The Hills Have Eyes (1977)

Director:

Wes Craven

Writer:

Wes Craven (writer)

Release Date:

22 July 1977 (USA)

Genre:

Horror | Thriller

Tagline:

The lucky ones died first...

Plot:

On the way to California, a family has the misfortune to have their car break down in an area closed to the public, and inhabited by violent savages ready to attack.

Plot Keywords:

Desert | Cannibal | Blood | Dead Animal | Shot In The Chest

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Susan Lanier	...	Brenda Carter
Robert Houston	...	Bobby Carter
Martin Speer	...	Doug Wood
Dee Wallace	...	Lynne Wood
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, the Carters' Dog
Striker	...	The Beast, the Carters' Dog

Directed by
Wes Craven

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Wes Craven		writer

Produced by
Peter Locke	....	producer

Original Music by
Don Peake

Cinematography by
Eric Saarinen

Film Editing by
Wes Craven

Casting by
Gus Schirmer

Art Direction by
Robert A. Burns		(as Robert Burns)

Costume Design by
Joanne Jaffe

Makeup Department
Dave Ayres	....	special makeup
RaMona Fleetwood	....	hair stylist
Karen Grant	....	makeup artist: second unit
Ken Horn	....	special makeup
Donald Mulderick	....	makeup artist

Production Management
Walter R. Cichy	....	production manager (as Walter Cichy)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Valley Hoffman	....	assistant director

Sound Department
David Lee Fein	....	sound effects
Craig Felburg	....	sound mixer: second unit
D.G. Fisher	....	assistant sound
Peter Hitchcock	....	sound effects
David Marsh	....	sound effects
Jan Schulte	....	sound mixer
Hal Watkins	....	re-recording engineer

Special Effects by
Greg Auer	....	special effects
John Frazier	....	special effects

Stunts
Alton James	....	stunts
Ron Stein	....	stunt coordinator
Ron Stein	....	stunts

Camera and Electrical Department
Dennis Bishop	....	gaffer
Larry Boyd	....	grip
Robert Eber	....	additional camera operator: second unit (as Bob Eber)
Ray Fischer	....	still photographer
William Moore	....	grip
Leslie Otis	....	assistant camera
Lynn Rogers	....	key grip
Richard Scheid	....	grip
Tim Wawrzeniak	....	additional camera operator: second unit
Ken Wheeland	....	best boy

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Paula Cain	....	wardrobe supervisor

Editorial Department
Robert Alsheimer	....	assistant editor

Other crew
Florence M. Amico	....	production assistant
Joanie Blum	....	script supervisor
Rick Braverman	....	script supervisor: second unit (as Rick Brawerman)
Jim Dannaldson	....	snakes
Moe Di Sesso	....	dogs
Rhonda Hopkins	....	production assistant
Peter Locke	....	presenter
Tom Morrocco	....	dogs
Tom Pickette	....	location coordinator
Rose Marie Yurinko	....	assistant: producer

Production Companies

• Blood Relations Co.

Distributors

• Vanguard (I) (1977) (USA) (theatrical)
• Anchor Bay Entertainment (2003) (USA) (DVD)
• Astral Films (Canada)
• Atlantic Film (2005) (Sweden) (DVD)
• DMEG (2004) (Sweden) (video)
• Future Film (1997) (Finland)
• Harmonyvision (1981) (USA) (VHS)
• Image Entertainment (laserdisc)
• Magnum Entertainment (USA) (VHS)
• Umbrella Entertainment (2005) (Australia) (DVD)
• Vestron Video (video)

Other Companies

• Doneil Productions  sound effects
• Freeze Frame  titles
• MGM Laboratories  prints
• Movielab Films Inc.  film processing

Also Known As:

Blood Relations (USA) (original script title)
Wes Craven's The Hills Have Eyes (USA) (LD title)
La colline a des yeux (Belgium: French title) (France) [fr]
Aima stous lofous (Greece) (DVD title) [el]
De heuvelen hebben ogen (Belgium: Flemish title) [un]
Hügel der blutigen Augen (West Germany) [de]
La colina de los ojos malditos (Argentina) [es]
La pandilla abominable (Argentina) [es]
Las colinas tienen ojos (Spain) [es]
Le colline hanno gli occhi (Italy) [it]
Le visage de la peur (Canada: French title) [fr]
Oi ktinanthropoi (Greece) [el]
Slagterbanden (Denmark) [da]
Yön silmät (Finland) [fi]

Runtime:

89 min | UK:86 min (cut version)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

New Zealand:R18 | USA:X (original rating) | USA:Unrated (unrated DVD version) | Finland:(Banned) (1986) | Finland:K-16 (1996) | USA:R (MPAA rating) | Italy:VM14 | Sweden:15 | UK:18 (cut) (1987) | UK:X (original rating) (cut) | Germany:18 (uncut) (2008) | Argentina:X (original rating) | Netherlands:16 | Argentina:18 (re-rating) | Australia:R | Norway:18 | UK:18 | USA:R | Iceland:16

Filming Locations:

Victorville, California, USA

Company:

Blood Relations Co.

Trivia:

According to Wes Craven the idea of actually having the baby killed in the film was considered. However the cast and crew strongly opposed the idea saying they would leave if the plot went that route.

Goofs:

Audio/visual unsynchronized: After Mars pulls Pluto off of Brenda and throws him onto the trailer floor, Pluto's lips don't move when he says, "You son of a bitch!"

Quotes:

Pluto: This is air force rescuewwwwww, what's up ?
Bobby Carter: We're being attacked. I don't know who. We have one gun with 2 bullets. We're sitting ducks!
Pluto: We recommend that until we can get to you, you stand on your heads, with your thumbs up.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Evil Dead (1981)

Still Impressive Thirty Years Later

While traveling in a trailer through the desert to California, the retired detective Big Bob Carter (Russ Grieve) stops in an isolated gas station with his family for fueling and rest. Bob is traveling with his wife Ethel (Virginia Vincent), his son Bobby (Robert Houston), his daughters Brenda (Susan Lanier) and Lynn (Dee Wallace) and his son-in-law and Lynn's husband Doug (Martin Speer) and their daughter baby Katy (Brenda Marinoff). When they leave the gas station, the owner advises Bob to stay in the main road. However, the stubborn driver takes a shortcut through a nuclear testing site and wrecks his station wagon. With the family stranded in the middle of nowhere, Bob and Doug walk on the road trying to find some help. Bob is captured by an insane and sadistic member of a deranged evil family that lives nearby the spot. Doug returns to the trailer, and along the night the Carter family is attacked by a group of psychotic cannibal criminals. Absolutely trapped by the murderers, they have to fight to survive.

The 1977 "The Hills Have Eyes" is still an impressive movie thirty years after the release date. I have never had the chance to see this low-budget movie, which has not been released on DVD in Brazil, and the VHS is rare. The violent, crude and claustrophobic story has not been dated; on the contrary, I believe it is more credible in the present days, when we can see violence everyday on the news, than in 1977. This movie is certainly one of the best in the filmography of Wes Craven. The cast is pure emotion and fear on the side of the Carter family, and evilness and sadism on the side of Jupiter's family. Ruby, performed by Janus Blythe, is probably the most interesting and ambiguous character, living with a dysfunctional family but still acting like a human being. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "Quadrilha de Sádicos" ("Sadistic Gang")