The Hills Have Eyes (1977)

Sadly Over-hyped

Don't Believe the Hype

Better Late Then Never

A Masterpiece!

A Wes Craven classic, he truly nailed the suspense and the awkward atmosphere of the beginning. Almost nothing is revealed to the viewer until the later half of the film, which greatly increases the horror of the movie as a whole.Despite the crappy cheesy costumes and really bad wigs this still manages to hold up pretty well because its all go from beginning to the end and it should have you one the edge of your seat. Basically a cast of unknowns, with Michael Berryman's performance the stand out.Along with the Elm street series it's arguably the greatest contribution from Wes Craven.This style of movie has been copied over and over since, but this one stands out from the rest for genuine horror fans.

I saw this for the first time in the late 80s. Found it to b disturbing then. But when i saw the remake in 2006, i found this to b very mild. Jus revisited it again. The plot is about a family taking the wrong turn off the main road and finding themselves being hunted down by a cannibal family. Talking bout this original, some scenes i found to b comedic. Maybe if the remake didn't exist, this movie wud have still been disturbing. Well this movie does deserve some respect among horror fans. The dress of the mother of the cannibalistic looked as if she is some gypsy woman. One member wearing bear skin in a desert n most of em wearing necklaces made outta some teeth. The cannibalistic clans looked more like dirty hippies n Mexican bandits rather than ferals. The scene where the kids on the radio r asked about their defence strength n the reply they get..... was really comedic. Sitting ducks. Hahaha... The scene wher the old ex cop is roasted alive n his eyeballs r shown.... Comedic? This movie lacked the tension, atmosphere n suspense. It lacked the brutality. Remember Texas chainsaw massacre being brutal, atmospheric n tensed without blood n gore. Agree the remake by Aja is hands down much superior than this original but Craven shud b applauded for making this n Last house... in the 70s. Except for Berryman, the cannibalistic male members looked more like Mexican bandits who hasn't taken bath for months. Avoid the 1984 sequel like plague. The sequel contains unnecessary tremendous footage from the first part.

Unusually, this is one film that I ended up watching long after I've already seen the remake; I always try to see the original films first but this Wes Craven chiller slipped me by. Sadly, I was left feeling disappointed and let down once it was over, mainly because the remake is, surprisingly, superior in every way: the actors are better, the gore better, the direction better, and the music better. The remake also sticks VERY closely to the plot of this film, so all of the surprises and twists were well choreographed in advance and there was little to intrigue me here.For a '70s horror film, it's not a bad effort: there are some good chills and the film makes a horror star out of Michael Berryman, the bald bad guy who traded on his appearance here for the rest of his career. The problem is that the low budget hurts the proceedings somewhat, with the rest of the cannibal family resembling hippies rather than mutants. Despite the savagery of their actions, they end up laughable instead of frightening. Another problem is Craven's direction – it feels insipid rather than inspired and in light of Alexandre Aja's excellent job on the remake, I can't help but feel it's lacking. Some of the cast don't help, with Susan Lanier standing out as one of the most irritating screamers in horror history (the dog's great, though). Back in the day, THE HILLS HAVE EYES was a shocking and depraved horror flick; today it's a dated intrigue that doesn't stand up alongside fellow '70s movies like The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. It's okay but I'd recommend the remake over this any day.

The Hills Have Eyes (1977) **** (out of 4) Raw terror at its finest as a family from Ohio are traveling to California but they decide to go down a closed road in the deserts hoping to find a mine. They eventually end up wrecking their car and soon a group of cannibals from the hills are attacking them.Wes Craven's THE HILLS HAVE EYES is to me one of the greatest horror films of the decade and also one of the rawest. Craven had previously made THE LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT and when you compare the two films it's easy to see a certain vision on the screen. Craven's ability to make both film seem real and make both of them so raw and powerful really speaks to his talent and especially when you consider the budgets that he was working on. LAST HOUSE is a real mixed film as far as I'm concerned but everything came out perfectly with HILLS and that's why it remains so powerful no matter how many times you see it.There are a few sequences here that are so full of terror that you can't help but get curled up or be on the edge of your seat. The first time is when the attack finally happens on the family. When you really sit back and think about this sequence it's really amazing how much stuff is going on and how well the editing brings it all together. You've got stuff going on outside the trailer as well as inside the trailer. In both cases multiple things are happening and with so much going on it just keeps building the tension level.The second sequence happens during the extended ending where the family must fight for their lives. Again, multiple things are going on at once and the way Craven plays this sequence and the earlier one just makes things so suspenseful that you can't help but feel the terror.Of course, the terror only works if you care for the people you're watching. There's quite a bit of character development here as the start of the film gives you plenty of time to get to know this family, care for them and want to see them survive. Caring about the family really helps once they come under attack. It also helps that the performances are so good. Dee Wallace, Susan Lanier, John Steadman, Robert Houston are all extremely good as are the "other" family played by James Whitworth, Michael Berryman and Janus Blythe. It also doesn't hurt that we're given some realistic cinematography that puts you right there in all the action and the music score is one of the best out there for a horror movie.THE HILLS HAVE EYES is in my opinion Craven's masterpiece. Yes, there are a few flaws here and there but the power of the film is unquestionable and it's this terror that makes the film so memorable.