Search - The Hills Have Eyes on DVD

MPAA Rating: R Content Advisory: Graphic Violence, Nudity, Adult Situations, Profanity Movie Release: 1977 DVD Release: 09/23/2003 Format: DVD - Enhanced Wide Screen Letterbox for 16x9 TV - Closed Captioned SwapaDVD Credits: 2 Number of Discs: 2 Run Time: 1 hrs 29 mins Studio: Anchor Bay Members Wishing: 2 Genres: Horror, Slasher Film See Also: The Hills Have Eyes, The Hills Have Eyes [UMD for PSP]

Horror auteur Wes Craven followed his threadbare but horrifically compelling cult classic Last House on the Left with this wonderfully demented morality fable about a bloody war of attrition between two extremely different families. The story opens on the journey of the Carters, a mildly dysfunctional extended family led by patriarch "Big Bob" Carter (Russ Grieve), as they travel across the California desert in search of an inherited silver mine. When a broken axle leaves them stranded in the middle of a former nuclear testing site, their attempts to find help lead them unwittingly into the territory of a savage family of cave-dwelling cannibals, the apparent progeny of the bearlike Jupiter (James Whitworth) and an abducted prostitute. Jupiter's eldest son Pluto (professional movie weirdo Michael Berryman) leads the first brutal attack on the defenseless Carters who, through necessity, are driven to equally extreme measures in order to survive. Though the film is not overtly bloody, the scenes depicting this confrontation are rendered with an unflinching directness, and the violations visited on the Carters are so brutal as to make the survivors' regression into savagery all the more convincing. No one is spared from the nightmare: Jupiter's boys have even kidnapped the youngest member of the Carter family -- a mere infant -- to serve as fodder for their next barbecue, and the baby becomes the main point of contention between the rival clans. Craven nevertheless refuses to take the easy way out by depicting his "monsters" as soullessly evil; parallels between either family's "values" are clearly drawn as the differences between the two clans begin to blur. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide

Susan Lanier - Brenda Carter
Robert Houston - Bobby Carter
Virginia Vincent - Ethel Carter
Russ Grieve - Big Bob Carter
Dee Wallace - Lynne Wood

The wait is over, and thankfully there's no more need for fans to plunder their local video stores in search of the elusive, long out-of-print VHS edition of The Hills Have Eyes with the arrival of Anchor Bay's impressive, double-disc release of horror auteur Wes Craven's nerve-wracking masterpiece. Presented in 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen, it's a no-brainer that this is likely the best print many fans of The Hills Have Eyes will have seen to date. Lovingly restored from some noticeably gritty source materials (an interesting restoration demonstration is a telling bonus feature), the image is still slightly grainy, though that is likely the result of the original film stock being blown up from 16 mm to 35 mm. Largely free of any apparent debris, the sharp color balance also looks pleasing, with natural skin tones and solid blacks in the film's many night scenes. Of course, if they were going to take so much care in presenting the best image possible, it's a given that they would take just as much care to make this disc the best auditory experience possible. Remixed (and closed captioned) in both DTS 6.1 and Dolby Digital EX 5.1, the newly mastered audio offers an experience that's likely better than that experienced by theatergoers during the film's original run. Though it's not consistently dynamic, both remixes without question offer a good handful of effective highlights that are sure to rattle viewers' nerves.

As fantastic as the actual film transfer itself, what's a special edition without some truly satisfying extra features? Thankfully Anchor Bay has realized this, and the bonus disc is sure to offer a few exciting new details to even the most knowledgeable of Craven fanatics. Beginning with a lively and informative commentary track in which Craven and producer Peter Locke reminisce about the film's cut-and-run shoot in detail, it's obvious that a lot of care went into crafting a tightly wound and brutally effective shocker. From his notorious battles with the MPAA to using bacon to achieve an effective dog attack and hot tips on guerilla filmmaking (never ask permission to burn a Joshua tree), the soft-spoken director sentimentally recalls the production in loving detail. The all-new featurette "Looking Back on The Hills Have Eyes" (which runs nearly an hour) offers a detailed recollection of the production from the director, producer, cinematographer, and much of the cast, with especially memorable anecdotes from stars Dee Wallace and Michael Berryman. From detailing Craven's origins as a filmmaker to recalling the harsh shooting conditions and humorous stories of how the actors attempted to lighten the mood on set, this featurette is a fine companion piece to the film.

Though it has been released on DVD previously, The Directors: The Films of Wes Craven offers a career retrospective featuring numerous interviews and a detailed history of Craven's cinematic history. As if all of this wasn't enough, the inclusion of an alternate ending (which ends the film on a curiously upbeat coda), theatrical trailers and TV spots, impressive galleries of behind-the-scenes photos and advertising art, original storyboard art, a detailed Craven bio, the ability to access the original shooting script and some screen savers via DVD-ROM features, and some well-written liner notes that view the film from a historical standpoint make this disc both a must-have for fans of the film, and a great introduction for those who have yet to experience the sheer terror of this horror classic. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide