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The Worst Film Ever

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I am only giving this movie a 1 for the great cast, though I can't imagine what any of them were thinking. This movie was horrible

A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

Wes Craven did a great job making this film make the audience cringe. Pros: Suspenseful, disturbing and good story Cons: Blood could be more realistic and acting could be improved

Shot on 16mm, tiny budget, inexperienced crew - these are the limitations that make people creative, and this is no exception. It's standard family stranded in the middle of nowhere hunted down by crazies plot but Craven does a great job seeing as this was only his second movie. The only reservation after all these years is that the actors playing the cannibals seem quite tame and cultured with the exception of the son "Mars" who looks totally inbred. I'd prefer to duke it out against these guys rather than the ones in the remake or the characters from wrong turn. but even so, this is from a day when things were basic, simple, and so much better

In 1977 Wes Craven had just one film under his belt — 1972's controversial Last House on the Left. Apparently, Craven tried to stray from the horror genre with not much success, and his return was at least partially motivated by a desire to not go completely broke. Honestly, I'm not surprised to hear that The Hills Have Eyes could hardly be called a passion project.The resemblance to Tobe Hooper's The Texas Chainsaw Massacre — which was released in 1974 — is obvious, but mostly serves as a stark reminder of how much The Hills Have Eyes does NOT compare in either quality or sheer terror.The story centers around the Carter family as they travel through the desert on their way to California. They have an odd encounter with a gas station attendant who warns them to stay on the main roads (though not nearly urgently enough), but naturally they take their own route and wind up breaking an axle and crashing off a desert side road. As day turns into night some members of the family start to realize what kind of danger is hiding in the nearby hills…** SPOILER ALERT! **Honestly, this movie didn't do much for me. I feel like it was a conglomeration of lots of good beginnings of ideas that just didn't get fleshed out the way they needed to in order to be sufficiently terrifying, or even meaningful. It's "shocking" in the way that any movie that showcases people outside of the "norm" tries to be — in this case we're dealing with inbred cannibals — but shocking just for the sake of it doesn't really cut it, in my opinion.The cast is largely comprised of fairly unknown actors, which I think in many instances can result in very convincing, organic relationships… but in this case it missed the mark, with much of the dialogue and interactions feeling awkward and stilted.The moments of gore are surprisingly few and far between… aside from one EXTREMELY memorable flash of one of the family's dogs after being slain, which was supposedly a real dog the crew had purchased from the county sheriff. My husband and I just stared at each other wide-eyed for a solid 5 seconds after that. I've seen more than my share of dogs and animals dying in various horror movies, but usually they're much more subtle than HEY HERE'S A REAL DEAD DOG, SURPRISE.The movie was meant to be a modern re-telling of the Sawney Bean story from Scottish folklore. Initially, it was supposed to take place in the mid-90s, in a forest rather than a desert, with dozens of incestuous family members and focused primarily on the adolescents of the group as the leaders. I won't lie, I would have rather seen that movie…To be fair, there are a handful of scary aspects and moments in this film. When the matriarch, Ethel (Virginia Vincent), tries to call for help on the CB radio and gets nothing but heavy, raspy breathing on the other end. The fact that they are all alone in a vast expanse of desert (I maintain that basically anything happening in such isolation is terrifying). Ethel's moment of hysteria after they find her husband, Bob, nailed to a stake and caught on fire ("that's not my Bob!") is brilliant.I also loved how much the surviving dog, Beast, becomes this sort of hero in the movie, pushing Mercury off a cliff and ripping Pluto's throat out. More dogs, please!But those rare moments of fear are largely subdued by how comical much of the movie is. Even if we ignore how stereotypically the people continue to further their own danger (Bobby neglecting to tell the rest of the family about Beauty's death or his own suspicions, Ethel being unable to properly use the CB radio, the entire car crash happening at all as a result of them just screaming about the map and low-flying jets), you can't ignore the cannibals' outfits (which look like the crew just went to the cheapest Halloween store they could find and bought a bunch of half-assed caveman costumes) and their overall exaggerated demeanor. I mean, we get it, they are "the other".That being said, I did appreciate the ending. I know people usually scream about movies not wrapping up in thorough, satisfying ways but I think for a movie aiming to showcase the depravity of humanity, it was perfect. I think it's to be expected that humans will go to violent lengths to protect their family and their own lives, so it wasn't maybe as shocking as it could have been… but the seeming moment of realization, of horror, on Doug's face as he stabs Mars to death was definitely a highlight of an otherwise fairly dim movie.

The film is worse than I remembered it to be, I just skimmed though it again. Rather lame, stereotypical horror slasher film - standard stuff. Car will either breakdown or refuses to start, in this case it breaks down, and will leave some people stranded so they will be killed. YAWN! This one has no element of suspense or an air of mystery to keep it interesting enough to keep my attention for more that 5 whole minutes - then it's time for me to move on - next film! Yes it is true, the film is nothing more than: talk-talk-talk, talk-talk-talk, stab-stab-stab. The End. If that is your style of horror then I highly recommend this film for you. If not then you should look else where for a good horror film.Dee Wallace well liked among horror fans, including me but this film does not do it for me at all. I have no idea why this one has such a strong, loyal fan following.1/10