The Wake

“The Hills Have Eyes” is the second film directed by horror legend Wes Craven. Although it has become a cult classic, I do not see how this film is not recognized for its brilliance beyond the cult horror audience.

The Carter family is on their way to California. They stop at a gas station and are told not to proceed on the highway they intended to use. It is a bomb range and “strange things” have been happening there. Of course, the family’s patriarch ignores the warning. To reward his idiocy, fate takes a turn and Big Bob (Russ Grieve) manages to incapacitate their vehicle. The family is stranded. What they do not know is that there are other people around.

The Carters split up and look for supplies and try to find help. One of the family dogs, Beauty, runs off to the hills. Shortly, Bobby (Robert Houston) finds Beauty… gutted. He keeps quiet on this little fact till their situation is dire.

Big Bob is the first of the Carters to encounter the family of Papa Jupe, the devil child of the elderly gas station attendant. Jupiter had been left to die in the hills as a boy, after killing many farm animals and finally burning down the house with his mother and sister inside. Fred split his head open and left him. He assumed the wicked child would die, but the devil boy grew and became a man. He stole a whore that no one would miss and started his family. The family is no better than animals. As I mentioned, the tribe got a hold of Big Bob. What did they do with him? They immolated him, of course.

The rest of the family ends up at their trailer. Bobby runs off to find the family’s other dog, Beast, who is away and growling, which he only does before a kill. During this time, the creepy bald-headed Pluto (Michael Berryman) arrives at the trailer. He takes food and attempts to rape young Ethel (Virginia Vincent). Mars (Lance Gordon) arrives and stops his brother — not out of concern for Ethel, but because he wants a turn. This monstrous human being, however, sees a much greater prize: Baby Katy. Mother Lynne (Dee Wallace) tries to stop Mars, but is shot to death. Mother Brenda (Susan Lanier) is shot too, but she dies slowly. Bobby is still out looking for beast. Katy’s father, Doug (Martin Speer), leaves in the blackness to look for his child.

I will not give away too many details at this point, but I cannot guarantee you that Baby Katy is not eaten. I can guarantee you that not all, if any, of the tribe is stopped.

“The Hills Have Eyes” is brilliantly shot to convey the terror and hopelessness in the desertscape in which it is set. This film shows the ugly primal nature in man. It shows that the “bad guy” and the “good guy” are capable of brutal animalistic violence. The music aids in the insanity of the experience that Carter’s endure.

Wes Craven has directed a masterpiece, aided by a great cast and Eric Saarinen’s effective cinematography. This is a film that is grizzly and often terrifying, an angry and honest look at the wretched aspects of humanity. Most importantly, this is a true masterwork.

Note to The Wake readers: “The Hills Have Eyes” has received a marvelous DVD release from Anchor Bay. It contains two discs and a load of features, the highlight of which is an hour long retrospect on the films of Wes Craven.