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DVD The Hills Have Eyes
Fans of Wes Craven's more recent major studio work (the Scream series) may be put off by the low-budget griminess of his sophomore feature, The Hills Have Eyes, but the director's longtime supporters and aficionados of '70s horror will be riveted by this unsettling culture clash fable. Originally titled Blood Relations, Hills strands a suburban family (which includes E.T.'s Dee Wallace Stone and future documentarian Robert Houston) in the desert and pits them against a clan of inbred cannibals. The resourceful killer brood quickly decimates the outsiders' numbers, forcing the survivors to fight back with equally savage means. Like Craven's debut, Last House on the Left, Hills is a relentlessly tense film which demolishes numerous societal taboos (fratricide and infant kidnapping, for starters), but it also delivers a powerful subtext about family and the fine line between civilization and animal behavior amidst the mayhem. Highly recommended for Craven completists and fans of no-holds-barred horror. --Paul Gaita
"We're Gonna Be French Fries...Human French Fries!"
"The Hills Have Eyes" is one of Wes Craven's seminal works, and with a remake on the horizon (which will hopefully be done justice, as it is helmed by "High Tension"'s Alex Aja), this is a perfect time to revisit this classic 70's horror outing.
Some of the production design contains contributions by the same guy who did set dressing on the original "Texas Chainsaw Massacre", and in fact "The Hills Have Eyes" creates a lot of the same atmosphere. A hot, dusty setting gives way to a dark, chilly night as a family of nice, clean middle class folks (the Carter family) gets stranded in their motorhome/camper out in the barren desert. But they're not the only family out there...
Papa Jupiter, who has quite the colorful history we are told early in the film, keeps his clan of freaked-out, deformed clan members up in the hills, from where they descend upon the family in a murderous, looting rampage. The clan, with names like Mars and Pluto and Ruby, comes off as a cross between cannibals and pirates, and they're pretty damn mean. The surviving members of the stranded city-folk must then regroup, and get serious about survival, as the night of terror builds towards a violent and savage finish at daybreak.
Craven's best work in this film is devoted to making the city family seem like a real group of people, and you identify with them as they go through ordeal of being lost and then assaulted by total strangers, psychos who will stop at nothing. Rather than just being another back-woods slash-fest, "The Hills Have Eyes" is very much a primal tale of how far one can be pushed under 'life-or-death' circumstances, and what an ordinary person must sink to in order to protect their loved ones. But it's also bloody and scary in places, which makes it an intelligent AND entertaining horror masterpiece. Fine performances also make it a standout, including James Whitworth as Jupiter and Russ Grieve, who is awesome as the Carter patriarch, cantankerous ex-cop 'Big Bob' Carter.
This DVD has some good promo stuff and two documentaries, one an episode of 'The Directors' about Craven, and one about "The Hills Have Eyes" itself. The "Hills..." doc is cool, and various cast and crew relate good stories which made me appreciate the movie all the more. And Michael 'Pluto' Berryman is awesome, and anyone who makes movies should take advantage of his work ethic and unique appearance... why isn't that dude in more movies these days? And although the remake has promise, I really can't imagine "Hills..." without Berryman.
The remake IS supposed to have Ted ("The Silence Of The Lambs") Levine in it, though, so maybe it'll all be okay, after all...
Truly awful; (no stars)/****
Alright well now I realize that my one-star review and negative title will no doubt earn me scores of negative reviews from fans of the film, but my voice will still be heard; if you have not seen this movie, please watch something else. I was attempting to watch lots of horror films (is it Halloween time), and so I decided upon this one. It had a decent premise and was done by Wes Craven. What could go wrong?
Well, to answer my own question, a lot. For one- the characters are never developed. Character development is hardly a must in an 89 minute horror film, but the script does not bestow any traits on any character. Critics bemoan when characters are made into stereotypes (e.g. The Jock, the Brain, etc.) but at least that way they're somewhat identifyable. The only thing different about chracters in this film is their age difference and occaisonally their hair color. The characters are also universally stupid- they keep wandering out in the darkness without flashlights or leaving their RV unguarded or perhaps wandering off the main road in search of a silver mine in an air force bombing facility. Between their inherent stupidity and their complete lack of depth, it is impossible to like, let alone "get in the shoes" of any of the characters.
Sadly the problems do not stop there. The film is also marred by a complete lack of any beleiveability. The desert (which never comes into play the way a setting should, e.g. the moors in American Werewolf) is occasionally hot or cold, but characters easily walk 6-12 miles through out without water without breaking a sweat. The principal bad guy "weighed 20 pounds and came out [of the womb] sideways." The lack of beleivability ratchets down the tension factor- instead of being scared about being in the middle of nowhere, everyone is completely nonchalant. Their car's axle is broken and presumbably they will run out of water soon, but no one bats an eyelash. Further, isn't there something intrinsically scary about a clan of cannibals who hide in caves ala Sawney Bean? Why go so far over the top with the ridiculous backstory?
*Spoiler Warning* To make matters even worse, only 3 of the "good" characters are killed by the mauraders, 2 by gunshot. While the father's burning is kinda cool, the gunshot deaths are very ho-hum. This is supposed to be horror; one sees gunshot victims on law and order. As for the various demises of the badguys, 2 of them die by the family's dog, in the anti-climax of anti-climax. The baby stolen from the family to be eaten of course isn't, the remaining two bad guys are dispatched in long and tedious fight scenes, and the movie ends. This is a truly abysmal movie, please see Straw Dogs (for "my home is my castle" thrills) or Last House on the Left (for early Wes Craven horror). 0/****
'But Something Different Saw Them First'...THE HILLS HAVE EYES
Wes Craven has had quite a resume of horror films, ranging from the disturbing look at the voodoo culture in THE SERPENT AND THE RAINBOW to the icon of Freddy Krueger in A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET. THE HILLS HAVE EYES is an exercise in survival about as brutal as any other movies about survival.
The movie pits a group of city people out for a vacation with the camper against a group of inbred, desert-dwelling cannibals. One of the most creepy things about the movie is one of its most creepy-looking stars - Michael Berryman. As Pluto, he inhabits the role but is also an incredibly creepy looking guy...I think that's what helps THE HILLS HAVE EYES remain unique. Dee Wallace Stone is good looking in this movie, in both her physical beauty but also her role in the movie...she was quite good. The rest of the actors are also good, especially that old guy boy can he be funny ("There'll be hell to pay now!"). The killings are not incredibly violent by any means, but they are frightening at times, but the best was the attack on Pluto by the german shepherd...he really messed up his foot bigtime. The worst scene in the movie has to be the kidnapping of the baby and the killing of the two mothers. It was so appalling but so intense that you are on edge the whole scene...it was just downright disturbing, but you also find there are hints of humanity even within the cannibals themselves, with Pluto being bested sometimes by his brother would could hurt his feelings. It's an interesting idea that plays out very well. The battle between the town folks and the desert cannibals can get quite intense, and this movie felt similar in some instances to TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE in terms of the family running into a group of cannibals, but mind you, MASSACRE is far better than this still very good film. The ending of the movie left something to be desired, the last shot of the film left me dismayed...they killed off most of the cannibals except the girl who helped to rescue the baby, but we are left with a shot of the surviving father's face and a red background...why end it like that, Wes?
Nonetheless, most of THE HILLS HAVE EYES is quite entertaining and very tense, at times scary as well. It's strength lies within its study of the fine line between human behavior and animal instincts, which the human characters show just as much as the cannibals. Worth a viewing if you're a fan of Wes Craven, THE HILLS HAVE EYES should mostly keep you very entertained, even if the ending leaves a bit to be desired.
This is in my opinion one of Wes Craven's worst films, but even having said that, it still makes for a pretty fun watch. The story hear is basically the same except that now, we have a dirtbike racing team to take the place of the family in the first film. When the racing teams bus break's down, hell ensues, as Pluto and the newly introduced "reaper" indulge in some gruesome killing.
The dvd itself is nowhere near the quality I would have liked. The picture is overly grainy, and I noticed a "shimmer", for lack of a better word, throughout the course of the fim. All in all the picture quality is that of an old vhs rental copy. I would not recommend purchasing this dvd unless you are like me and are a die-hard "The hills have eyes" fan. More Info about this DVD Director(s): Wes Craven DVD Release Date: Released the 03 September 2002 Usually ships within 4 to 5 days
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Future Nightmare creator and Scream weaver Wes Craven's film debut is a primitive little production that rises above its cut-rate production values and hazy, grainy patina via its grimly affecting portrait of human evil infiltrating a middle-class household. The story is adapted from Ingmar Bergman's The Virgin Spring, but the film has more in common with Sam Peckinpah's Straw Dogs as it charts the descent of a harmless married couple into methodical killers. A quartet of criminals--a distorted version of the nuclear family--kidnaps a pair of teenage girls and proceeds to ravage, rape, torture, and finally brutally murder them in the woods, unwittingly within walking distance of their rural home. The killers take refuge in the girls' own home, but... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Sandra Cassel - Lucy Grantham Director(s): Wes Craven DVD Release Date: Released the 27 August 2002 Usually ships in 24 hours
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You may never have heard of this neglected 1974 gem, but you've probably seen one of its many imitators. Olivia Hussey and Margot Kidder (also look for Andrea Martin of SCTV fame) star as two residents of a sorority house that is emptying out as Christmas approaches. The atmosphere is jolly and carefree, except for an ongoing series of menacing telephone calls, and, oh yes, we've just seen someone climb into the attic with apparent ill intent. Kidder does some scene-stealing as the bad girl, Hussey illustrates one of the downsides to having beautiful long '70s hair, and Keir Dullea does a nice turn as the creepy boyfriend. Director Robert Clark knows that the unseen is far scarier than what can be seen and he ratchets up the tension beautifully, making good use of ominous shadows,... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Olivia Hussey - Keir Dullea Director(s): Bob Clark (III) DVD Release Date: Released the 06 November 2001 Usually ships in 24 hours
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Outside of devoted cult audiences, many Americans have yet to discover the extremely stylish, relentlessly terrifying Italian horror genre, or the films of its talented virtuoso, Dario Argento. Suspiria, part one of a still-uncompleted trilogy (the luminously empty Inferno was the second), is considered his masterpiece by Argento devotees but also doubles as a perfect starting point for those unfamiliar with the director or his genre. The convoluted plot follows an American dancer (Jessica Harper) from her arrival at a European ballet school to her discovery that it's actually a witches coven; but, really, don't worry about that too much. Argento makes narrative subservient to technique, preferring instead to assault the senses and nervous system with mood, atmosphere,... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Harper - Bennett - Valli - Kier - Casi DVD Release Date: Released the 11 September 2001 Usually ships in 24 hours
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This sensational, extremely influential, 1974 low-budget horror movie directed by Tobe Hooper (Poltergeist, Lifeforce, Salem's Lot), may be notorious for its title, but it's also a damn fine piece of moviemaking. And it's blood-curdling scary, too. Loosely based on the true crimes of Ed Gein (also a partial inspiration for Psycho), the original Jeffrey Dahmer, Texas Chainsaw Massacre follows a group of teenagers who pick up a hitchhiker and wind up in a backwoods horror chamber where they're held captive, tortured, chopped up, and impaled on meat hooks by a demented cannibalistic family, including a character known as Leatherface who maniacally wields one helluva chainsaw. The movie's powerful sense of dread is heightened by its grainy, semi-documentary... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Marilyn Burns - Edwin Neal Director(s): Tobe Hooper DVD Release Date: Released the 14 October 2003 This item is currently not available.
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