THE HILLS HAVE EYES Blu-ray Review

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There are parts of the country where the US tested nuclear ordinance and figured that it wouldn’t affect anyone.  Well, The Carter family stopped in the middle of nowhere and they met some of the so called “unaffected”.

THE HILLS HAVE EYES is one of the earliest films from horror director Wes Craven.  Like LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT, this is a gritty tale of senseless murders.  Yes, the makeup and effects were on a budget but Craven got the look across that he wanted.  it was filmed on a 16mm camera and that’s what makes the movie, as well as the setting, so creepy.  

Cast
Susan Lanier – Brenda Carter
Dee Wallace – Lynne Wood
John Steadman – Fred
Robert Houston – Bobby Carter
Martin Speer – Doug Wood
Russ Grieve – Bob Carter
James Whitworth – Papa Jupiter
Virginia Vincent – Ethel Carter
Michael Berryman – Pluto
Lance Gordon – Mars
Janus Blythe – Ruby
Cordy Clark – Mama
Arthur King – Mercury
Brenda Marinoff – Baby Katie Wood

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VIDEO QUALITY:

The transfer is a 4k scan from the original negatives and the images look decent.  There is a heavy grain which makes the edges have an almost fuzzy look to them and making the details look gritty.  The coloring looks good in some of the basic palettes as in the reds and blues.  The sunny scenes tend to washout the skin tones in the brightness of the sun. There are also some points where the images show some artifacts, blocking, and pixelation. In motion, it isn’t as obvious but it can be seen in the screenshot.

AUDIO QUALITY:

The audio is an LPCM mono mix.  The film doesn’t call for a complex mix and this is the way the audio was when it was released.  It sounds good and exactly how you would expect for a film of this age.  

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SUPPLEMENTS & PACKAGING

-Audio Commentary: Cast
-Audio Commentary:
Wes Craven and Peter Locke
-Audio Commentary: Mikel J. Koven

-Looking Back on The Hills Have Eyes: This is a great featurette with some of the cast and crew discussing the movie.

-Family Business: This is an interview with Martin Speer.

-The Desert Sessions:
This is an interview with Don Peake, the composer for the film.

-Alternate Ending 

-Outtakes

-US Trailer

-German Trailer

-TV Spots

-Image Gallery

-Original Screenplay

Disc Details
1 Blu-ray Disc

Running Time
90 mins

Edition Ratings
Not Rated

Region Coding
Region A

Video Resolution
1080p AVC MPEG-4
Aspect ratio: 1.78:1

Audio Mixes
English: LPCM Mono

Subtitles
English SDH

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THE BOTTOM LINE:

THE HILLS HAVE EYES is one of gritty horror flicks that we were blessed with from the mind of Wes Craven and the genre is better for it.  The Blu-ray looks good considering the age of the film and the audio is about par.  There is a nice set of bonus features included to round off the release.  It is really nice to see one of his classics remastered for old fans and new audiences to enjoy.  Arrow has done a really nice job with this release.  I recommend picking this one up.

About the author

MEDIA JOURNALIST | Michael is a fanatic about all both cinema old and new. He collects anything from 1:6 Scale, 1:12 Scale, and vinyl Collectibles plus Slipcovers and Steelbooks. He loves pop culture, writing, reviewing films & collectibles, and journalism. An avid Batman, The Joker and anything comics junkie, he will also chat it up about pretty much anything. Go ahead and ask...