The Hills Have Eyes (1977): ***

The Carters are heading to L.A. in their cross-state journey, pulling up at Fred’s (John Steadman) gas station for fuel before they continue through the desert. Bob (Russ Grieve), Edith (Virginia Vincent) and their children Brenda (Susan Lanier), Bobby (Robert Houston) and Lynne (Dee Wallace) and the two dogs Beauty and Beast making up this American nuclear family, with Lynne’s husband Doug (Martin Speer) and their baby daughter Katie tagging along. It is Bob and Edith’s silver anniversary and they want to explore a silver mine they were bequeathed. Fred tries to dissuade them from going off the main road, as this particular stretch of desert is a military test site. At least that is the reason he gives them. However, Bob ignores Fred’s advice as he suspects Fred is trying to keep the silver for himself, heading off the main road and crashing the car. As night falls and the Carter family camp up, they soon encounter another nuclear family, of the more irradiated and cannibalistic sort, in the desert. 

The Hills Have Eyes is grisly but not terrifying. Some of the gorier moments include a dog’s eviscerated corpse, a budgie’s head is bitten off and an ankle injury exposes severed tendons. The head of the cannibal family, Jupiter (James Whitworth), drives wooden stakes through his victim’s hands in a mock crucifixion before barbequing him. It was gruesome viewing, but there was no underlying tension or horror, which consequently makes The Hills Have Eyes more like a collection of set pieces. Eric Saarinen tries to build some tension in his cinematography emphasising the vastness of the desert, with many scenes using long shots and P.O.V shots from the cannibal family members watching the Carters below. Writer-director Wes Craven does attempt to flesh out the Carter family, with each family member sharing a quiet moment with another. However, the acting and the writing are not strong enough to bring the audience closer to our protagonists. Furthermore, there are some bizarre choices in the film. Bobby starts to do back-flips and other gymnastics as he runs away from Brenda, an ability which is never brought up again. As Doug is searching for the cannibal’s hideout, Don Peake's score takes a jarring turn towards groove. Were it not for the gore and the unnecessary rape scene, The Hills Have Eyes would land firmly into cheesy territory. 

However, The Hills Have Eyes does have some thought-provoking themes going on. Craven portrays the Carter family and Jupiter’s family as one and same underneath their appearances. Both are run by a stern patriarchal figure who tries to leave a legacy through their sons, Bob with Bobby and Jupiter with Mars (Lance Gordon), Pluto (Michael Berryman) and Mercury (Arthur King). Once the remaining Carter family members have been subject to violence by the cannibals, they embrace their violent nature to exact revenge on their enemies. This is heavily foreshadowed by the death of the dog Beauty, letting Beast run wild in parallel with the surviving Carter members. Instead of an outsider or outside forces being the monster in America, the monster comes from within as the result of nuclear testing.

The Hills Have Eyes is unlikely to leave you lying awake at night out of fear; it does have some interesting themes and politics to mull over afterwards.