I had pretty low expectations after the debacle that was "The Last House on the Left" (Wes Craven's first movie), but I was pleasantly surprised by "The Hills Have Eyes" (his second movie). Doubtlessly influenced by advancements made in the horror/slasher genre since his film debut, Craven applied his lessons learned to this one and it's an effective movie, especially for its time (the modern horror genre was still pretty early in its development).
The balance and complexities of the large cast is pretty well managed and the pace is helped by well-timed switching between locations. The kills are solid (again, for its time) and the sexual stuff does not go overboard (geez, give it a rest...if you can't handle this you need to avoid a LOT of movies). Yes, some of the movie comes off as tropes or caricatures, but back in 1977 these tropes and caricatures were being built by films like this, not already worn out like they were 20 years later.
I'd say this ranks with "The Exorcist" ('73), "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" ('74), "Deranged" ('74), "Carrie" ('76), and "The Omen" ('76) as among the early leaders of the pack. I know, there are plenty of others in the mix and I may need to rewatch some of them to get perspective, but modern horror movies needed these precursors to achieve the game-changers in the late '70s like "Halloween" ('78) and "Dawn of the Dead" ('78).
When you watch "The Hills Have Eyes" just bear in mind the early era and predecessors...then you can appreciate the brutality that's offered here. The 2006 remake had much improved technology to bolster various aspects of the story, but it's barely any more shocking than what came 30 years earlier in the original. So well done, Wes Craven.
The balance and complexities of the large cast is pretty well managed and the pace is helped by well-timed switching between locations. The kills are solid (again, for its time) and the sexual stuff does not go overboard (geez, give it a rest...if you can't handle this you need to avoid a LOT of movies). Yes, some of the movie comes off as tropes or caricatures, but back in 1977 these tropes and caricatures were being built by films like this, not already worn out like they were 20 years later.
I'd say this ranks with "The Exorcist" ('73), "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" ('74), "Deranged" ('74), "Carrie" ('76), and "The Omen" ('76) as among the early leaders of the pack. I know, there are plenty of others in the mix and I may need to rewatch some of them to get perspective, but modern horror movies needed these precursors to achieve the game-changers in the late '70s like "Halloween" ('78) and "Dawn of the Dead" ('78).
When you watch "The Hills Have Eyes" just bear in mind the early era and predecessors...then you can appreciate the brutality that's offered here. The 2006 remake had much improved technology to bolster various aspects of the story, but it's barely any more shocking than what came 30 years earlier in the original. So well done, Wes Craven.