The Hills Have Eyes (1977)

User Rating:

6.4/10   

Director:

Wes Craven

Writer:

Wes Craven (writer)

Release Date:

22 July 1977 (USA)

Genre:

Horror | Thriller

Tagline:

The lucky ones died first...

Plot:

On the way to California, a family has the misfortune to have their car break down in an area closed to the public, and inhabited by violent savages ready to attack.

Plot Keywords:

Desert | Cannibal | Blood | Dead Animal | Shot In The Chest

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Susan Lanier	...	Brenda Carter
Robert Houston	...	Bobby Carter
Martin Speer	...	Doug Wood
Dee Wallace	...	Lynne Wood
Russ Grieve	...	Big Bob Carter
John Steadman	...	Fred
James Whitworth	...	Jupiter
Virginia Vincent	...	Ethel Carter
Lance Gordon	...	Mars
Michael Berryman	...	Pluto
Janus Blythe	...	Ruby
Cordy Clark	...	Mama
Brenda Marinoff	...	Katy
Peter Locke	...	Mercury (as Arthur King)
Flora	...	Beauty, the Carters' Dog
Striker	...	The Beast, the Carters' Dog

Directed by
Wes Craven

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Wes Craven		writer

Produced by
Peter Locke	....	producer

Original Music by
Don Peake

Cinematography by
Eric Saarinen

Film Editing by
Wes Craven

Casting by
Gus Schirmer

Art Direction by
Robert A. Burns		(as Robert Burns)

Costume Design by
Joanne Jaffe

Makeup Department
Dave Ayres	....	special makeup
RaMona Fleetwood	....	hair stylist
Karen Grant	....	makeup artist: second unit
Ken Horn	....	special makeup
Donald Mulderick	....	makeup artist

Production Management
Walter R. Cichy	....	production manager (as Walter Cichy)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Valley Hoffman	....	assistant director

Sound Department
David Lee Fein	....	sound effects
Craig Felburg	....	sound mixer: second unit
D.G. Fisher	....	assistant sound
Peter Hitchcock	....	sound effects
David Marsh	....	sound effects
Jan Schulte	....	sound mixer
Hal Watkins	....	re-recording engineer

Special Effects by
Greg Auer	....	special effects
John Frazier	....	special effects

Stunts
Alton James	....	stunts
Ron Stein	....	stunt coordinator
Ron Stein	....	stunts

Camera and Electrical Department
Dennis Bishop	....	gaffer
Larry Boyd	....	grip
Robert Eber	....	additional camera operator: second unit (as Bob Eber)
Ray Fischer	....	still photographer
William Moore	....	grip
Leslie Otis	....	assistant camera
Lynn Rogers	....	key grip
Richard Scheid	....	grip
Tim Wawrzeniak	....	additional camera operator: second unit
Ken Wheeland	....	best boy

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Paula Cain	....	wardrobe supervisor

Editorial Department
Robert Alsheimer	....	assistant editor

Other crew
Florence M. Amico	....	production assistant
Joanie Blum	....	script supervisor
Rick Braverman	....	script supervisor: second unit (as Rick Brawerman)
Jim Dannaldson	....	snakes
Moe Di Sesso	....	dogs
Rhonda Hopkins	....	production assistant
Peter Locke	....	presenter
Tom Morrocco	....	dogs
Tom Pickette	....	location coordinator
Rose Marie Yurinko	....	assistant: producer

Production Companies

• Blood Relations Co.

Distributors

• Vanguard (I) (1977) (USA) (theatrical)
• Anchor Bay Entertainment (2003) (USA) (DVD)
• Astral Films (Canada)
• Atlantic Film (2005) (Sweden) (DVD)
• DMEG (2004) (Sweden) (video)
• Future Film (1997) (Finland)
• Harmonyvision (1981) (USA) (VHS)
• Image Entertainment (laserdisc)
• Magnum Entertainment (USA) (VHS)
• Umbrella Entertainment (2005) (Australia) (DVD)
• Vestron Video (video)

Other Companies

• Doneil Productions  sound effects
• Freeze Frame  titles
• MGM Laboratories  prints
• Movielab Films Inc.  film processing

Also Known As:

Blood Relations (USA) (original script title)
Wes Craven's The Hills Have Eyes (USA) (LD title)

Runtime:

89 min | UK:86 min (cut version)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

New Zealand:R18 | USA:X (original rating) | USA:Unrated (unrated DVD version) | Finland:(Banned) (1986) | Finland:K-16 (1996) | USA:R (MPAA rating) | Italy:VM14 | Sweden:15 | UK:18 (cut) (1987) | UK:X (original rating) (cut) | Germany:18 (uncut) (2008) | Argentina:X (original rating) | Netherlands:16 | Argentina:18 (re-rating) | Australia:R | Norway:18 | UK:18 | USA:R | Iceland:16

Filming Locations:

Victorville, California, USA

Company:

Blood Relations Co.

Trivia:

Many of the props in the feral family's cave were from Robert A. Burns's previous project, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974).

Goofs:

Factual errors: Toward the end of the movie, Bobby and Brenada use the left rear wheel of the car to pull Papa Jupiter across the ground, if the Axel had snapped like Big Bob said, this would be impossible.

Quotes:

Ethel Carter: That's not my Bob!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Little Red Riding Hood (2009) (V)

Classic Craven, and one of the best horror films of the 70's.

Wes Craven's greatest B horror film was this harrowing low-budgeter that has gained quite a fan base over the years.

Charming, all-American family becomes stranded in the dessert wilderness and are preyed upon by a clan of savage hill-dwellers.

Violent, shocking, gory, and genuinely frightening, it's not hard to see why The Hills Have Eyes gained it's reputation as one of the most ruthless horror films of its decade. Craven's direction is well done, nicely exposing the raw and scenic filming locations. His story is also quite powerful. Craven gives us a taught, merciless tale of fear and survival that dares to break the audience's comfortable expectations! It has plenty of unexpected twists and a steely suspenseful climax. As with Craven's early film, Last House on the Left (1972), The Hills Have Eyes is a film about clean-cut,likable people who must become brutal animals to avenge themselves. It's solidly intense and very poetic.

The cast of unknowns turns in great performances. Lanier, Houston, Speer, Grieve, Wallace, and Vincent all make for a well identifiable American family. While Whitworth, Gordon, and Berryman make for perfectly scary monsters!

A startling and memorable thriller all around, The Hills Have Eyes remains one of Craven's greatest achievements and one truly relentless horror picture! Genre fans should not miss it.

**** out of ****