The Hills Have Eyes (2-Disc Edition)
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Movie Reviews of The Hills Have Eyes (2-Disc Edition)
Movie Review: Thriller/ Suspence
Summary: 4 Stars
This movie is a great thriller/suspence filled one.
Not as ''scary'' or gorey as thought.
Very good - 2 thumbs up!
Movie Review: Classic Craven
Summary: 4 Stars
To this day, The Hills Have Eyes remains one of Wes Craven's more notable films as well as establishing its place as a horror classic in general. Although the plot is a tad reminiscient of Tobe Hooper's Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Hills is still a solid piece of low budget horror.
Opening with some great eerie footage of the isolated desert hills, we meet the California bound Carter family as they make a stop at a dilapidated gas station. Following an ill advised shortcut, they end up in a car crash stranded deep in the outlying desert, but more importantly in the "air force testing range" where a family of deranged cannibalistic savages dwells. Using their knowledge of the desert and some guerilla warfare-like tactics, the mutant tribe begins exterminating the Carters one by one until a select few remain in the struggle for survival. The remaining family members band together to exact their revenge on the cannibals as well as escape the desert with their lives.
Hills really utilizes the creepy desert scenery to create an unsettling vibe as well as imposing feelings of unfamiliarity, helplessness, and simply being alone. As a person who likes a horror film with atmosphere often more than one with gore, Hills is a great example of how important a creepy vibe can play into a movie. I feel the film has aged to a point to where it would not offend a frequent horror-goer, but at the same it is never boring and certainly interesting enough storywise to keep you entertained. Also that's not to say that there isn't some good gory content present afterall, we have a moderate amount of bloodletting here as well as a gruesome death by burning, and a memorable scene with a caged parakeet.
The characters are all generally well acted and likable, the Carters and the cannibals alike featuring some great performances from Dee Wallace, James Whitworth and of course Michael Berryman as Pluto. I feel that some of the film's attributes were better demonstrated in the recent remake such as the back story it provided on the cannibals, which was rather weak in this original, but we'll save that for another review. All in all The Hills Have Eyes is a cool little movie that should be in every horror fan's library, check this one out.
Movie Review: A Terrible Classic
Summary: 2 Stars
This is a genuinely bad movie that only true horror buffs will appreciate. It's definitely a classic of the genre, but that doesn't mean it's not a turd. A classic turd is still a turd.
Bad actors, bad dialogue, bad pacing, bad music, bad production values, bad direction, just...plain...bad...
Movie Review: Good
Summary: 2 Stars
Good B movie is all it is. Don't expect a lot out of it.Movie Review: Really not that "scary".
Summary: 2 Stars
My favorite movie genre is horror. There's just something about not knowing what's going to happen that gives me goosebumps. That being said, I'm not a really big fan of older scary movies. The lame effects, the far from scary evil guys, and the typical storylines just don't do anything for me. So when the remake of The Hills Have Eyes came out, I thought I'd watch the original before watching the remake. As you can tell from my 2 star rating, I was less than pleased.
I never did get to watch the remake. The reason why? I figured that if the remake was anything like the original, it wouldn't be worth my time. And truthfully, I didn't even watch the entire movie because it was *that* uninteresting to me.
But let's try to be positive for a second. Let's talk about the few things I liked about the movie. Although you'll hear a lot in this review that it just wasn't that scary, there were a couple of scenes that were too real to go unnoticed. There is one thing I like about older scary movies-the smallest details make the events more realistic. Little things like the length of a scene, the amount of sound, even the lack of gore make this movie just a tad more creepy. If I had to come up with another positive it would be that the acting is pretty decent for an older movie.
And now for the negatives. The first thing I must bring up is that this movie moves along rather slowly. Some scenes could have been taken out. Some scenes should've been shorter. Some scenes were repetitive. This was ultimately the reason why I had to stop watching the movie. Secondly, as I mentioned above, the "scary" guys were not scary at all. If the audience isn't afraid of the supposed "scary" person, that ruins the point of the film. Lastly, there's a lack of a climax which left me completely frustrated.
Bottom line-I'd go ahead and skip this one if you're looking for something truly scary.