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THE HILLS HAVE EYES
Emblematic of a true horror classic, this early Wes Craven film shows that once upon a time he was one of the fastest, meanest, most relentless filmmakers in or out of the horror genre. Obviously times have changed.
The Package
Wes Craven’s 1971 debut, the ultra-low budget rape ‘n revenge thriller
THE LAST
HOUSE ON THE LEFT, showed that he wasn’t afraid to reeeeeally take the
genre to the edge. THE HILLS HAVE EYES, made after several years of fruitless
attempts at making a non-horror movie, has a similar sensibility. As with the
earlier film, the budget was extremely tight, and THHE, also in common with LAST
HOUSE, is chock full of shocking brutality. The violence here is nasty and
animalistic, far removed from the slick Hollywood sensibilities of later Wes
Craven opuses like SCREAM.
No discussion of THE HILLS HAVE EYES is complete without noting the
unmistakable comparisons to an earlier low budget horror sleeper: Tobe Hooper’s
THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE. Both films have similar storylines and both have
become quite influential in the years since their inceptions. It’s obvious
Craven borrowed quite a bit from Hooper’s film, in particular production
designer Robert Burns, who apparently recycled many props from CHAINSAW for THHE.
No, THHE isn’t as good as the other film, but the effect it’s had on the genre
is colossal; THHE’s greatest influence has been, interestingly enough, on
literary horror and authors like Jack Ketchum (whose infamous OFF SEASON is
practically a rewrite of Craven’s film) and Joe Lansdale. Incidentally, THHE,
while not a huge success, even inspired a 1985 sequel, which has the dubious
distinction of being one of the all-time worst.
The Story
The Carters are a nice suburban family driving through the California
desert. They have the misfortune to crash their caravan amidst a truly
Godforsaken stretch of dusty rocks. The sun goes down and the Carters realize
they’re not alone—a family of inbred savages lives in the rocks, birthed by an
old man who runs a nearby gas station. Appropriately enough, it’s the latter
who gets killed first, by his errant son, who bursts in through a gas station
window and snatches him away. The son, named Jupiter (who’s named his own son
Mars), also snatches away the “nice” father, whom he crucifies and burns to a
crisp.
The night is host to another attack, by two of the evil family’s sons who
kill the mother and her grown daughter...and steal the latter’s baby. The next
morning the surviving Carters find themselves at the end of their collective
ropes, and end up surpassing their adversaries in savagery. The Carter’s dog
manages to pick off two of the bad guys, pushing one off a cliff and goring
another’s neck. The remaining Carters are just as vociferous in killing off
their adversaries, at one point even using their mother’s corpse as bait!
The Direction
There’s no doubt about it: back in 1977 Wes Craven was The Man. His
editing and camerawork in THE HILLS HAVE EYES are flat-out brilliant,
particularly in the final third, when the intensity reaches a near-unbearable
pitch. The sheer relentlessness of the brutality remains unsurpassed, and the
stunt work has a raw desperation that places it far above most Hollywood fare.
Yes, the tacky 16mm film stock takes some getting used to, even in the
remastered DVD release, and the film’s single take shooting ratio is painfully
evident in the oft stilted performances. The rocky desert locations, on the
other hand, are quite striking and not a little eerie, certainly one of the most
unique and unforgettable horror movie landscapes I’ve seen.
Vital Statistics
THE HILLS HAVE EYES
Blood Relations Co./Anchor Bay Entertainment
Director/Screenwriter/Editor: Wes Craven
Producer: Peter Locke
Cinematographer: Eric Saarinen
Cast: Susan Lanier, Robert Houston, Martin Speer, Dee Wallace, Russ Grieve John
Steadman, Michael Berryman, Lance Gordon, Virginia Vincent, James Whitworth,
Janus Blythe, Cordy Clark, Peter Locke