Synopsis
Taking an ill-advised detour en route to California, the Carter family soon run into trouble when their RV breaks down in the middle of the desert. Stranded, they find themselves at the mercy of monstrous cannibals lurking in the surrounding hills.
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Cast
- Suze Lanier-BramlettBrenda Carter
- Robert HoustonBobby Carter
- Martin SpeerDoug Wood
- Dee WallaceLynne Wood
- Russ GrieveBig Bob Carter
- John SteadmanFred
- James WhitworthJupiter
- Virginia VincentEthel Carter
- Lance GordonMars
- Michael BerrymanPluto
Recommendations
- 75
TV Guide Magazine
Though not particularly bloody, The Hills Have Eyes is an extremely intense and disturbing film. As is the case with Sam Peckinpah's classic, Straw Dogs, it becomes oddly and distressingly exhilarating to watch the nice family become increasingly savage in their efforts to survive. - 70
Variety
Wes Craven’s blood-and-bone frightener about an all-American family at the mercy of cannibal mutants is a satisfying piece of pulp. - 70
Los Angeles Times
Taut, unsettling tale. One of the seminal horror films of the 1970s. [29 Oct 2003, p.E5] - 70
Time Out
Parallel families, Lassie-style pet dogs who turn hunter-killers, savage Nature: exploitation themes are used to maximum effect, and despite occasional errors, the sense of pace never errs. A heady mix of ironic allegory and seat-edge tension. - 63
Slant Magazine
The major saving grace of The Hills Have Eyes is that it’s better acted than probably any other film from Craven’s early period. Because of his emotionally bare nature, Robert Houston’s achingly implosive terror is more complex than your average male lead in a horror film. - 63
Miami Herald
Despite some admittedly intense sequences and a lean, spare script, The Hills Have Eyes hasn't aged all that well, particularly the business with the cannibals, who are more likely to inspire laughter from modern viewers than anything else. [31 Oct 2003, p.22G] - 63
The Seattle Times
Back from the time when Scream director Wes Craven still made real horror. A family on vacation with a trailer is irritating enough. But then their ride breaks down in the desert, and there's a clash of family values with a family of inbred cannibals. During the struggle for survival, it gets hard to tell who the real savages are. [27 Oct 2003, p.E1] - 60
Empire
Important, but it echoes a better film - The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.
