The Hills Have Eyes (1977)

Country of Origin: USA
Year of Production: 1977
Running Times: 86 mins (UK)     89 mins (USA)
Length: 8067 ft
Format: colour
Ratio:
Sound: mono

PRODUCTION
Production Company: Blood Relations Company
Producer: Peter Locke
Production Manager: Walter Cichy

SCRIPT
Script: Wes Craven

DIRECTION
Director: Wes Craven
Assistant Director: Valley Hoffman

PHOTOGRAPHY
Director of Photography: Eric Saarinen
2nd Unit Additional Camera: Bob Eber, Tim Wawrzeniak
Assistant Camera: Leslie Otis
Lab: Movielab, New York, USA

EDITING AND POST-PRODUCTION
Editor: Wes Craven
Assistant Editor: Robert Alsheimer

MUSIC
Music: Don Peake

SOUND
Sound Recordists: Jan Schulte, D.G. Fisher
2nd Unit Sound Mixer: Craig Felburg
Re-Recordist: Hal Watkins
2nd Unit Re-Recordist: Karen Grant
Sound Effects: Doneil Productions, Peter Hitchcock, David Lee Fein, David Marsh, Jill Debin

MAKE UP AND COSTUMES
Make Up: Donald Mulderick
2nd Unit Make Up: Karen Grant
Hair: RaMona Fleetwood
Costume Designer: Joanne Jaffe

SPECIAL MAKE UP EFFECTS
Special Make Up: Dave Ayres, Ken Horn

SPECIAL EFFECTS
Special Effects: John Frazier, Greg Auer

DESIGN AND SET CONSTRUCTION
Art Director: Robert Burns

MISCELLANEOUS
Script Supervisor: Joanie Blum
2nd Unit Script Supervisor: Rick Brawerman
Production Assistants: Rhonda Hopkins, Florence M. Amico
Snakes: Jim Dannaldson
Dogs: Moe Di Sesso, Tom Morrocco

LOCATIONS
Location Coordinator: Tom Pickette

STUNTS
Stunt Coordinator: Ron Stein
Stunts: Alton James, Ron Stein

CASTING
Casting: Gus Schirmer

CAST
Susan Lanier (Brenda Carter)
Robert Houston (Bobby Carter)
Martin Speer (Doug Wood)
Dee Wallace-Stone (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)
Arthur King (real name: Peter Locke) (Mercury)
Flora (Beauty)
Striker (The Beast)

PLOT SUMMARY

The middle-class suburban Carter family on an RV holiday in California strays into a forbidden testing range where they break down. They are soon being attacked by a clan of cannibal degenerates who have been breeding in the hills. The family's wage increasingly violent war with each other as the Carters come to realise that they must fight by their enemy's rules.

A step up from the crudely effective Last House on the Left, this saw Craven exploring much the same ideas (class warfare being waged on the battlefield on rival family groups) but with more proficiency. The cannibal clan are a memorable group of monsters, oweing more to Tobe Hooper's Texas Chain Saw clan to Last House's Krug and co., and the desert setting is well used by Craven. Not as disturbing as Last House, but still a film with plenty of clout and one that deserves a better reputation.

Canada
Theatrical Distributor: Astral Films

Finland
Theatrical Distributor: Future Film

UK
Theatrical Distributor: New Realm
Video Distributor: Jaguar / World Of Video 2000
DVD Distributor: Anchor Bay

USA
Theatrical Distributor: Vanguard
Video Distributors: Harmony Vision; Magnum Video; Vestron Video
Laserdisc Distributor: Image Entertainment (ID 6695 MN)

Argentina
Rating: 18

Australia
Rating: R

Finland
Rating: K-16

Norway
Rating: 18

UK
Rating: X; 18

USA
Rating: R

AWARDS

1977
Catalonian International Film Festival, Sitges, Spain
Prize of the International Critics' Jury (Wes Craven) - winner

1978
Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films, USA
Saturn Award Best Actor: Horror (Michael Berryman) - nominated

1977
July
22: USA - theatrical release

1978
November
12: UK - theatrical release in the Midlands TV area
24: UK - screening at the National Film Theatre

1979
June
1: West Germany - theatrical release

1994
June
Day Unknown: UK - television broadcast (on Bravo)

2003
September
29: UK - DVD release (Anchor Bay)

The lucky ones died first...

A nice American family. They didn't want to kill. But they didn't want to die.

Just keep telling yourself it's only a film it's only a film...

La colina de los ojos malditos - Argentinian title
Las colinas tienen ojos - Spanish title
La colline a des yeux - French title
Le colline hanno gli occhi - Italian title
Hügel der blutigen Augen - German title
Slagterbanden - Danish title
Wes Craven's The Hills Have Eyes
Yön silmät - Finnish title

SEQUEL
The Hills Have Eyes Part II (1985)

REMAKE
The Hills Have Eyes (2006)

FOOTAGE INCLUDED IN
The American Nightmare (2000)

SEE ALSO
Bleeder (1999)
Detour (2003)
Discovering Evil Dead (2002)
The Evil Dead (1981)
Hellraiser: Hellseeker (2002)
Jaws (1975)
The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1973)
Wrong Turn (2003)

MAGAZINES

Cinefantastique vol.7 no.1 (1978) p.46 (USA)
review

Cinefantastique vol.6 no.4 (USA)
article

Film Bulletin vol.46 (September - October 1977) (USA)
review

Hollywood Reporter vol.243 no.31 (15 October 1976) p.15 (USA)
credits

Hollywood Reporter vol.247 no.3 (20 June 1977) p.2 (USA)
note

Image et Son no.327 (April 1978) pp.21-22 (France)
review

Monthly Film Bulletin vol.45 no.539 (December 1978) pp.240-241 (UK)
credits, synopsis, review

Screen International no.164 (11 November 1978) p.17 (UK)
review

Shivers no.62 (February 1999) pp.18-21 (UK)
illustrated article

Variety 20 December 1978 p.30 (USA)
credits, review (by Simo)

KEYWORDS

cannibalism, deserts, dogs, families, fire, incest, snakes

Last Updated: 15 October, 2008