The Carter family are on their way to California, but take a detour through a nuclear blasted desert in search of a family silver mine. When a freak accident causes them to crash their car, the Carter's - Bob & Ethel, their children Lynne, Brenda and Bobby, Lynne's husband Doug and their baby Katy - are stranded in the middle of nowhere...but they are not alone. Little do they know that the rocky wasteland is inhabited by another, very different family. Papa Jupiter is the head of a cannibal family who live in the desert hills, and he and his vicious sons - the sadistic Mars, the deformed Pluto and the simpleton Mercury - are already plotting the deaths of the Carters in order to replenish their food supply. Bob and Doug wander off into the desert, searching for help, leaving the women and children behind. As night falls, Bobby Carter grows increasingly alarmed. The family dogs are restless and spooked, and the bitch Beauty turns up dead, horribly gutted. Heavy breathing can be heard on the CB they are using to call for help. When father Bob is discovered, crucified and burned alive, it is already too late. Mars and Pluto have descended upon the trailer, raping Brenda, killing Lynne and Ethel and stealing baby Katy away. However, when the sun finally comes up, the Carter's have ceased to be victims. Brenda, Bobby and Doug turn as savage as their tormentors, setting traps and giving chase into the hills to retrieve baby Katy and have bloody revenge upon Jupiter and his sons.
Loosely based upon the case of Scottish cannibal Sawney Bean and his outlaw family, The Hills Have Eyes is similar to The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, but not quite as good. That's not to say it's bad - it's a great, tense, atmospheric and brutal movie, though not as brutal as it could have been considering Craven's previous film The Last House on the Left. The attack on the trailer and the rape/ murder of the women is a difficult scene to watch, but it's also enormously satisfying to see Brenda recover and ruthlessly take charge, plotting a clever trap for Jupiter. Likewise, cannibal family daughter Ruby also emerges as a heroine of strength and resourcefulness. For a film made in 1977, The Hills Have Eyes really is a woman's lib horror movie.
It may move too slowly for some, and admittedly some of Brenda's screaming got on my nerves, but all in all this is a great movie for its time. 8 out of 10.
Loosely based upon the case of Scottish cannibal Sawney Bean and his outlaw family, The Hills Have Eyes is similar to The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, but not quite as good. That's not to say it's bad - it's a great, tense, atmospheric and brutal movie, though not as brutal as it could have been considering Craven's previous film The Last House on the Left. The attack on the trailer and the rape/ murder of the women is a difficult scene to watch, but it's also enormously satisfying to see Brenda recover and ruthlessly take charge, plotting a clever trap for Jupiter. Likewise, cannibal family daughter Ruby also emerges as a heroine of strength and resourcefulness. For a film made in 1977, The Hills Have Eyes really is a woman's lib horror movie.
It may move too slowly for some, and admittedly some of Brenda's screaming got on my nerves, but all in all this is a great movie for its time. 8 out of 10.