Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
For die-hard fans only....., January 30, 2003
This is in my opinion one of Wes Craven's worst films, but even having said that, it still makes for a pretty fun watch. The story hear is basically the same except that now, we have a dirtbike racing team to take the place of the family in the first film. When the racing teams bus break's down, hell ensues, as Pluto and the newly introduced "reaper" indulge in some gruesome killing. The dvd itself is nowhere near the quality I would have liked. The picture is overly grainy, and I noticed a "shimmer", for lack of a better word, throughout the course of the fim. All in all the picture quality is that of an old vhs rental copy. I would not recommend purchasing this dvd unless you are like me and are a die-hard "The hills have eyes" fan.
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5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
CANNIBALS WHO WANNA BE LIKE JASON, January 7, 2006
Although many reviewers didn't like the second part of the "Hills", I still wouldn't call it "one of the worst sequels ever" or "the worst Wes Craven film". Certainly this is not a masterpiece, even in the framework of horror genre, but I don't see why it should be worse than any other slasher flick. When I was watching it, I came to a conclusion early Wes Craven had been imitating other directors rather often. I'm not saying he was not original at all - eventually he shot "A Nightmare on Elm Street" in 1984. But "The Hills Have Eyes" were reminiscent of "Texas Chainsaw Massacre", and in the beginning of 80s, when slasher era started, I guess Craven decided to make something in the same manner. Maybe the reason was Craven's long-time buddy Sean Cunningham created "Friday the 13th" in 1980, and Wes was envious? :) Anyway the second part of "The Hills Have Eyes" turned out to be a pure slasher like many others at that time. And it obviously wasn't the worst and in many ways was like above mentioned "Friday the 13th": the score was written by Harry Manfredini, known to every "Friday" fan, and the music in "Hills 2" is just like in early "Fridays". The body count increased comparing to the first part and approached a regular slasher movie. Kevin Blair who had a leading male part here, would star in "Friday the 13th part VII" a couple of years later along with Kane Hodder, who did stunts for "The Hills Have Eyes 2" and in "Friday" would play you know whom.
Of course here we can see some stupidities as in other slasher movies (like characters wandering in night all alone instead of sticking together, all the big strong guys get killed, and a handicapped girl survives - I'm not even considering it as a spoiler for it is obvious from the very beginning, especially if you've seen a couple of horror films in your life), but is that a problem for a true horror fan? We've learned not to take this trivia into account.
So I think "The Hills Have Eyes 2" managed on many levels, and it would be interesting to have it in your collection, if you have the first one. For they are two totally different films talking about the subgenres of horror.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
The definitive bland sequel, April 12, 2008
I'd be willing to bet that Wes would rather not have this one included in his filmography, but after sitting through this I'm in no mood to let him forget it. The Hills Have Eyes part 2 may very well be the text-book definition of "ineffective sequel". This rather belated follow up to The Hills Have Eyes surfaced around 1985, and it doesn't make much of an effort to hide its many attempts to blend in with the horror trends of the time. With an all teen cast, score by Harry Manfredini, and female frontal nudity, they could have just slapped a hockey mask on Michael Berryman and billed this as another Friday the 13th.
Here we have a group of teens who are headed out to the infamous spot of desert to do some dirt bike riding. Upon arrival, they become the prey of Pluto, (Who seems to have made a miraculous recovery after his demise in the original), as well as "The Reaper", a never forementioned and completely unexpained addition to the cannibal family.
The big issue with this movie is that it's made up largely of clips or "flashbacks" of the previous film. Hills 2 runs at 86 minutes, and I kid you not, roughly 20 of those minutes are clips of the original. Moreover, the character of Ruby is featured in the film, only she is no longer part of the mutant family and has joined the ranks of normal human society. Yes, we are seriously supposed to believe that an inbred, flesh-eating cannibal just packs up one day, heads to the city, and becomes a well adapted functional member of society...I dunno, seems a bit sketchy to me. Even more outrageous, after an entire group of teenagers is disposed of, one of the two survivors is a blind girl! Not only that, she somehow manages to overcome a vast array of obstacles that would prove to be challenging for somebody who could see.
Perhaps the biggest error Hills 2 committs is that at any rate, it's just plain boring. It's not scary, it's not fun, it's not gory, thought provoking or imaginative...If it's a horror movie and it doesn't demonstrate any of those attributes, there's really not much left. All in all it was not the worst I've seen, but I certainly wouldn't recommend it, nor will I ever give it another viewing myself. Stick with the original and the remake.
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