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The Hills Have Eyes (1977)

On the way to California, a family has the misfortune to have their car break down in an area closed to the public, and inhabited by violent savages ready to attack.

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Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
John Steadman ...
...
Peter Locke ...
Mercury (as Arthur King)
Russ Grieve ...
...
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Brenda Carter (as Susan Lanier)
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Brenda Marinoff ...
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Martin Speer ...
James Whitworth ...
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Lance Gordon ...
Cordy Clark ...
Flora ...
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Storyline

A family going to California accidentally goes through an Air Testing range closed to the public. They crash and are stranded in a desert. They are being stalked by a group of people, which have not emerged into modern times. Written by Paul Popiel <[email protected]>

Plot Summary | Plot Synopsis

Taglines:

They burned the father, killed the mother, and raped the sister! See more »

Genres:

Horror | Thriller

Certificate:

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Parents Guide:

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Details

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Release Date:

22 July 1977 (USA)  »

Also Known As:

Hügel der blutigen Augen  »

Filming Locations:

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Box Office

Budget:

$230,000 (estimated)
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Company Credits

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Technical Specs

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Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1
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Did You Know?

Trivia

Dee Wallace said little acting was required in the scene where Lynne encounters the tarantula. Wallace said her fear of the spider was very much authentic. See more »

Goofs

As Jupiter and Pluto are heading toward the trailer, the scar on Jupiter's face disappears for several shots. See more »

Quotes

Big Bob Carter: Twenty-five years I'm a cop in the worst goddamn precinct in Cleveland. Niggers shoot arrows at me and the hillbillies throw dogs off the roofs at me and I'm even shot at on two separate occasions by my own men, but none of these bastards ever come as close to killing me as my own goddamn wife and her goddamn road maps and her wrong turns and her goddamn hysterical screaming and her...
Ethel Carter: Watch your language. And you watch your heart, too. You know what Dr. Springer said.
Big Bob Carter: Well, Dr. Springer can ...
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Frequently Asked Questions

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User Reviews

 
Still Impressive Thirty Years Later
11 May 2007 | by (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) – See all my reviews

While traveling in a trailer through the desert to California, the retired detective Big Bob Carter (Russ Grieve) stops in an isolated gas station with his family for fueling and rest. Bob is traveling with his wife Ethel (Virginia Vincent), his son Bobby (Robert Houston), his daughters Brenda (Susan Lanier) and Lynn (Dee Wallace) and his son-in-law and Lynn's husband Doug (Martin Speer) and their daughter baby Katy (Brenda Marinoff). When they leave the gas station, the owner advises Bob to stay in the main road. However, the stubborn driver takes a shortcut through a nuclear testing site and wrecks his station wagon. With the family stranded in the middle of nowhere, Bob and Doug walk on the road trying to find some help. Bob is captured by an insane and sadistic member of a deranged evil family that lives nearby the spot. Doug returns to the trailer, and along the night the Carter family is attacked by a group of psychotic cannibal criminals. Absolutely trapped by the murderers, they have to fight to survive.

The 1977 "The Hills Have Eyes" is still an impressive movie thirty years after the release date. I have never had the chance to see this low-budget movie, which has not been released on DVD in Brazil, and the VHS is rare. The violent, crude and claustrophobic story has not been dated; on the contrary, I believe it is more credible in the present days, when we can see violence everyday on the news, than in 1977. This movie is certainly one of the best in the filmography of Wes Craven. The cast is pure emotion and fear on the side of the Carter family, and evilness and sadism on the side of Jupiter's family. Ruby, performed by Janus Blythe, is probably the most interesting and ambiguous character, living with a dysfunctional family but still acting like a human being. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "Quadrilha de Sádicos" ("Sadistic Gang")

Note: On 30 December 2014, I saw this movie again.


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