shot in the
Mojave Desert
The Mojave Desert ( ; mov, Hayikwiir Mat'aar; es, Desierto de Mojave) is a desert in the rain shadow of the Sierra Nevada mountains in the Southwestern United States. It is named for the indigenous Mojave people. It is located primarily ...
. The film's crew were initially unenthusiastic about the project, but they became more passionate due to Craven's enthusiasm and came to believe that they were making a special movie.
''The Hills Have Eyes'' earned $25 million at the box office and spawned
a franchise. All subsequent films in the series were made with Craven's involvement. ''The Hills Have Eyes'' was released on
VHS in 1988 and has subsequently been released on
DVD and
Blu-ray
The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of sto ...
, while Don Peake's score for the film has been released on
CD and vinyl. Reviews for the film were mostly positive, with critics praising its tense narrative and humor. Some critics have interpreted the film as containing commentary on morality and American politics, and the film has since become a
cult classic
A cult following refers to a group of fans who are highly dedicated to some person, idea, object, movement, or work, often an artist, in particular a performing artist, or an artwork in some medium. The lattermost is often called a cult classic. ...
.
Plot
The suburban Carter family is traveling on vacation towing a trailer enroute to Los Angeles. Parents Bob and Ethel are driving, accompanied by their teenage children Bobby, Brenda, eldest daughter Lynne, Lynne's husband Doug, Lynne and Doug's baby daughter Cathrine (Katy), and the family's dogs, Beauty and Beast.
In
Nevada
Nevada ( ; ) is a state in the Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the 7th-most extensive, ...
, they stop at Fred's Oasis for fuel, and Fred urges them to stay on the main road as they leave. Fred's truck suddenly explodes. Dismissing Fred's warnings as a crazy person's ramblings, the Carters get startled by overhead aircraft when driving near
Nellis Air Force Range
The Nevada Test and Training Range (NTTR) is one of two military training areas at the Nellis Air Force Base Complex in Nevada and used by the United States Air Force Warfare Center at Nellis Air Force Base. The NTTR land area includes a "s ...
, and skid off the road and crash. The dogs become very panicky and start barking at the hills. Beauty then runs off into the hills. Chasing after her, Bobby finds her mutilated body. Frightened, he runs, falls, and knocks himself unconscious.
Bob walks back to Fred's Oasis to get help. As night falls, he finds Fred, who tells him about his son Jupiter. As a child, Jupiter killed the family's livestock and later murdered his sister. Fred attacked Jupiter with a
tire iron
A tire iron (also tire lever or tire spoon) is a specialized metal tool used in working with tires. Tire irons have not been in common use for automobile
A car or automobile is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of ''cars'' ...
and left him in the hills to die. However, Jupiter survived and had children with a depraved, alcoholic prostitute known as Mama. Together, they had three sons – Mars, Pluto and Mercury – and an abused daughter, Ruby. The family led by "Papa Jupiter" survives by cannibalizing travelers and stealing supplies. Papa Jupiter suddenly crashes through a window, kills Fred with a tire iron, takes Bob prisoner, and
crucifies him.
Brenda finds Bobby, still shaken up about Beauty, and the two return to the trailer. Bobby does not mention Beauty's death to avoid frightening the rest of the family. Pluto sneaks to the trailer and signals Papa Jupiter to set Bob on fire as a distraction. Brenda stays in the trailer with Katy while Ethel, Lynne, Doug, and Bobby rush out to save Bob. The Carters eventually extinguish the fire, but Bob dies shortly afterwards.
As the Carters extinguish the fire, Pluto and Mars ransack the camper and Mars rapes Brenda. When Ethel and Lynne return, Mars shoots them both. Pluto abducts Katy and the brothers flee, intending for the family to eat her. Hearing their screams, Doug and Bobby rush back only to find Lynne dead, Ethel mortally wounded and Brenda traumatized.
Mars and Pluto return to their home, a cave. Beast pushes Mercury off a hilltop to his death. Mama chains Ruby outside the cave, torments her and forces her to eat Beauty as punishment for sympathizing with the Carters. The next morning, shortly after Ethel dies, Doug sets out to find Katy while Papa Jupiter and Pluto set out to kill the remaining family members.
Beast tears Pluto's throat out. Brenda and Bobby use Ethel's corpse as a trap to kill Papa Jupiter. Doug gets to the cave, where he sees Ruby knocking out Mama and carrying Katy away. Doug catches up with Ruby, but Mars follows and attacks Doug. Mars gains the upper hand, but Ruby interferes, enabling Doug to overpower him. Doug then savagely stabs Mars and continues long after he is dead, whilst Ruby weeps.
Cast
* Russ Grieve as Big Bob Carter
*
Virginia Vincent
Virginia Vincent (May 3, 1918 – October 3, 2013) was an American film, television and theatre actress. She was known for playing the role of "Jennie Blake" in the 1958 film '' The Return of Dracula''. Vincent died in October 2013, at the ...
as Ethel Carter
*
Susan Lanier as Brenda Carter
*
Robert Houston as Bobby Carter
*
Dee Wallace
Deanna Wallace (née Bowers; born December 14, 1948), also known as Dee Wallace Stone, is an American actress. She is perhaps best known for her role as Mary Taylor, the mother in the 1982 blockbuster film ''E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial''. She is ...
as Lynne Wood
* Martin Speer as Doug Wood
* Brenda Marinoff as Baby Katy Wood
*James Whitworth as Papa Jupiter
* Cordy Clark as Mama
* Lance Gordon as Mars
*
Michael Berryman as Pluto
* Peter Locke as Mercury (credited as Arthur King)
*
Janus Blythe as Ruby
*
John Steadman as Fred
Production
Development
Wes Craven desired to make a non-horror film, following his directorial debut, ''
The Last House on the Left'' (1972), because he saw the horror genre as constraining. However, he could not find producers interested in financing a project that did not feature bloody violence.
[ Craven's friend, producer Peter Locke, was interested in financing a horror ]exploitation film
An exploitation film is a film that tries to succeed financially by exploiting current trends, niche genres, or lurid content. Exploitation films are generally low-quality " B movies", though some set trends, attract critical attention, become ...
, and Craven decided to write the project due to his monetary issues.[ Craven considered collaborating with Sean S. Cunningham on a horror ]children's film
A children's film, or family film, is a film genre that contains children or relates to them in the context of home and family. Children's films are made specifically for children and not necessarily for a general audience, while family films a ...
based on "Hansel and Gretel
"Hansel and Gretel" (; german: Hänsel und Gretel ) is a German fairy tale collected by the German Brothers Grimm and published in 1812 in ''Grimm's Fairy Tales'' (KHM 15). It is also known as Little Step Brother and Little Step Sister.
Hansel ...
", but Locke wanted the film to be more in the vein of ''The Last House on the Left''. According to Steve Palopoli of ''Metro Silicon Valley
''Metro'' is a free weekly newspaper published by the San Jose, California, based Metro Newspapers. Also known as ''Metro Silicon Valley'', as well as ''Metroactive'' online, the paper serves the greater Silicon Valley area. In addition to prin ...
'', the finished film still features elements of "Hansel and Gretel," specifically its portrayal of people getting lost in the wilderness and setting a trap for their tormentors. Palopoli also noted the witch from "Hansel and Gretel" and the villains from ''Hills'' both try to cannibalize children.[ In writing the project for Locke, Craven decided he "wanted something more sophisticated than ''Last House on the Left''." He added that he "didn't want to feel uncomfortable again about making a statement about human depravity."
Searching for a story to film, Craven began looking up "terrible things" at the ]New York Public Library
The New York Public Library (NYPL) is a public library system in New York City. With nearly 53 million items and 92 locations, the New York Public Library is the second largest public library in the United States (behind the Library of Congress) ...
. While going through the library's forensics department, Craven learned of the legend of Sawney Bean - the alleged head of a 48-person Scottish clan responsible for the murder and cannibalization of more than one thousand people. What interested Craven in the legend was how, after Bean's clan was arrested, they were tortured, quartered, burned and hanged. Craven saw this treatment of the Bean clan by supposedly civilized people as paralleling the clan's own savagery. Craven decided to base the film on the legend.[ Another major inspiration for the project was ]Tobe Hooper
Willard Tobe Hooper (; January 25, 1943 – August 26, 2017) was an American director, screenwriter, and producer best known for his work in the horror genre. The British Film Institute cited Hooper as one of the most influential horror fi ...
's ''The Texas Chain Saw Massacre
''The Texas Chain Saw Massacre'' is a 1974 American horror film produced and directed by Tobe Hooper from a story and screenplay by Hooper and Kim Henkel. It stars Marilyn Burns, Paul A. Partain, Edwin Neal, Jim Siedow and Gunnar Hans ...
'' (1974),[ one of Craven's favorite films. ]Bloody Disgusting
Bloody Disgusting is an American multi-media company, which began as a horror genre-focused news site/ website specializing in information services that covered various horror medias, including: film, television, video games, comics, and mu ...
's Zachary Paul says that both films center on a group of vacationers who are "stranded in the wide open nowhere and must protect themselves against a tightly knit family of cannibals" and feature an archetypal "gas station of doom". Like ''The Last House on the Left'' before it, the film drew influence from the work of European directors such as François Truffaut
François Roland Truffaut ( , ; ; 6 February 1932 – 21 October 1984) was a French film director, screenwriter, producer, actor, and film critic. He is widely regarded as one of the founders of the French New Wave. After a career of more tha ...
and Luis Buñuel
Luis Buñuel Portolés (; 22 February 1900 – 29 July 1983) was a Spanish-Mexican filmmaker who worked in France, Mexico, and Spain. He has been widely considered by many film critics, historians, and directors to be one of the greatest and m ...
.
Other inspirations for ''The Hills Have Eyes'' were Craven's neighbors and family, on whom the Carters where modeled,[ the director's nightmares, and ]John Ford
John Martin Feeney (February 1, 1894 – August 31, 1973), known professionally as John Ford, was an American film director and naval officer. He is widely regarded as one of the most important and influential filmmakers of his generation. He ...
's ''The Grapes of Wrath
''The Grapes of Wrath'' is an American realist novel written by John Steinbeck and published in 1939. The book won the National Book Award
and Pulitzer Prize for fiction, and it was cited prominently when Steinbeck was awarded the Nobel Priz ...
'' (1940). The original script was titled ''Blood Relations: The Sun Wars'' and was set in New Jersey
New Jersey is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York (state), New York; on the ea ...
during 1984, several years in the future. As Locke's girlfriend, Liz Torres
Elizabeth Larrieu Torres (born September 27, 1947) is an American actress, singer, and comedian. Torres is best known for her role as Mahalia Sanchez in the NBC comedy series ''The John Larroquette Show'' (1993–1996), for which she received two ...
, often performed in Las Vegas
Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vega ...
during this period, Locke saw a lot of desert landscapes as the film was being written, and suggested that Craven set the film in the desert. Due to budgetary constraints, the film was written to have few roles and be set in few locations. Originally, the film was to end with the surviving members of the family reuniting at the trailer site, signifying that they could move on with their lives. Craven ultimately opted for an ending where Doug stabs Mars as a disgusted Ruby watches, as he liked the role reversal that this ending created. Craven also wanted the two families in the story to be the "mirror images of each other," believing that this would allow him to "explore different sides of the human personality."
Casting
Michael Berryman, who has twenty-six different birth defects, won the role of Pluto.[ He was elated to be cast in a horror film due to his love of '' The Mummy's Curse'' (1944) and other black-and-white ]Universal Classic Monsters
Universal Classic Monsters (also known as Universal Monsters and Universal Studios Monsters) is a media franchise based on a series of horror films primarily produced by Universal Pictures from the 1930s to the 1950s. Although not initially conce ...
films. The character of Ruby needed to be played by an actress who was a fast runner, so all of the actresses who auditioned for the part were required to race each other. Janus Blythe won the part partially because she outran all of the other auditioning actresses.[ Locke wanted to make a ]cameo appearance
A cameo role, also called a cameo appearance and often shortened to just cameo (), is a brief appearance of a well-known person in a work of the performing arts. These roles are generally small, many of them non-speaking ones, and are commonly eit ...
in the film, and was given the role of Mercury, who appears briefly in the film. Locke was credited for the role under the name "Arthur King."[ ]Gunnar Hansen
Gunnar Milton Hansen (March 4, 1947 – November 7, 2015) was an Icelandic-born American actor and author best known for playing the mentally impaired cannibal Leatherface in ''The Texas Chain Saw Massacre'' (1974).
Early life
Hansen was born ...
, who played Leatherface
Leatherface is a fictional character in ''The Texas Chainsaw Massacre'' film series created by Kim Henkel and Tobe Hooper. He first appears in '' The Texas Chain Saw Massacre'' as a disfigured, cannibalistic and mentally unstable mass murder ...
in ''The Texas Chain Saw Massacre'', was offered a part in the film and rejected it so that he could move to Maine
Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and ...
and focus on his literary career. He later came to regret not appearing in the film.
Filming
Principal photography for ''The Hills Have Eyes'' began in October 1976.[ The film was shot in Victorville, California in the ]Mojave Desert
The Mojave Desert ( ; mov, Hayikwiir Mat'aar; es, Desierto de Mojave) is a desert in the rain shadow of the Sierra Nevada mountains in the Southwestern United States. It is named for the indigenous Mojave people. It is located primarily ...
[ using ]16 mm film
16 mm film is a historically popular and economical Film gauge, gauge of Photographic film, film. 16 mm refers to the width of the film (about inch); other common film gauges include 8 mm film, 8 and 35mm movie film, 35 mm. It is ...
on cameras that were borrowed from a Californian pornographic film
Pornographic films (pornos), erotic films, sex films, and 18+ films are films that present sexually explicit subject matter in order to arouse and satisfy the viewer. Pornographic films present sexual fantasies and usually include erotica ...
maker.[ The film cost between $350,000 and $700,000,][ around thrice the budget of ''The Last House on the Left''.][ The film's actors were paid ]minimum wage
A minimum wage is the lowest remuneration that employers can legally pay their employees—the price floor below which employees may not sell their labor. Most countries had introduced minimum wage legislation by the end of the 20th century. B ...
, and the film's crew were non-union. Locke was on the film's set every day of its shoot, making sure that Craven was being productive.[
The shoot was unpleasant for the actors, due to daytime temperatures of over 120 degrees Fahrenheit (49 degrees Celsius) which dropped to around 30 degrees (-1 degrees Celsius) during the night, as well as the fact that they played physically taxing roles twelve to fourteen hours a day, six days a week.][ As Berryman lacks sweat glands, the heat was particularly hazardous to his health, and he had to be attended to after the filming of the film's action scenes.][ Many cast members did their own makeup due to budgetary constraints. Wallace later joked that the dogs that appeared in the film were treated better than its human cast members. Most of the film's crew were veterans of Roger Corman films, and were initially unenthusiastic about ''The Hills Have Eyes''. This changed weeks into production due to Craven's zeal for the project, and because the crew came to believe that the film was "something special."][
]Robert Burns
Robert Burns (25 January 175921 July 1796), also known familiarly as Rabbie Burns, was a Scottish poet and lyricist. He is widely regarded as the List of national poets, national poet of Scotland and is celebrated worldwide. He is the best kn ...
, the production designer of ''The Texas Chain Saw Massacre'', also served as the production designer for the film. He re-used many of the props from ''The Texas Chain Saw Massacre'' to decorate the cannibal clan's lair, including animal hides and bones.[ The sequence where Dee Wallace's character confronts a ]tarantula
Tarantulas comprise a group of large and often hairy spiders of the family Theraphosidae. , 1,040 species have been identified, with 156 genera. The term "tarantula" is usually used to describe members of the family Theraphosidae, although ...
was not part of the film's script; it was added to the film after the filmmakers discovered the spider on a road. The tarantula was not harmed during the filming of the sequence.[ During the sequence where the cannibals eat Big Bob, a ]leg of lamb
Lamb, hogget, and mutton, generically sheep meat, are the meat of domestic sheep, ''Ovis aries''. A sheep in its first year is a lamb and its meat is also lamb. The meat from sheep in their second year is hogget. Older sheep meat is mutton. Gen ...
stood in for human flesh. This was a relief for the hungry actors.[ At one point, Craven considered having the character Papa Jupiter eat baby Katy, an idea which most of the cast disliked. Berryman refused to do the scene, and Craven allowed Katy to survive.][ The carcass of the Carter's family dog, Beauty, was an actual dog carcass that the filmmakers purchased; Craven has refused to explain how exactly the filmmakers obtained the carcass.][
]
Post-production
The film was initially given an X rating
An X rating is a rating used in various countries to classify films that have content deemed suitable only for adults. It is used when the violent or sexual content of a film is considered to be potentially disturbing to general audiences.
Aust ...
by the MPAA
The Motion Picture Association (MPA) is an American trade association representing the five major film studios of the United States, as well as the video streaming service Netflix. Founded in 1922 as the Motion Picture Producers and Distribu ...
due to its graphic violence. Due to this, significant material was removed from Fred's death scene, the sequence where Mars and Pluto attack the trailer, and the last confrontation with Papa Jupiter.[ Out of one hundred possible titles for the film, ''The Hills Have Eyes'' was chosen. It tested well with audiences, though Craven did not like it.][ Prints of the film were made by ]Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded on April 17, 1924 a ...
.[
]
Release
Marketing
Locke told the ''Los Angeles Times
The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the U ...
'' that he expected the film's marketing campaign to cost twice or thrice the film's budget. Advertisements for ''The Hills Have Eyes'' claimed that a copy of the film had been added to the permanent collection of the New York Museum of Modern Art; in actuality, the copy of the film had been added to the museum's "study" collection rather than its more prestigious permanent collection. One of the museum's curators told the ''Los Angeles Times'' that he would prefer that the film's advertisements not mention the museum.[
]
Box office
The film premiered on July 22, 1977, in Tucson, Arizona
, "(at the) base of the black ill
, nicknames = "The Old Pueblo", "Optics Valley", "America's biggest small town"
, image_map =
, mapsize = 260px
, map_caption = Interactive map ...
, where it earned $2 million by October 1977, the same month the film gained a wider release.[ ''The Hills Have Eyes'' ultimately earned $25 million,] and was a greater box office success than ''The Last House on the Left''. Craven noted that the film managed to break box office records at some of the individual theaters that it opened in. The film's gross was impeded by the financial success of the Burt Reynolds
Burton Leon Reynolds Jr. (February 11, 1936 – September 6, 2018) was an American actor, considered a sex symbol and icon of 1970s American popular culture.
Reynolds first rose to prominence when he starred in television series such as '' ...
film ''Smokey and the Bandit
''Smokey and the Bandit'' is a 1977 American road action comedy film starring Burt Reynolds, Sally Field, Jackie Gleason, Jerry Reed, Pat McCormick, Paul Williams and Mike Henry. The directorial debut of stuntman Hal Needham, the film follow ...
'' (1977). Locke characterized the film as neither a huge hit nor a box-office bomb
A box-office bomb, or box-office disaster, is a film that is unprofitable or considered highly unsuccessful during its theatrical run. Although any film for which the production, marketing, and distribution costs combined exceed the revenue after ...
, and was pleased with the amount of money it generated.
Critical response
Contemporaneous
The staff of ''Variety
Variety may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats
* Variety (radio)
* Variety show, in theater and television
Films
* ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont
* ''Variety'' (1935 film) ...
'' called ''The Hills Have Eyes'' "a satisfying piece of pulp," adding that "Gratifying aspects f the filmare Craven's businesslike plotting and pacy cutting, and a script which takes more trouble over the stock characters than it needs. There are plenty of laughs, in the dialog and in the story's disarming twists." In his review of Craven's later film ''Swamp Thing
The Swamp Thing is a superhero in American comic books published by DC Comics. A humanoid/plant elemental creature, created by writer Len Wein and artist Bernie Wrightson, the Swamp Thing has had several humanoid or monster incarnations in ...
'' (1982), Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert (; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American film critic, film historian, journalist, screenwriter, and author. He was a film critic for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, Ebert beca ...
of the ''Chicago Sun-Times
The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has the second largest circulation among Chicago newspapers, after the ''Chicago T ...
'' criticized the film for being too "decadent" for his taste. Tim Pulleine of ''The Monthly Film Bulletin
''The Monthly Film Bulletin'' was a periodical of the British Film Institute published monthly from February 1934 to April 1991, when it merged with ''Sight & Sound''. It reviewed all films on release in the United Kingdom, including those with a ...
'' stated that the film's story "had promise" but was "never fused into an effective narrative pattern, let alone an allegorical one." Tim Whitehead of ''The Spectator
''The Spectator'' is a weekly British magazine on politics, culture, and current affairs. It was first published in July 1828, making it the oldest surviving weekly magazine in the world.
It is owned by Frederick Barclay, who also owns '' T ...
'' deemed the film's "predictable" plot an excuse for "scenes of ghastly carnage in the horror vein of ''The Texas Chainsaw Massacre''," opining that Craven "maintains the tension throughout and occasionally manages to relieve the horror with elements of the ridiculous." Whitehead stated that he "simply found imselflooking away from the endless stabbings, gougings and burnings."
Retrospective
On the review aggregator
A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...
website Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wan ...
, ''The Hills Have Eyes'' holds a 67% approval rating based on , with an average rating of 6.3/10. The consensus reads: "When it's not bludgeoning the viewer with its more off-putting, cruder elements, ''The Hills Have Eyes'' wields some clever storytelling and a sly sense of dark humor."
On Metacritic
Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...
, which assigns a normalized rating to reviews, the film has a weighted average score of 64 out of 100, based on 4 critics, indicating "Generally favorable reviews".
The film was included in the book ''1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die
''1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die'' is a film reference book edited by Steven Jay Schneider with original essays on each film contributed by over 70 film critics. It is a part of a series designed and produced by Quintessence Editions, a ...
'', where Steven Jay Schneider said it "warrants consideration as one of the richest and most perfectly realized films of Craven's career".[ '']Fangoria
''Fangoria'' is an internationally distributed American horror film fan magazine, in publication since 1979. It is published four times a year by Fangoria Publishing, LLC and is edited by Phil Nobile Jr.
The magazine was originally released i ...
'' listed the film as one of the thirteen greatest horror films of the 1970s while ''Film Journal International
''Film Journal International'' was a motion-picture industry trade magazine published by the American company Prometheus Global Media. It was a sister publication of ''Adweek'', ''Billboard'', '' The Hollywood Reporter'', and other periodicals. ...
'' has cited ''The Hills Have Eyes'' as a classic grindhouse
A grindhouse or action house is an American term for a theatre that mainly shows low-budget horror, splatter and exploitation films for adults. According to historian David Church, this theater type was named after the "grind policy", a film ...
feature. The film was nominated for AFI's 100 Years...100 Thrills. ''TV Guide
TV Guide is an American digital media company that provides television program listings information as well as entertainment and television-related news.
The company sold its print magazine division, TV Guide Magazine LLC, in 2008.
Corporate ...
'' gave it a three out of four stars rating, saying that it is "exhilarating" to watch the Carters become more savage.
''Entertainment Weekly
''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cult ...
'' Owen Gleiberman
Owen Gleiberman (born February 24, 1959) is an American film critic who has been chief film critic for '' Variety'' magazine since May 2016, a title he shares with . Previously, Gleiberman wrote for '' Entertainment Weekly'' from 1990 until 201 ...
wrote that the film is more imaginative than horror films made by major studios. For the ''San Francisco Chronicle
The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and Michael H. de Young. The p ...
'', Walter Addiego said that ''The Hills Have Eyes'' is the scariest movie he has ever seen, describing it and ''The Last House on the Left'' (1972) as "a turning point in horror... Suddenly, earlier horror—like the Universal classics (''Frankenstein
''Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus'' is an 1818 novel written by English author Mary Shelley. ''Frankenstein'' tells the story of Victor Frankenstein, a young scientist who creates a sapient creature in an unorthodox scientific ...
'', etc.) and Roger Corman's Poe films—seemed like weak tea." Comparing ''The Hills Have Eyes'' to ''The Texas Chain Saw Massacre'', Zachary Paul of Bloody Disgusting found the former superior and praised its "overwhelming" tension.[
'']Slant Magazine
''Slant Magazine'' is an American online publication that features reviews of movies, music, TV, DVDs, theater, and video games, as well as interviews with actors, directors, and musicians. The site covers various film festivals like the New Yor ...
''s Eric Henderson called the film "effective" and praised its cast, particularly Robert Houston, whose performance is "more complex than your average male lead in a horror film." However, Henderson also deemed the film inferior to ''The Texas Chainsaw Massacre'' and criticized the sequence where the Carters create booby traps for feeling like ''Looney Tunes
''Looney Tunes'' is an American animated comedy short film series produced by Warner Bros. starting from 1930 to 1969, concurrently with its partner series '' Merrie Melodies'', during the golden age of American animation.[< ...]
'' cartoons about Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner. Dread Central
Dread Central is an American website founded in 2006 that is dedicated to horror news, interviews, and reviews. It covers horror films, comics, novels, and toys. Dread Central has won the Rondo Hatton Classic Horror Award for Best Website ...
's Jon Condit opined that ''The Hills Have Eyes'' is not one of Craven's best films. In ''Empire
An empire is a "political unit" made up of several territories and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the empire (sometimes referred to as the metropole) ex ...
'', Kim Newman
Kim James Newman (born 31 July 1959) is an English journalist, film critic and fiction writer. Recurring interests visible in his work include film history and horror fiction—both of which he attributes to seeing Tod Browning's ''Dracula'' at ...
gave the film a three out of five star rating, saying, "Decades on ''The Hills Have Eyes'' no longer seems quite as breathlessly swift as it did." A critic for ''IndieWire
IndieWire (sometimes stylized as indieWIRE or Indiewire) is a film industry and review website that was established in 1996. The site's focus was predominantly independent film, although its coverage has grown to "to include all aspects of Holly ...
'' dismissed the film as middling.
Accolades
At the 1977 Sitges Film Festival
The Sitges Film Festival ( ca, Festival Internacional de Cinema Fantàstic de Catalunya, links=no) is an annual film festival held in Sitges, Spain, specialized in fantasy and horror films, of which it is considered one of the world's foremost ...
, ''The Hills Have Eyes'' won the Critic's Award.
Home media
''The Hills Have Eyes'' was released on VHS in July 1981. It was released for the first time on DVD by Lionsgate Home Entertainment
Lions Gate Entertainment Corporation, doing business as Lionsgate, is a Canadian- American entertainment company. It was formed by Frank Giustra on July 10, 1997, domiciled in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada and is currently headquartered i ...
on September 23, 2003 as a two-disc special edition. On September 29 that same year, it was released by Anchor Bay Entertainment
Anchor Bay Entertainment (formerly Video Treasures and Starmaker Entertainment) was an American home entertainment and production company. It was a subsidiary of Starz Inc. Anchor Bay Entertainment marketed and sold feature films, television se ...
. Anchor Bay would release the film again in 2006. The film made its Blu-ray debut on September 6, 2011 by Image Entertainment
RLJ Entertainment (formerly Image Entertainment) is an American film production company and home video distributor, distributing film and television productions in North America, with approximately 3,200 exclusive DVD titles and approximately 34 ...
, who also released the film on DVD that same day. In 2013, Anchor Bay released the film on Blu-ray as a "Double feature
The double feature is a motion picture industry phenomenon in which theatres would exhibit two films for the price of one, supplanting an earlier format in which one feature film and various short subject reels would be shown.
Opera use
Opera ho ...
" with '' Re-Animator'' (1985) and on DVD as part of a four disc set which also includes ''Re-Animator'', '' Sleepwalkers'' (1992), and '' Darkness Falls'' (2003). The film had its Canadian release on both DVD and Blu-ray by E1 Entertainment
E1, E01, E.I or E-1 may refer to:
Transportation Aircraft
* Azcárate E-1, a Mexican sesquiplane trainer
* Fokker E.I, a German fighter aircraft
* Grumman E-1 Tracer, an American airborne early warning aircraft
* Hydra Technologies E1 Gavilá ...
on January 10, 2013. The film was later released on Blu-ray by Arrow Video on October 11, 2016 and again on January 30, 2018.
Analysis
Genre
In '' Men, Women, and Chainsaws'', Carol J. Clover characterizes ''The Hills Have Eyes'' as a rape and revenge film
Rape and revenge films are a subgenre of exploitation film that was particularly popular in the 1970s, but attracted controversy as a target of extreme cinema.
Explanation of the subgenre
Rape and revenge films generally follow the same three-ac ...
. Steven Jay Schneider classifies the film as a hybrid horror film, road movie
A road movie is a film genre in which the main characters leave home on a road trip, typically altering the perspective from their everyday lives. Road movies often depict travel in the hinterlands, with the films exploring the theme of alienat ...
, "siege film" and Western.[ Christopher Sharrett of '']Film Quarterly
''Film Quarterly'', a journal devoted to the study of film, television, and visual media, is published by University of California Press. It publishes scholarly analyses of international and Hollywood cinema as well as independent film, including d ...
'' sees the film as more akin to an Anti-Western.
Moral themes
According to Steven Jay Schneider in ''Senses of Cinema
''Senses of Cinema'' is a quarterly online film magazine founded in 1999 by filmmaker Bill Mousoulis. Based in Melbourne, Australia, ''Senses of Cinema'' publishes work by film critics from all over the world, including critical essays, career ...
'', the sequence where Big Bob is crucified symbolizes "utter repudiation of" Judeo-Christian ethics
The idea that a common Judaeo-Christian ethics or Judeo-Christian values underpins American politics, law and morals has been part of the " American civil religion" since the 1940s. In recent years, the phrase has been associated with American ...
. Schneider also views everyone in the film as guilty in some way. ''Slant Magazine'' Ed Gonzales characterized the film as "morally inconsequential," commenting that with the film's ending "Craven seemingly believes he's saying something about our instinctual need to kill for pleasure, but this philosophy doesn't hold water considering the context of oug'ssituation....It's a cut-and-dry iccase of life-or-death self-defense." In ''Wes Craven: The Art of Horror'', John Kenneth Muir
John Kenneth Muir (born December 3, 1969) is an American literary critic. As of 2022, he has written thirty reference books in the fields of film and television, with a particular focus on the horror and science fiction genres.
Biography
Bor ...
writes that the film is not saying that the Carter family are worse than their enemies, as the cannibal clan commits violent acts more horrific than anything the Carters do, but that the Carters must stoop to the level of barbarians to defeat barbarians. Muir also believes while the actions of Jupiter's family are inexcusable, they are understandable, as they are trying to survive.
Political themes
Craven has said that the film expresses rage against American culture and the bourgeois
The bourgeoisie ( , ) is a social class, equivalent to the middle or upper middle class. They are distinguished from, and traditionally contrasted with, the proletariat by their affluence, and their great cultural and financial capital. Th ...
. John Kenneth Muir views the Carters as representing the United States, and that while ''The Hills Have Eyes'' has and can be interpreted as an allegory about the Vietnam War
The Vietnam War (also known by other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vietna ...
, this is complicated by the fact that the Carters defeat their enemies, unlike the American forces in Vietnam. Muir instead sees the film as being about the class divide in America, with the Carters symbolizing the wealthy and Papa Jupiter's family representing the poor. He supports this theory by noting that the Carters and the cannibals are both from America.
Franchise
Craven directed a sequel to the film, '' The Hills Have Eyes Part II'', which was released in 1985. Craven made the film to turn ''The Hills Have Eyes'' into a series, in the vein of the ''Halloween
Halloween or Hallowe'en (less commonly known as Allhalloween, All Hallows' Eve, or All Saints' Eve) is a celebration observed in many countries on 31 October, the eve of the Western Christian feast of All Saints' Day. It begins the observan ...
'' and ''Friday the 13th
Friday the 13th is considered an unlucky day in Western superstition. It occurs when the 13th day of the month in the Gregorian calendar falls on a Friday, which happens at least once every year but can occur up to three times in the same yea ...
'' series. In the late 1980s, Craven considered making a film in the series set in outer space
Outer space, commonly shortened to space, is the expanse that exists beyond Earth and its atmosphere and between celestial bodies. Outer space is not completely empty—it is a near-perfect vacuum containing a low density of particles, pred ...
, but it never came to fruition. The unrelated Craven project '' Mind Ripper'' (1995) was originally going to be a third ''The Hills Have Eyes'' movie, but it was re-written so that it never directly refers to ''The Hills Have Eyes'' or ''Part II''. ''Mind Ripper'' still has the alternative title ''The Hills Have Eyes III''. Alexandre Aja directed a remake of ''The Hills Have Eyes'' in 2006, which Craven produced. In 2007, Craven and his son Jonathan wrote the sequel to the remake, '' The Hills Have Eyes 2''.
Cultural impact
Legacy
Multiple critics have deemed ''The Hills Have Eyes'' a cult classic
A cult following refers to a group of fans who are highly dedicated to some person, idea, object, movement, or work, often an artist, in particular a performing artist, or an artwork in some medium. The lattermost is often called a cult classic. ...
, with Zachary Paul of Bloody Disgusting saying "In the 40 years since the film was released, ''The Hills Have Eyes'' has amassed quite the large following. It's hard to throw a rock at any decent horror convention without clocking someone involved with the film's production in the head."[ Both Berryman and his character Pluto have become horror icons due to the film.][ Dee Wallace became known as a scream queen due to her roles in ''The Hills Have Eyes'', '' The Howling'' (1981) and '']Cujo
''Cujo'' () is a 1981 psychological horror novel by American writer Stephen King about a rabid Saint Bernard. The novel won the British Fantasy Award in 1982 and was made into a film in 1983.
Background
Cujo's name was based on the alias of ...
'' (1983). John Kenneth Muir writes that ''The Hills Have Eyes'' "was seen as a turning point in the horror genre" and inspired humorous, visceral horror films that were accomplished on a technical level, including ''Halloween
Halloween or Hallowe'en (less commonly known as Allhalloween, All Hallows' Eve, or All Saints' Eve) is a celebration observed in many countries on 31 October, the eve of the Western Christian feast of All Saints' Day. It begins the observan ...
'' (1978), ''Friday the 13th
Friday the 13th is considered an unlucky day in Western superstition. It occurs when the 13th day of the month in the Gregorian calendar falls on a Friday, which happens at least once every year but can occur up to three times in the same yea ...
'' (1980), and '' Prom Night'' (1980).
In popular culture
While watching ''The Hills Have Eyes'', director Sam Raimi
Samuel M. Raimi ( ; born October 23, 1959) is an American filmmaker. He is best known for directing the ''Spider-Man'' trilogy (2002–2007) and the ''Evil Dead'' franchise (1981–present). He also directed the 1990 superhero film '' Darkman' ...
noticed a ripped poster for Steven Spielberg
Steven Allan Spielberg (; born December 18, 1946) is an American director, writer, and producer. A major figure of the New Hollywood era and pioneer of the modern blockbuster, he is the most commercially successful director of all time. Sp ...
's '' Jaws'' (1975) in a scene of the film. He "took it to mean that Wes Craven...was saying Jaws'' was just pop horror. What I have here is real horror.'"[ This inspired Raimi to include a ripped ''The Hills Have Eyes'' poster in his film '']The Evil Dead
''The Evil Dead'' is a 1981 American supernatural horror film written and directed by Sam Raimi, produced by Robert Tapert and executive produced by Raimi, Tapert, and Bruce Campbell, who also starred alongside Ellen Sandweiss, Richard DeMan ...
'' (1981), as a humorous way of telling Craven "No, this is the real horror, pal." Craven reacted to this by having Nancy Thompson fall asleep while watching ''The Evil Dead'' in his film ''A Nightmare on Elm Street
''A Nightmare on Elm Street'' is a 1984 American supernatural slasher film written and directed by Wes Craven and produced by Robert Shaye. It is the first installment in the ''A Nightmare on Elm Street'' franchise and stars Heather Langenk ...
'' (1984). Raimi responded to that by including Freddy Krueger
Freddy Krueger () is a fictional character and the primary antagonist in the ''A Nightmare on Elm Street'' film series. He was created by Wes Craven and made his debut in Craven's ''A Nightmare on Elm Street'' (1984) as the malevolent spirit ...
's glove in a scene of ''Evil Dead II
''Evil Dead II'' (also known in publicity materials as ''Evil Dead 2: Dead by Dawn'') is a 1987 American comedy horror film directed by Sam Raimi. It is considered both a remake and sequel (or "re-quel") to the 1981 film '' The Evil Dead'', and ...
'' (1987). Later, Craven would have characters in his film '' Scream'' (1996) choose to watch a VHS of ''Halloween'' (1978) instead of the VHS of ''The Evil Dead'' (1981) that they had. Then, in a first-season episode of Raimi's television show ''Ash vs Evil Dead
Ash or ashes are the solid remnants of fires. Specifically, ''ash'' refers to all non-aqueous, non-gaseous residues that remain after something burns. In analytical chemistry, to analyse the mineral and metal content of chemical samples, ash is ...
'', Krueger's glove can be glimpsed, while a poster for ''The Hills Have Eyes'' can be seen outside a movie theater in an episode of the show's second season.
The videogame ''Red Dead Redemption
''Red Dead Redemption'' is a 2010 action-adventure game developed by Rockstar San Diego and published by Rockstar Games. A spiritual successor to 2004's ''Red Dead Revolver'', it is the second game in the ''Red Dead'' series. ''Red Dead Redemp ...
'', set in the old west, includes a side mission called "American Appetites", where the main character investigates a series of disappearances of travelers near the fictional town of Armadillo. At the end, the player finds out that the disappearances are the work of a cannibal serial killer that lives in the hills.
"Home
A home, or domicile, is a space used as a permanent or semi-permanent residence for one or many humans, and sometimes various companion animals. It is a fully or semi sheltered space and can have both interior and exterior aspects to it. ...
," a 1996 episode of ''The X-Files
''The X-Files'' is an American science fiction drama television series created by Chris Carter. The series revolves around Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Special Agents Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson), wh ...
'', is an homage to both ''The Hills Have Eyes'' and ''The Texas Chain Saw Massacre''.
The title and lyrics of The Weeknd
Abel Makkonen Tesfaye (born February 16, 1990), known professionally as the Weeknd, is a Canadian singer, songwriter, record producer, and actor. Known for his sonic versatility and dark lyricism, his music explores escapism, romance, and ...
's song " The Hills" (2015) reference Craven's film.
References
Bibliography
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External links
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Soundtrack details on Discogs
Through the Eyes of America: Wes Craven’s "The Hills Have Eyes"
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hills Have Eyes, The (1977 film)
1977 films
1977 horror films
1970s exploitation films
1977 independent films
1970s serial killer films
American exploitation films
American political films
American horror films
American independent films
American rape and revenge films
American serial killer films
Films about cannibalism
1970s English-language films
Films about families
Films about vacationing
Films based on European myths and legends
Films directed by Wes Craven
Films shot in the Mojave Desert
Films set in deserts
Films set in Nevada
Patricide in fiction
The Hills Have Eyes
1970s American films
Films shot in 16 mm film