Review - The Hills Have Eyes (1977)

This just reinforces the fact that in horror movies, nothing is really dead unless you make sure it is dead . . .

. . . so in this original version of The Hills Have Eyes there is still the nuclear testing angle, but the story does not seem to rely on it as heavily as in the remake. The basic reason for the hill people in this version is that Fred (John Steadman) and his family stayed in the area during the governments nuclear testing though they were warned to evacuate. He had at that time a wife and a daughter and a son would soon be on the way. He seemed to be living the perfect American dream until the day his son was born . . .

From his birth Fred could tell that there was something terribly wrong with his son, he was humongous for one thing - by his tenth birthday he was a s big as Fred. The other thing was that strange accidents befell both animals and people around him. After a fire that ripped through his home and killed his little girl, Fred in a fit of anger smashed his son’s face in with a tire iron and left him in the desert to die. This is where the fact comes into play that you should always make sure that whatever it is you want to die in a horror movie is dead before you leave it. From that time on it seemed that Fred was doomed to provide the hill people with food and supplies in return for what they brought in as trade. And when they learn of Fred’s intention to flee, all hell breaks loose .

Seems that the hill people in this film are just starving and that is why they do what it is that they do. Well except Papa Jupiter (James Whitworth) who seems to have a big chip on his shoulder for anyone who dares to come through his land and show off what they’ve got. Which is probably why they char-broiled Big Bob Carter (Russ Grieve). Because let’s be honest, there are far more subtle ways to cause a diversion than this.

It was interesting to me after watching both films to hear about some reviews that said that the remake of The Hills Have Eyes was basically the same as the original. There were some glaring differences in my opinion though I could see that all of the basic scare scenes were the same. As is often the case for me, I really enjoyed the story, the characters and the atmosphere in the original far better than in the remake. And I even saw this one backwards (meaning the remake 1st then the original) thinking that might make a difference in my viewpoint.

I noticed too that the hill people in the remake were much more mutated than in the original. They also seemed a bit meaner and much more sadistic and violent. The dogs had a much bigger part in the original as well. Beauty (Flora) and The Beast (Striker) both beautiful German Shepards were excellent in their roles. Though Beauty still didn’t get a whole lot of air time, The Beast really played a pivotal role in the way things turned out in this version.

I also thought the fact that Bobby Carter’s (Robert Houston) character seemed to be a bit older in the original made more sense than that of the remake. Also interestingly enough, Ruby's (Janus Blythe) character wasn't even really a part of the hill people's family, which might explain why she did what she did. I do think that both Lynne (Dee Wallace) and Brenda (Susan Lanier) need to be mentioned as both of their characters seemed to react extremely realistically. And although the ending is somewhat similar in both versions (both begging a sequel), more emphasis is given to Doug’s (Martin Speer) forced spiral into uncivilized behavior.

Having said all that, both versions were extremely good. It’s a bit hard for me to pick a favorite though due to the fact that while both versions were very similar in a lot of ways, both versions were also very, very different.


Directed by
Wes Craven

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Wes Craven

Cast (in credits order)complete, awaiting verification
Susan Lanier .... Brenda Carter
Robert Houston .... Bobby Carter
Martin Speer .... Doug Wood
Dee Wallace-Stone .... Lynne Wood (as Dee Wallace)
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
Striker .... The Beast