Horrorfest 2015: Cravenfest - The Hills Have Eyes

It's that time of year again. In my yearly quest to watch and review 31 horror movies in the month of October, preferably ones I've never seen before, I decided to make my movie choices easier by coming up with a theme to follow. But the joke was on me, because then it was hard to think of a theme. Sequels to movies I've already reviewed? Every Universal Horror I haven't seen? Every Hammer I haven't seen?

Then, Wes Craven died. So I thought: what better tribute than to make Horrorfest 2015 "Cravenfest." I mean actually I think there are probably a shitload of better tributes. But, it would be a timely theme. I looked up his filmography, which is extensive, and full of movies I've never seen before, which is a shame, considering I watch at least 31 classic horror flicks a year.

Craven is the rare horror director who became so famous and influential that his iconic character, Freddy Krueger, is known all around the world to people who haven't even seen a NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET film, let alone any scary movies at all. I knew about the character when I was a kid, long before I had the guts to watch any of the movies. I'd browse the video store, and there'd be Mickey Mouse, Indiana Jones and Freddy, waiting on the shelves. His face, costume and knife-fingered glove was a staple image of the 80s. I was too scared to watch the movies, but I'd read parodies in CRACKED magazine and hear breathless retellings of murder scenes at school, from kids who had older brothers.

Later, Craven's SCREAM went on to similarly define horror in the 90s. It came at a perfect time for me, when I was in my teens and starting to become a serious movie buff. It was funny and scary and all about movies. It was such a big deal, that my whole family went to see it at the theater and we NEVER went to slasher movies.

Anyway, I'm going to watch all the Craven flicks I've never seen before (except MUSIC OF THE HEART -- sorry, this is HORRORfest). I'm going to skip some of the ones I've seen but I'll re-watch a few.

Let's start with THE HILLS HAVE EYES from 1977. You'd think I'd start with Craven's first flick, THE LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT, but I saw it back in my teens, and re-watched it in my 20s, and it's a pretty rough watch, with all the rape and everything. In some ways, I think LAST HOUSE is one of the reasons it has taken me until now to see THE HILLS -- I read so much about how intense both flicks were, that after I saw LAST HOUSE I was like, "Eh, I think I can wait on HILLS."

Well, the time has finally come. THE HILLS HAVE EYES tells the tale of a family on a cross country trailer trip whose car breaks down in the middle of the desert. The titular eyes from the hills belong to a family of cannibal savages who are possibly mutated from nearby nuclear tests and definitely bent on killing, robbing (and possibly) eating the stranded family.

It's a simple film, alternating between scenes of humor among the stranded family members, suspense as they attempt to get help and deal with ominous warnings that someone is out to get them and bursts of violence as they eventually confront the savages in the hills.

The most striking cast member is the guy who gets all the poster and box art attention, Michael Berryman as Pluto. Based on seeing his unique face throughout the years, I always assumed he was going to be the main bad guy of the movie, but that turns out to be the family patriarch, Jupiter (James Whitworth). Also notable among the cast is a young Dee Wallace, probably the most sympathetic (and talented) of the besieged family, who later went on to play Eliot's mom in E.T.

As much gore and depravity as the film includes, probably the creepiest moment is a simple one when Wallace tries to reach someone on the CB radio and gets heavy breathing back in return. It worked in 1977, it still worked when SCREAM came along.

Craven makes great use of the natural locations and the movie must have been hell to shoot. They're really out  there in the desert and in ruined small town landscapes. An early striking image involves a house that has been so leveled the only thing left is the chimney standing up in the middle of a wasteland.

Craven also makes great use of the wildlife, spending much of the story focusing on the unfortunate family's dogs, Beauty and The Beast, who almost steal the show. I say almost because even Lassie couldn't steal the show from the scenery-chewing Hill people, who gnash their teeth and wail and seem to enjoy and revel in their own evilness.

I can see why the movie has endured, and can see how it influenced many others, but I'd be lying if I didn't admit I was getting a little tired of the mayhem by the time the last couple battles rolled around. Still, it's a fitting beginning to a whole month of CRAVENFEST.