HILLS HAVE EYES (DVD/2 DISC SET/WS/COMMENTARY/TRAILERS/ETC) DVD

The Hills Have Eyes
Horror auteur Wes Craven followed his threadbare but horrifically compelling cult classic Last House on the Left with this wonderfully demented morality fable about a bloody war of attrition between two extremely different families. The story opens on the journey of the Carters, a mildly dysfunctional extended family led by patriarch "Big Bob" Carter (Russ Grieve), as they travel across the California desert in search of an inherited silver mine. When a broken axle leaves them stranded in the middle of a former nuclear testing site, their attempts to find help lead them unwittingly into the territory of a savage family of cave-dwelling cannibals, the apparent progeny of the bearlike Jupiter (James Whitworth) and an abducted prostitute. Jupiter's eldest son Pluto (professional movie weirdo Michael Berryman) leads the first brutal attack on the defenseless Carters who, through necessity, are driven to equally extreme measures in order to survive. Though the film is not overtly bloody, the scenes depicting this confrontation are rendered with an unflinching directness, and the violations visited on the Carters are so brutal as to make the survivors' regression into savagery all the more convincing. No one is spared from the nightmare: Jupiter's boys have even kidnapped the youngest member of the Carter family -- a mere infant -- to serve as fodder for their next barbecue, and the baby becomes the main point of contention between the rival clans. Craven nevertheless refuses to take the easy way out by depicting his "monsters" as soullessly evil; parallels between either family's "values" are clearly drawn as the differences between the two clans begin to blur. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide

Cast Susan Lanier as Brenda Carter Robert Houston as Bobby Carter Virginia Vincent as Ethel Carter Russ Grieve as Big Bob Carter Dee Wallace as Lynne Wood Martin Speer as Doug Wood Brenda Marinoff as Katy Stricker as The Beast James Whitworth as Jupiter Cordy Clark as Mama Janus Blythe as Ruby Michael Berryman as Pluto Lance Gordon as Mars Arthur King as Mercury John Steadman as Fred

Crew Robert A. Burns - Art Director Wes Craven - Director Wes Craven - Editor Don Peake - Composer (Music Score) Robert A. Burns - Production Designer Eric Saarinen - Cinematographer Peter Locke - Producer John Frazier - Special Effects Wes Craven - Screenwriter Moe DiSesso - Animal Trainer/Wrangler

The Hills Have Eyes
Like an episode of Married With Children on crack, this early Wes Craven effort serves up a colorful clan of social renegades and pits them against a family of middle-class snivelers. This being a horror film from before the age of pervasive irony, of course, the audience is supposed to identify with the itinerant Carter brood rather than the territorial mutants who relentlessly stalk them through the desert. But half the fun is in watching the wholesome, Winnebago-riding Carters get picked off one by one and whine about it. Horror perennial Dee Wallace, hot off a bit part in The Stepford Wives, is the most recognizable face among the supposed good guys, and she hits every catatonic "dingoes ate my baby" mark that's required of her. Pallid golden boy Robert Houston, however, is the most irritatingly sheltered of the lot. Unfortunately, he never gets what's coming to him. Films as varied as Breakdown and The Hitcher have played up the dangers that face ordinary people when they hit the highway; in terms of production quality and psychological acuity, The Hills Have Eyes falls somewhere below those two films, but its exploitation thrills are more potent by half. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide
 

(no awards)

General Specifications: Language Options: Subtitle Options: Sound Processing: DD-EX: Dolby Digital Surround EX (simulated 6.1) DTS-ESD: True 6.1 system. Rear center channel is separately encoded into the DTS soundtrack. DDS: Dolby Digital Surround Additional Features: cc Widescreen presentation (1.85:1), enhanced for 16 x 9 TVs Audio commentary with writer/director Wes Craven and producer Peter Locke "Looking Back on The Hills Have Eyes": An all-new documentary featuring interviews with writer/director Wes Craven, producer Peter Locke, actors Micheal Berryman, Janus Blythe, Robert Houston, Susan Lanier, Dee Wallace, and director of photography Eric Saarinen "The Directors: The Films of Wes Craven": A career retropective featuring interviews with director Wes Craven, and actors Courteney Cox-Arquette, David Arquette, Adrienne Barbeau, Neve Campbell, Robert Englund, Mitch Pileggi, Bill Pullman, Meryl Streep, Kristy Swanson, and Ray Wise Alternate ending Theatrical trailers TV spots Behind-the-scenes photos Posters & advertising art Original storyboard art Wes Craven bio DVD-ROM: Original screenplay and screensavers DVD Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1: Theatre Wide-Screen MPAA Rating: R DVD Discs Included: 2 DVD Sides: 2 DVD DVD Region Code: 1 Content Length: 89 min   DVD Chapters: Side #1 -- Side A 1. Main Titles 2. Fred's Oasis 3. Stranded 4. Easy Pickin's 5. Dead Dog 6. Nightfall 7. Devil Man 8. Alone in the Dark 9. Visit From the Neighbors 10. Bobby's Secret 11. The Massacre 12. Mutant Family Values 13. The Desperate & the Dying 14. Cannibal Feast 15. The Hunters Hunted 16. Return of the Beast 17. Baiting the Trap 18. Pluto Descending 19. Hellfire 20. Blood Brothers 21. End Credits