The Hills Have Eyes

"The lucky ones died first..."

Director: Wes Craven Year: 1977 Runtime: 90 min IMDb: ⭐ 6.3
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Synopsis

Taking an ill-advised detour en-route to California, the Carter family soon run into trouble when their RV breaks down in the middle of the desert. Stranded, they find themselves at the mercy of monstrous cannibals lurking in the surrounding hills.

The Carter family is traveling on vacation towing a trailer en route to Los Angeles. Parents Bob and Ethel are driving, accompanied by their children Bobby, Brenda, eldest daughter Lynne, Lynne's husband Doug, Lynne and Doug's baby daughter Catherine (Katy), and the family's dogs, Beauty and Beast. The dogs are on alert, becoming anxious and barking at the hills. Beauty then runs off. Chasing after her, Bobby finds her mutilated body. Frightened, he runs, falls, and knocks himself unconscious. Bob walks back to Fred's Oasis to get help. As night falls, he finds Fred, who tells him about his son Jupiter. As a child, Jupiter killed the family's livestock and later murdered his sister. Fred attacked Jupiter with a tire iron and left him in the hills to die. However, Jupiter survived and had children with a depraved, alcoholic prostitute known as Mama. Together, they had three sons – Mars, Pluto, and Mercury – and an abused daughter, Ruby. The family led by "Papa Jupiter" survives by cannibalizing travelers and stealing supplies. Papa Jupiter suddenly crashes through a window, kills Fred with a tire iron, takes Bob prisoner, and crucifies him. Brenda finds Bobby, still shaken up about Beauty, and the two return to the trailer. Bobby does not mention Beauty's death to avoid frightening the rest of the family. Pluto sneaks into the trailer and signals Papa Jupiter to set Bob on fire as a distraction. Brenda stays in the trailer with Katy, while Ethel, Lynne, Doug, and Bobby rush out to save Bob. The Carters eventually extinguish the fire, but Bob dies shortly afterward. As the Carters extinguish the fire, Pluto and Mars ransack the camper and Pluto rapes Brenda. When Ethel and Lynne return, Mars shoots them both. Pluto abducts Katy and flees with Mars, intending for the family to eat her. Hearing their screams, Doug and Bobby rush back, only to find Lynne dead, Ethel mortally wounded, and Brenda traumatized. Mars and Pluto return to their home, a cave. Beast pushes Mercury off a hilltop to his death. Mama chains Ruby outside the cave, torments her, and forces her to eat Beauty as punishment for sympathizing with the Carters. The next morning, shortly after Ethel dies, Doug sets out to find Katy, while Papa Jupiter and Pluto set out to kill the remaining family members. Brenda and Bobby ultimately overpower Papa Jupiter with a series of booby traps and fatally shoot him while Pluto is mauled by Beast. With the help of a remorseful Ruby, Doug is able to save Katy and fatally stabs Mars. An alternative ending featured on the DVD and some TV prints has an epilogue where Ruby accompanies Doug, Katy, and Beast as they rejoin Bobby and Brenda. Brenda then extends her hand to Ruby. ^ .mw-parser-output cite.citation{font-style:inherit;word-wrap:break-word}.mw-parser-output .citation q{quotes:"\"""\"""'""'"}.mw-parser-output .citation:target{background-color:rgba(0,127,255,0.133)}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-free.id-lock-free a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/65/Lock-green.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-limited.id-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .id-lock-registration.id-lock-registration a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-subscription.id-lock-subscription a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4c/Wikisource-logo.svg")right 0.1em center/12px no-repeat}body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-free a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-limited a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-registration a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-subscription a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon a{background-size:contain;padding:0 1em 0 0}.mw-parser-output .cs1-code{color:inherit;background:inherit;border:none;padding:inherit}.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-error{display:none;color:var(--color-error,#bf3c2c)}.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-error{color:var(--color-error,#bf3c2c)}.mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{display:none;color:#085;margin-left:0.3em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left{padding-left:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right{padding-right:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .citation .mw-selflink{font-weight:inherit}@media screen{.mw-parser-output .cs1-format{font-size:95%}html.skin-theme-clientpref-night .mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{color:#18911f}}@media screen and (prefers-color-scheme:dark){html.skin-theme-clientpref-os .mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{color:#18911f}}Roche, David (2014). Making and Remaking Horror in the 1970s and 2000s. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi. p. 79. ISBN 9781617039621.

Summary adapted from TMDb and Wikipedia sources.

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Season 2 · Episode 2

Content Warnings

⭐ IMDb Parents Guide 🛡️ Common Sense Media

a dog dies
spoiler 22 min and 47 seconds in it shows a dead German shepard that has been torn apart. You don't see the dog die, but you see it run off and then squeal off screen. It's the owner who finds the dog dead. Not an incredibly graphic death, but upsetting nonetheless. And it looks like it may be a real dog.
someone is sexually assaulted
spoiler One of the mutant men attempts to rape a teenage girl, forcing her legs apart and beginning to unzip his pants before he is stopped.
a child is abandoned by a parent or guardian
spoiler An infant is separated from her parents but they didn't to get her back.
someone leaves without saying goodbye
spoiler I mean kind of , technically yes, but not in a way that I think would be triggering.
there's child abuse
spoiler An infant is placed in peril, and threatened with cannibalism.
a woman is brutalized for spectacle
spoiler IMO yes when she is sexually assaulted
there's domestic violence
spoiler The antagonist family abuse their daughter.
there's abusive parents
spoiler The cannibal family area horribly abusive to their daughter, and at one point chain her up outside. It is not clear how old she is, but probably late teens.
someone gets gaslighted
Yes
the abused becomes the abuser
Yes
someone is stalked
spoiler The family's trailer is out in the wide open leaving them extremely vulnerable to the cannibals.
alcohol abuse
spoiler The old guy at the gas station drinks a lot but is never shown drunk.
an animal dies
spoiler In the first 15 minutes, a tarantula is stomped on in the trailer by Lynn
a pet dies
Yes
there's a dead animal
spoiler 22 min and 47 seconds in it shows a dead German shepard that has been torn apart. You don't see the dog die, but you see it run off and then squeal off screen. It's the owner who finds the dog dead. Not an incredibly graphic death, but upsetting nonetheless. And it looks like it may be a real dog.
a horse dies
Yes
animals are abused
spoiler Bird gets eaten alive
animals were harmed in the making
spoiler While the dog was technically dead before filming, the dog corpse shown is an actual euthanized dog that production team bought and ripped apart.
there's dog fighting
spoiler None is shown but the protagonists mention that in the past one of their dogs killed another dog, then laugh about it.
an animal is abandoned
Yes
an animal is sad
Yes
rabbits are harmed
spoiler A rabbit in the road causes a road accident when they swerve to avoid it, but the fate of the rabbit is not shown. Another one shows up later in a bush but hops away unharmed.
there are spiders
spoiler Yes, about 15 minutes into the movie when a girl gets asked to fetch a jacket in the trailer. Look away when she walks in, you'll hear her trying to stomp it, when dialogue with someone starts, it should be good to look back :) less than a minute on screen.
there are bugs
spoiler there's a tarantula in the first 15 minutes in the families trailer
there are snakes
spoiler There is a lot of talk about rattlesnakes and you see them in a few shots. During the climax, Ruby grabs a snake and makes it bite an attacker.
there's finger/toe mutilation
spoiler One of the actors does naturally have deformed, nail-less fingers which are briefly focused upon in a closeup.
there's Achilles Tendon injury
spoiler Yes, but it isn’t cut like often makes me squeamish here. Towards the end of the film, [spoiler] the dog attacks Pluto’s leg, which in itself is not graphic, but when they show the aftermath, the Achilles tendon appears very much exposed.
someone breaks a bone
Yes
a woman gets slapped
spoiler Ruby is slapped by her dad when he confronts her about wanting to run away
someone is restrained
Yes
someone's mouth is covered
Yes
a kid dies
spoiler An infant is placed in peril, but does not die.
an infant is abducted
Yes
a baby cries
spoiler Throughout much of the movie.
a non-human character dies
Yes
a major character dies
Yes
someone dies
Yes
a parent dies
Yes
a family member dies
Yes
someone is kidnapped
spoiler An infant is taken by a family of cannibals, but is rescued.
there are jump scares
Yes
there's a claustrophobic scene
Yes
There's audio gore
Yes
someone is eaten
spoiler One of the dogs is eaten, after being prepared and cooked so it just looks like meat - those eating it so identify it as dog meat, however
there's spitting
Yes
heads get squashed
spoiler Someone's head does get beaten by a tire iron but his head is just bloody, still intact.
there is copaganda
Yes
Autism specific abuse
spoiler not specifically, but it is heavily implied that some of the antagonists are mentally disabled
there's misophonia
Yes
a mentally ill person is violent
spoiler It's ambiguous as to whether the villains are mentally ill but is implied by their behavior, appearance, and implied incestuous ancestry.
someone suffers from PTSD
spoiler A teenager is raped and heavily traumatized afterward
someone has an anxiety attack
spoiler trauma response after blonde chick is terrorised & dragged out trailer
someone has a mental illness
Yes
someone has a meltdown
Yes
there are hangings
spoiler A man attempts suicide by hanging but is saved.
someone's throat is mutilated
Yes
someone struggles to breathe
Yes
someone asphyxiates
Yes
there are sudden loud noises
spoiler At one point after Bob is captured, there is a loud and sudden explosion as the characters are looking off into the pitch black desert.
shaky cam is used
Yes
there's screaming
spoiler A loooooooot of screaming
there is obscene language/gestures
Yes
someone is watched without knowing
spoiler the family is stalked by the antagonists throughout the movie
there is a baby or unborn child
Yes
there's ableist language or behavior
spoiler The entire movie is a bit ableist, as many members of the cannibal cult family are heavily implied to have some form of intellectual and/or physical impairment
there's fat jokes
spoiler A villain taunts a character for being fat, although it's more about how she would make a good meal.
someone speaks hate speech
spoiler father in the family uses racial slurs
someone says the n-word
spoiler Very early on in the movie, the father uses it.
there's a large age gap
Yes
someone dies by suicide
spoiler Someone is seen hanged using a belt but is saved.
Someone attempts suicide
Yes
someone self harms
spoiler Attempted to hang himself
someone says "I'll kill myself"
spoiler A man attempts suicide but is rescued.
a minor is sexualized
Yes
there's bestiality
Yes
there are incestuous relationships
spoiler The whole premise of the movie is based on the legend of Sawney Bean and his brood, a family of inbred cannibals living up in the hills. Incest is implied but never explicit.
there is sexual content
Yes
someone is sexually objectified
Yes
someone is sexually assaulted onscreen
Yes
there's pedophilia
spoiler a young girl is sexually assaulted, but it's never stated if she's underage or not
sexual assault is mentioned
spoiler Sometime is possibly raped or assaulted, but it is never mentioned aloud.
sexual assault on men is a joke
Yes
someone is homeless
Yes
the ending is sad
spoiler There's nothing sad about the very end of the film in particular, but the protagonists end the story much worse off than they began.
a car crashes
spoiler The driver panics and swerves off the road, damaging the car. No one is harmed.
a plane crashes
spoiler no BUT there are very intense scenes around 9 mins in of jets flying over those in the car, very loud
a car honks or tires screech
Yes
there's blood/gore
Yes
there's gun violence
Yes
there's a nuclear explosion
spoiler Not nuclear but there are some explosions
there's excessive gore
spoiler A dog is shown to have been disemboweled
there's torture
Yes
there's body horror
Yes
someone is burned alive
spoiler The older father is attacked and tied up by mutants, later burned alive. Doesn't linger on it too much, but if you have a fear of getting burnt, it'll be something to watch out for.
there's cannibalism
spoiler It's never viewed explicitly, but cannibalism is heavily implied throughout the film.
there's shaving/cutting
Yes
someone is stabbed
Yes
someone has a seizure
spoiler No but a character has heart issues and in one scene falls to the ground and convulses, grabbing his chest.
someone falls to their death
Yes
Someone becomes unconscious
Yes

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