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The Hills Have Eyes (1977 film)
Encyclopedia
The Hills Have Eyes is a 1977 American horror film
directed by Wes Craven
and starring Susan Lanier
, Michael Berryman
, and Dee Wallace. It is about a family on a road trip who become stranded in the Nevada desert, and are hunted by a clan of deformed cannibals in the surrounding hills. The film was released in cinemas on July 22, 1977, and has since become a cult classic
.
The Carter family are traveling on vacation. Parents Bob and Ethel are driving, accompanied by their teenage children Bobby and Brenda, eldest daughter Lynne, along with Lynne's husband Doug, baby daughter Katy, and their dogs, Beauty and Beast. They stop at Fred's Oasis for fuel. Fred tells them to stay on the main road. Later, they skid off a desert road and crash, owing to what is later revealed to be a booby-trap. Bob walks back to Fred's Oasis to get help. Fred's son and his son's family of deranged cannibals dwell in the wilderness through which the Carters are traveling. They are commanded by Papa Jupiter, patriarch of the clan. He killed his mother, Fred's wife, during childbirth. As a child, he killed the livestock on his father's farm and later murdered his sister. Fred attacked his son with a tire iron and left him in the wilderness to die. Jupiter survived, and mated with a depraved, alcoholic prostitute known as Mama. Together, they had three sons, Mars, Pluto and Mercury, and their abused daughter Ruby. They survive by stealing from and cannibalizing travelers.
As night falls, Bob reaches the gas station, where Fred tells him the origin of the hill people. Papa Jupiter arrives, kills Fred with a crowbar, and takes Bob prisoner. Doug and Lynne are sleeping in the car while everyone else stays in the trailer. Bobby gets locked out of the trailer and asks Doug for his keys. Bobby does not know the trailer is locked because Pluto is looking through their valuables, while Ethel and Brenda sleep in the next room. As Bobby enters the trailer, Papa Jupiter sets Bob ablaze on a stake in the distance. Ethel, Lynne, Doug and Bobby rush to Bob, while Brenda stays in the trailer with the baby. Everyone tries extinguishing the fire, while Pluto and Mars rape Brenda. The Carters extinguish the fire, but Bob dies shortly after. When Ethel and Lynne return to the trailer, Pluto runs away. Lynne finds Mars taking her baby. She attacks Mars as Ethel hits him with a broom. Mars shoots Ethel and Lynne. Pluto abducts the baby and flees with Mars. Doug rushes in to find Lynne dead; Ethel dies shortly after.
Doug sets out to find his baby while Bobby and Brenda remain behind. Beauty has been savaged by the clan and Ruby is forced to eat it as punishment. She is chained outside the cave where the clan live, with Mama tormenting her. The men of the clan return to the cave, and Mercury is pushed to his death off a hilltop by Beast. Papa Jupiter and Pluto return to the trailer to kill the survivors. Doug sees Ruby knock out Mama and escape with Katy into the hills, followed by Mars. Doug catches up with Ruby and the baby. Pluto is incapacitated by Beast and Papa Jupiter is killed by a trap set by Brenda and Bobby.
Mars follows Doug and Ruby into the hills and is stabbed to death by Doug, saving the baby. The film ends with a closeup of Doug, who is stabbing and kicking the dead body of Mars, as Ruby weeps over her brother's body.
. Craven made a sequel
in 1985, which he later disowned. His son, Jonathan Craven
made a sequel
in 1995. Alexandre Aja
made a remake
in 2006.
The film was ranked #41 on Bravo's 100 Scariest Movie Moments
.
The film was given an X
rating by the MPAA and several of the most graphic moments were edited for an "R" rating. The deleted footage is believed to be lost, though the alternate ending turned up on the 2003 Anchor Bay .
The film received positive reviews from critics, and currently attains a 64% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes
.
The film was nominated for AFI's 100 Years...100 Thrills.
family members, similar to the Sawney Bean family that inspired the story. In addition, the film was set in 1994, took place in a forest, rather than a desert
, and most of the major cannibals (such as Mars, Pluto, and Mercury) were adolescents. The baby was stolen not for food, but for a perverted religious ritual.
and was directed by French horror filmmaker Alexandre Aja
.
Horror film
Horror films seek to elicit a negative emotional reaction from viewers by playing on the audience's most primal fears. They often feature scenes that startle the viewer through the means of macabre and the supernatural, thus frequently overlapping with the fantasy and science fiction genres...
directed by Wes Craven
Wes Craven
Wesley Earl "Wes" Craven is an American actor, film director, writer, producer, perhaps best known as the director of many horror films, particularly slasher films, including the famed A Nightmare on Elm Street and Wes Craven's New Nightmare, featuring the iconic Freddy Krueger character, the...
and starring Susan Lanier
Susan Lanier
Susan Lanier-Bramlett is an American film, television actress and entertainer.Born as Susan Jean Engledow in Dallas, Texas to Gene and Dorothy Lanier Engledow, she moved to New York City to pursue an acting career in 1967 where she attended New York University...
, Michael Berryman
Michael Berryman
Michael John Berryman is an American actor. He has appeared in several horror movies and other B movies. Berryman is famous for having a distinctive physical appearance as a result of hypohidrotic ectodermal dysplasia, a rare genetic condition which prevents him from developing hair, sweat glands...
, and Dee Wallace. It is about a family on a road trip who become stranded in the Nevada desert, and are hunted by a clan of deformed cannibals in the surrounding hills. The film was released in cinemas on July 22, 1977, and has since become a cult classic
Cult Classic
Cult Classic is a Blue Öyster Cult studio recording released in 1994, containing remakes of many of the band's previous hits.-Track listing:# " The Reaper" - 5:05# "E.T.I...
.
Plot
An old man named Fred is packing his truck. A ragged and somewhat feral teenage girl approaches. Annoyed, Fred addresses her as Ruby. She offers to trade what she has in her bag for food, but the old man refuses. They walk into a small cabin and Fred scolds her for what she and "they" have done. Ruby says that her family ambushed a nearby airfield because they were hungry and no one passes by their home anymore. She pleads with Fred to take her with him. He tells Ruby that if "the pack", in particular someone named Jupiter, learns what she is doing, she could be in danger. A noise distracts them and Ruby hides.The Carter family are traveling on vacation. Parents Bob and Ethel are driving, accompanied by their teenage children Bobby and Brenda, eldest daughter Lynne, along with Lynne's husband Doug, baby daughter Katy, and their dogs, Beauty and Beast. They stop at Fred's Oasis for fuel. Fred tells them to stay on the main road. Later, they skid off a desert road and crash, owing to what is later revealed to be a booby-trap. Bob walks back to Fred's Oasis to get help. Fred's son and his son's family of deranged cannibals dwell in the wilderness through which the Carters are traveling. They are commanded by Papa Jupiter, patriarch of the clan. He killed his mother, Fred's wife, during childbirth. As a child, he killed the livestock on his father's farm and later murdered his sister. Fred attacked his son with a tire iron and left him in the wilderness to die. Jupiter survived, and mated with a depraved, alcoholic prostitute known as Mama. Together, they had three sons, Mars, Pluto and Mercury, and their abused daughter Ruby. They survive by stealing from and cannibalizing travelers.
As night falls, Bob reaches the gas station, where Fred tells him the origin of the hill people. Papa Jupiter arrives, kills Fred with a crowbar, and takes Bob prisoner. Doug and Lynne are sleeping in the car while everyone else stays in the trailer. Bobby gets locked out of the trailer and asks Doug for his keys. Bobby does not know the trailer is locked because Pluto is looking through their valuables, while Ethel and Brenda sleep in the next room. As Bobby enters the trailer, Papa Jupiter sets Bob ablaze on a stake in the distance. Ethel, Lynne, Doug and Bobby rush to Bob, while Brenda stays in the trailer with the baby. Everyone tries extinguishing the fire, while Pluto and Mars rape Brenda. The Carters extinguish the fire, but Bob dies shortly after. When Ethel and Lynne return to the trailer, Pluto runs away. Lynne finds Mars taking her baby. She attacks Mars as Ethel hits him with a broom. Mars shoots Ethel and Lynne. Pluto abducts the baby and flees with Mars. Doug rushes in to find Lynne dead; Ethel dies shortly after.
Doug sets out to find his baby while Bobby and Brenda remain behind. Beauty has been savaged by the clan and Ruby is forced to eat it as punishment. She is chained outside the cave where the clan live, with Mama tormenting her. The men of the clan return to the cave, and Mercury is pushed to his death off a hilltop by Beast. Papa Jupiter and Pluto return to the trailer to kill the survivors. Doug sees Ruby knock out Mama and escape with Katy into the hills, followed by Mars. Doug catches up with Ruby and the baby. Pluto is incapacitated by Beast and Papa Jupiter is killed by a trap set by Brenda and Bobby.
Mars follows Doug and Ruby into the hills and is stabbed to death by Doug, saving the baby. The film ends with a closeup of Doug, who is stabbing and kicking the dead body of Mars, as Ruby weeps over her brother's body.
Cast
- Susan LanierSusan LanierSusan Lanier-Bramlett is an American film, television actress and entertainer.Born as Susan Jean Engledow in Dallas, Texas to Gene and Dorothy Lanier Engledow, she moved to New York City to pursue an acting career in 1967 where she attended New York University...
as Brenda Carter - Robert HoustonRobert HoustonRobert Houston is an American actor and filmmaker from California. Robert first became known for his character Bobby in Wes Craven's 1977 horror classic The Hills Have Eyes. He directed the samurai epic Shogun Assassin in 1981. Robert also wrote and directed a few more mainly independent films in...
as Bobby Carter - Martin Speer as Doug Wood
- Dee Wallace as Lynne Wood
- Russ Grieve as Big Bob Carter
- Virginia Vincent as Ethel Carter
- John SteadmanJohn Steadman (actor)John Steadman was an American actor.-Career:Steadman was a former radio personality who became a character actor when he retired after 30 years in radio....
as Fred - James WhitworthJames WhitworthJames Whitworth is a cartoonist and journalist.Born in Sheffield, United Kingdom in 1970, Whitworth was educated at Tapton School and Sheffield Hallam University, where he graduated with a degree in English language and literature...
as Papa Jupiter - Lance Gordon as Mars
- Michael BerrymanMichael BerrymanMichael John Berryman is an American actor. He has appeared in several horror movies and other B movies. Berryman is famous for having a distinctive physical appearance as a result of hypohidrotic ectodermal dysplasia, a rare genetic condition which prevents him from developing hair, sweat glands...
as Pluto - Arthur King as Mercury
- Janus Blythe as Ruby
- Cordy Clark as Mama
- Brenda Marinoff as Katy
Reception
The film did reasonably well in its initial release and today enjoys a large cult followingCult film
A cult film, also commonly referred to as a cult classic, is a film that has acquired a highly devoted but specific group of fans. Often, cult movies have failed to achieve fame outside the small fanbases; however, there have been exceptions that have managed to gain fame among mainstream audiences...
. Craven made a sequel
The Hills Have Eyes Part II
The Hills Have Eyes Part II is a 1985 American horror film and the sequel to the 1977 classic, The Hills Have Eyes.-Plot:The film opens with Bobby, one of the survivors from the first film and his psychiatrist discussing when Papa Jupiter tried to kill him and Brenda eight years ago...
in 1985, which he later disowned. His son, Jonathan Craven
Jonathan Craven
Jonathan Craven , son of renowned horror director Wes Craven and ex-wife Bonnie Broecker , is a writer and director with a number of credits to his name. Aside from his lineage, he is probably most noteworthy for his co-writing credit on The Hills Have Eyes 2 and his work on the short-lived NBC...
made a sequel
The Hills Have Eyes III
The Hills Have Eyes III, also known as Mind Ripper, or The Hills Still Have Eyes, or The Outpost, is a horror film released on HBO in 1995...
in 1995. Alexandre Aja
Alexandre Aja
Alexandre Aja is a French film director who rose to international stardom for his 2003 horror film Haute Tension .-Personal life:...
made a remake
The Hills Have Eyes (2006 film)
The Hills Have Eyes is a 2006 horror film and remake of Wes Craven's 1977 film The Hills Have Eyes. Written by filmmaking partners Alexandre Aja and Grégory Levasseur of the French horror film Haute Tension, and directed by Aja, the film follows a family who becomes the target of a group of...
in 2006.
The film was ranked #41 on Bravo's 100 Scariest Movie Moments
100 Scariest Movie Moments
The 100 Scariest Movie Moments is a television documentary miniseries that first aired in late October 2004 on Bravo. Aired in five 60-minute segments, the miniseries counts down what producer Anthony Timpone, writer Patrick Moses, and director Kevin Kaufman have determined as the 100 most...
.
The film was given an X
X-rated
In some countries, X is or has been a motion picture rating reserved for the most explicit films. Films rated X are intended only for viewing by adults, usually legally defined as people over the age of 17.-United Kingdom:...
rating by the MPAA and several of the most graphic moments were edited for an "R" rating. The deleted footage is believed to be lost, though the alternate ending turned up on the 2003 Anchor Bay .
The film received positive reviews from critics, and currently attains a 64% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
.
The film was nominated for AFI's 100 Years...100 Thrills.
Writing
The film was conceived as a modern retelling of the Sawney Bean story. In the script, titled Blood Relations: The Sun War, the clan consisted of dozens of incestuousIncest
Incest is sexual intercourse between close relatives that is usually illegal in the jurisdiction where it takes place and/or is conventionally considered a taboo. The term may apply to sexual activities between: individuals of close "blood relationship"; members of the same household; step...
family members, similar to the Sawney Bean family that inspired the story. In addition, the film was set in 1994, took place in a forest, rather than a desert
Desert
A desert is a landscape or region that receives an extremely low amount of precipitation, less than enough to support growth of most plants. Most deserts have an average annual precipitation of less than...
, and most of the major cannibals (such as Mars, Pluto, and Mercury) were adolescents. The baby was stolen not for food, but for a perverted religious ritual.
Remake
The film was remade in 2006. The new film was also entitled The Hills Have EyesThe Hills Have Eyes (2006 film)
The Hills Have Eyes is a 2006 horror film and remake of Wes Craven's 1977 film The Hills Have Eyes. Written by filmmaking partners Alexandre Aja and Grégory Levasseur of the French horror film Haute Tension, and directed by Aja, the film follows a family who becomes the target of a group of...
and was directed by French horror filmmaker Alexandre Aja
Alexandre Aja
Alexandre Aja is a French film director who rose to international stardom for his 2003 horror film Haute Tension .-Personal life:...
.
External links
- 2,000 people singing Happy Birthday to, and then a brief interview with, Michael Berryman on the podcast The Future and YouThe Future And YouThe Future and You is a podcast hosted by Stephen Euin Cobb and teamed with Jim Baen's Universe Magazine...
(beginning at 1:07:44) - Wes Craven interview for The Hills Have Eyes