The Hills Have Eyes (1977)

Réalisateur:

Wes Craven

Scénariste:

Wes Craven (writer)

Date de sortie:

22 juillet 1977 (USA)

Genre:

Horreur | Thriller

Accroche:

The lucky ones died first...

Intrigue:

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.

Plot Keywords:

Desert | Cannibal | Blood | Dead Animal | Shot In The Chest

Récompenses:

1 win

Avis des utilisateurs:

They don't make 'em like this anymore!

Ensemble

Susan Lanier	...	Brenda Carter
Robert Houston	...	Bobby Carter
Martin Speer	...	Doug Wood
Dee Wallace	...	Lynne Wood
Russ Grieve	...	Big Bob Carter
John Steadman	...	Fred
James Whitworth	...	Jupiter
Virginia Vincent	...	Ethel Carter
Lance Gordon	...	Mars
Michael Berryman	...	Pluto
Janus Blythe	...	Ruby
Cordy Clark	...	Mama
Brenda Marinoff	...	Katy
Peter Locke	...	Mercury (as Arthur King)
Flora	...	Beauty, the Carters' Dog
Striker	...	The Beast, the Carters' Dog

Réalisé par
Wes Craven

Scénaristes (dans l'ordre alphabétique)
Wes Craven		writer

Produit par
Peter Locke	....	producer

Musique originale
Don Peake

Image
Eric Saarinen

Montage
Wes Craven

Distribution des rôles
Gus Schirmer

Direction artistique
Robert A. Burns		(as Robert Burns)

Création des costumes
Joanne Jaffe

Maquillage
Dave Ayres	....	special makeup
RaMona Fleetwood	....	hair stylist
Karen Grant	....	makeup artist: second unit
Ken Horn	....	special makeup
Donald Mulderick	....	makeup artist

Directeur de production
Walter R. Cichy	....	production manager (as Walter Cichy)

Assistant réalisateur
Valley Hoffman	....	assistant director

Technicien du son
David Lee Fein	....	sound effects
Craig Felburg	....	sound mixer: second unit
D.G. Fisher	....	assistant sound
Peter Hitchcock	....	sound effects
David Marsh	....	sound effects
Jan Schulte	....	sound mixer
Hal Watkins	....	re-recording engineer

Effets spéciaux
Greg Auer	....	special effects
John Frazier	....	special effects

Cascadeur
Alton James	....	stunts
Ron Stein	....	stunt coordinator
Ron Stein	....	stunts

Caméra et Département Electrique
Dennis Bishop	....	gaffer
Larry Boyd	....	grip
Robert Eber	....	additional camera operator: second unit (as Bob Eber)
Ray Fischer	....	still photographer
William Moore	....	grip
Leslie Otis	....	assistant camera
Lynn Rogers	....	key grip
Richard Scheid	....	grip
Tim Wawrzeniak	....	additional camera operator: second unit
Ken Wheeland	....	best boy

Département Costume et garde-Robe
Paula Cain	....	wardrobe supervisor

Dpartement Editorial
Robert Alsheimer	....	assistant editor

Divers
Florence M. Amico	....	production assistant
Joanie Blum	....	script supervisor
Rick Braverman	....	script supervisor: second unit (as Rick Brawerman)
Jim Dannaldson	....	snakes
Moe Di Sesso	....	dogs
Rhonda Hopkins	....	production assistant
Peter Locke	....	presenter
Tom Morrocco	....	dogs
Tom Pickette	....	location coordinator
Rose Marie Yurinko	....	assistant: producer

Companies de production

• Blood Relations Co.

Distributeurs

• Vanguard (I) (1977) (USA) (theatrical)
• Anchor Bay Entertainment (2003) (USA) (DVD)
• Astral Films (Canada)
• Atlantic Film (2005) (Sweden) (DVD)
• DMEG (2004) (Sweden) (video)
• Future Film (1997) (Finland)
• Harmonyvision (1981) (USA) (VHS)
• Image Entertainment (laserdisc)
• Magnum Entertainment (USA) (VHS)
• Umbrella Entertainment (2005) (Australia) (DVD)
• Vestron Video (video)

Autres Companies

• Doneil Productions  sound effects
• Freeze Frame  titles
• MGM Laboratories  prints
• Movielab Films Inc.  film processing

Autre(s) titre(s):

Blood Relations (USA) (original script title)
Wes Craven's The Hills Have Eyes (USA) (LD title)

Durée:

89 min | UK:86 min (cut version)

Pays:

USA

Langue:

Anglais

Couleur:

Couleur

Rapport de forme:

1,85 : 1

Son:

Mono

Classification:

New Zealand:R18 | USA:X (original rating) | USA:Unrated (unrated DVD version) | Finland:(Banned) (1986) | Finland:K-16 (1996) | USA:R (MPAA rating) | Italy:VM14 | Sweden:15 | UK:18 (cut) (1987) | UK:X (original rating) (cut) | Germany:18 (uncut) (2008) | Argentina:X (original rating) | Netherlands:16 | Argentina:18 (re-rating) | Australia:R | Norway:18 | UK:18 | USA:R | Iceland:16

Lieux de tournage:

Victorville, California, USA

Société:

Blood Relations Co.

Anecdotes:

Virginia Vincent's reaction to being shot was quite genuine as there was a mishap with the squib planted under her robe. The small explosion caused her a deal of pain and she was briefly taken to the hospital.

Goofs:

Continuité: One brief nighttime shot of "Bobby" has been flipped: a cut on the right side of his face can be seen on the left hand side.

Guillemet:

Mars: Baby's fat. You fat... fat and juicy.

Connexions De Film:

Référencé sur The Woods Have Eyes (2007)

They don't make 'em like this anymore!

Wes Craven is a director who did a lot to revive interest in the horror genre, but he also did a lot to ensure that we were unlikely to get our horror the way we used to. While I personally have nothing against his mega-successful "Scream" franchise and have enjoyed both films immensely, I feel sad knowing that Craven will never be able to recapture the awesome low-budget effectiveness of his earlier works. He has developed his directorial skills a LOT since then, but any horror fan will tell you that slicker does not necessarily mean scarier. Now that Craven has successfully broken free from the genre that has provided him with a living for over a quarter century (and has moved on to directing inspirational films with Meryl Steep!), we will never see another film like his "The Hills Have Eyes", which is raw, intense horror at its best. The film doesn't quite have the same impact as Craven's earlier "Last House on the Left", but it is a more skilful piece of work, and is still one of the most frightening genre flicks ever made.

Like all great horror films, the plot requires very little description. The upper-class, white-bread Carter family are on a road trip to California and decide to take a detour through the desert to check out a silver mine that the parents received as a silver wedding anniversary gift. They ignore the warnings of a crazy old man they encounter at a gas station who warns them to stay on the main road, and end up wishing they'd listened to him after their trailer becomes trapped in the middle of nowhere with a broken axle on the car. It soon becomes apparent that they've stumbled into an area that is populated by a family whom the Carters would never have to worry about encountering back home in Cleveland. The members of this family are named after planets in the solar system (Jupiter, Mars, Pluto etc.) and are able to survive life in the desert by praying on unsuspecting travellers like the Carters. After a night of unbearable hell, the Carter family has lost some of their members and most of their supplies and decide to take revenge once daylight hits. They end up acting more violent and psychotic than the villains.

Not even David Lean has used the desert to better effect. Craven's direction here is top-notch, and does a terrific job at conveying the isolation of his location and the helplessness of the whole situation. He takes his sweet time building up the mutant family's attack on the Carters, so that the tension almost becomes unbearable. By the last act, the film is less concerned about the heroes finding their way out of the desert, but about whether or not they are going to end up stooping to the level of their enemies. Of course, these themes of vengeance and family were covered by Craven before in "Last House on the Left", but this time around, he ensures that they will reach a wider audience by presenting them within the confines of a more straightforward genre film. The main factor that prevents this film from being superior to "Last House" are the villains, who are somewhat cartoonish and not quite as memorable as Krug & Company. However, they still do provide plenty of menace, and like the "Last House" gang, exude a certain likability when they're not acting vicious, especially Michael Berryman, who steals every scene he's in as the dim-witted Pluto. All in all, "The Hills Have Eyes" is an unforgettable experience and one of the best films of its kind. Even though videotape copies of "Hills" have been in the darkest depths of moratorium hell for years, every horror fan should go out of their way to check it out. Especially since we just don't get them like this any more...