Customer Reviews

The Hills Have Eyes, Part 2

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

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.

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.

The movie was only 90 minutes, but at least 20 of those were flash backs from the first one. The hillbilly cannibals are all of a sudden hillbilly cannibals on motorbikes. And NO ONE dies until the last 20 minutes. Need I say more?

I've seen far worse horror films ('Boogeyman', anyone?) than this one, but it still was not one of Wes Craven's best. I'll spare the synopsis since everyone else has written it out, but add a few of the film's strengths and weaknesses.

The story line is rather interesting, though a little too convenient. It's far too coincidental that Ruby becomes civilized then through circumstance ends up in the exact same area from which she escaped.

Michael Berryman and Janus Blythe were excellent. Their performances were two of the three professional (and watchable) ones in the film. Pluto and Ruby were two of my favorite characters in the first film, and I was hoping the second film would at least do them justice. After the opening sequence it all went downhill, but Janus Blythe and Michael Berryman gave strong, solid performances, fitting easily into their roles.

The rest of the cast was, sadly, awful. These people were among the most wooden and obnoxious I have seen in any film, horror or otherwise. One guy was so completely idiotic my 17 year-old son and I both cheered when he was flattened by a boulder. No need to ask which one. Ten minutes into the movie you'll know. And you'll cheer too.

Robert Houston was also very convincing and natural in the role of Bobby. Bobby was clearly still haunted by the trauma he suffered in the desert, and the scene in which he was in session with his psychologist was extremely believable. If only the rest of the film had been as strong...

I gave it three stars, one for Michael Berryman, Janus Blythe and Robert Houston.

The rest of the film is a cure for insomnia.

This is actually one of my favourite Horror movies and yet for some reason which I cannot fathom it is dismissed by most reviewers. It concerns a group of teenagers on their way to a motorcycle race and the decide to take a shortcut thhrough the desert as they are pressed for time. As anybody who has seen any number of good Horror movies taking a shortcut is asking for trouble. This movie stars the beautiful Tamara Stafford who plays the blind girl Cass who is more resourceful than her sighted frineds. Grab a six pack of beer, a pepperoni pizzand and sit back and enjoy this movie!!!

Wes Craven's The Hills Have Eyes was undoubtadly one of his best films, and this lesser known sequel saw the light of day in 1985 after being on the shelf for nearly a year. This film is loaded with flashbacks of the original film (by Robert Houston, making a return from the first film, as well as the family dog, and I'm not kidding there) as a group of dirt bikers break down in the desert and are stalked and hunted for dinner by a mysteriously ressurected Pluto (Michael Berryman) and his crew. Hills Have Eyes 2 isn't scary one bit, and looks more like a cheap re-make of the original film. Craven had a lot of trauma effecting his personal life when this was filmed, so that can be excusable to a point for this waste. Fans of The Hills Have Eyes should leave this in the dust.

If you haven't seen The hill's have eyes, do not bother to check on thsi one. This sequel is as bad as the worst day of your life. The movie is filled with very dumb flashback (scenes taken from the first movie) that have to explain a movie that does make any sense.
He even brought back to life michael berryman's character, wich in the first movie was creepy and morbid, now is so clumsy and dumb that is not even funny. This is by the way, wes craven's weakest entry. look for the first one, a pretty good exploitation classic!!!! but this one is very very lame!

This time out,a group motocross racers on their way to a tournament,and their bus breaks down conventially in the desert where Pluto(who was killed by the dog in the first movie)and the Reaper are hiding in the hills waiting to terrioze those unlucky enough to end up in their neck of the woods.The Hills Have Eyes Part 2 is an unessecary sequel,Pluto was only human and the family dog killed him,he can't come back to life hello!The group of teens tries to fight off Pluto and the REaper.Worthless waste of time,I have saw movies that were a lot a worse,but this one should still be passed up.

I enjoy this movie, but the first was far better. The DVD released by Image is subpar in terms of quality. It contains a trailer and scene selection and that's it. But it's the picture and sound quality which is disappointing. The picture is highly pixilated (DVD encoding problem?) and the sound badly needed a remastering update. Still, it's better than a VHS copy, but just barely.

I bought it to see what happened to the family after. You just barely get a taste of what happened to Ruby and the son. The movie doesnt even really add alot of scares and nail biting moments. I was hoping for the old school scares like we got for the original Texas Chainsaws. Even now, those were the better of most this current day and age. As many classmates and I discuss, you can still imagine or see a family like those from the Texas Chainsaw or the Sawyers if you will. Maybe save your cash and find those original one and be shocked at how scary many of our top movie stars are today.