Unmasked Month: The Hills Have Eyes Part 2 (1984)
The Hills Have Eyes Part 2 started life on a bad foot and has had a troubled reputation ever since. Wes Craven claims he was desperate for money when he wrote and directed this follow up to his family vs. cannibal mutants horror classic. The film languished without a distributor for years until A Nightmare on Elm Street became a big hit. Craven quickly disowned the film when horror/slasher fans exclaimed a collective “What the hell is this?” after watching The Hills Have Eyes Part 2. This film has been savaged for years but it does offer up some entertainment value despite some warts and laughable gaps in logic.
The film opens with Bobby (Robert Houston), a survivor from the first Hills, reliving the final showdown with Papa Jup at his psychiatrist’s office. The quack proclaims the boogeyman is dead so Bobby should go on with his life. We are then introduced to a motorcycle team preparing for a trip to a major competition. Bobby freaks out again so he leaves Rachael (Janus Blythe), the friendly cannibal girl from the first film, in charge of getting the team to the big race. Before you can say “don’t get off the main road”, the team is stranded in the desert. Pluto (Michael Berryman) and Uncle Reaper (John Bloom) are living on the family’s old hunting grounds and the bikers soon find themselves on the menu.
Harry Manfredini provided the soundtrack for The Hills Have Eyes Part 2 and his score dominates the film. The music sounds more than just a little bit like Manfredini’s early Friday the 13th work, seriously, the only thing missing is the ki-ki-ki-ma-ma-ma. Also adding to the Friday vibe running through the film is actor Kevin (Friday the 13th VII: The New Blood) Blair and stuntman Kane Hodder. Another familiar face is John (Crimes of Passion) Laughlin, who makes his one dimensional character really likable. Heard but not seen is veteran bad guy Nicholas (Don’t Answer the Phone) Worth who provides the voice for Reaper. Worth’s creepy voice-overs add tension to ordinary scenes of people standing around or walking in the desert.
Now for the scenes that will either leave you scratching your head or laughing uncontrollably. All of the returning characters have flashbacks, including Beast, the family dog. That’s right, slasher fans. The dog flashes back to the last time he tangled with Pluto. Cass (Tamara Staff) is a magical blind girl who can hear the bubbles in a can of soda and find her way around strange locations without bumping into the furniture. For some bizarre reason, her boyfriend tries to scare her by wearing a fright mask. Oh, yeah, the blind girl won’t recognize him when he’s wearing a mask. One of Cass’ friends decides to take a shower out in the open and lets Cass wander off by herself. Who the hell is going to let their blind friend “do a little exploring” alone in the desert when half of the gang has already gone missing?
The Hills Have Eyes Part 2 is despised by horror critics because it doesn’t measure up the groundbreaking original. Despite the flawed logic and messy editing, the film does have some good points that make it worth viewing at least once. The performances by Berryman, Laughlin, Houston, and Worth along with Manfredini’s score are the best reasons to give the film a chance. The Hills Have Eyes Part 2 would make a good double feature with Werewolves on Wheels, the first motorcycle horror movie, or The Curse of the Headless Horseman, another desert horror flick. The Psychotronic Video Guide claims a director’s cut bootleg is floating around but they don’t mention if this alternate version is better or worse than the official release.
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man i love the new layout, especially the list of slasher titles. thats a great tool for research. please keep it that way lol!
I have to say I enjoyed this movie, and I appreciate you defending it.
I’m a big proponent for Hills 2. Didn’t mind the flashback footage, and it gives the dog some character development (!). I love that it feels like a Friday the 13th sequel which works as a metaphor for what those gritty 70′s survival movies evolved into come 80′s.
I remember reading in an old Fangoria an interview with Wes Craven. He said the only reason Hills Have Eyes 2 was made was because a deal was made that if he made that then money would be put up for A Nightmare On Elm Street.
The dog POV is the best of the flashbacks. Ultimately, cannibal mutants killing bikers just has inherent entertainment value.
I remember reading back when it came out that Wes Craven said they were filming the movie and broke for a holiday. They were suppose to return and film stuff of the cannibal family and how they lived like in the original but the studio informed him that they decided they could make a film out of what they had and never let him finish filming.
The new site design/layout is very nice. I like it
I need to revisit this — it sounds much better than I remember! Craven is an intelligent enough director to give all of his films *some* value, so it’ll be interesting to see this again with a bit more hindsight.
I haven’t seen this since it was first released on video, but I remember having the exact “What the hell is this?” reaction you describe, Thomas!
Director’s cut please.
After reading this review, I watched this film for the first time. I agree that it contains many scenes of unintentional hilarity, coupled with some great slasher moments that add up to a satisfying whole for fans of trashy horror like myself. The Manfredini score is unmistakably F13 which lends the film a comfortably familiar feel, although it’s readily apparent that the guy had no problem recycling his compositions.
I was rather disappointed in the terrible R1 DVD transfer, especially after reading about the superior R2 & R4 releases. This is a fun movie in need of a special edition.