The Hills Have Eyes Part II (1984)

Directed by: Wes Craven | 87 minutes | horror | Actors: Michael Berryman, Kevin Blair, John Bloom, Janus Blythe, Willard Pugh, Peter Frechette, Penny Johnson, John Laughlin, Robert Houston, Colleen Riley, Tamara Stafford, David Nichols, Edith Fellows

This film is the sequel to ‘The Hills Have Eyes’ from 1977. Right at the beginning, the viewer is told that there are still savages living in the desert. The first images of the gloomy hilly landscape in the desert also look promisingly ominous. However, the quality of follow-up films is often measured against that of its predecessor, and that does not help the rating of this film. Various mood-enhancing aspects from the previous film are not or only partly reflected here.

The necessary question marks soon arise. The events in the past apparently did not lead to a police investigation, as there is no certainty that several savages are dead for a surviving townsman from the first film. In any case, the deaths among the townspeople at the time should have led to an investigation and clear things up sufficiently. The atrocities played out in the past have also become part of the folklore in the civilized world around the desert, and since the savages have also made unremitting victims ever since, an intervention by the authorities should have taken place by now. In addition, strangely and unnecessarily, one of the savages from the previous film now appears as a townsman himself, and the new leader of the savages turns out to be the brother of the previous one, although his mysterious origin is not clear. The carelessness with which the above points are ignored detracts from the film. This is because at the expense of the most simple logic an implausible initial situation is created in order to be able to present the viewer with the necessary horror. The main effect is, however, that the credibility of this film as a serious horror product is quickly questioned …

The horror itself is limited in ‘The Hills Have Eyes Part II’. In the first film, part of the horror was in the fear and initial apathy of the townspeople. In this film, however, several confrontations by the townspeople are only greeted with loud cheers, as if it were a sporting showdown. The first deaths also have little influence on the state of mind of various city dwellers. This does not exactly create the so characteristic oppressive and threatening atmosphere from the first film. The same applies to the lack of interaction between the savages. In the 1977 film, their mutual statements revealed their mental derailment and their complete lack of humanity, making them all the more menacing and sinister. Here, however, this interaction is omitted, and the only threatening statement is that ‘we got this whole desert to ourselves we kill everybody’, but this is no longer producing much news by now.

The comparisons with the first part don’t do ‘The Hills Have Eyes Part II’ any good. But apart from that, there are also some downsides. Due to their diversity and superficiality, identification with the city dwellers is only achieved to a limited extent. The few of the savages fail to make them seem menacing enough. In addition, the first confrontations are only short and rather meaningless skirmishes and at a later stage the tension of various chases seems to be more important than the horror that the viewer should expect. The way in which one of the savages is dealt with seems very clumsy and almost laughable. Furthermore, various confrontations consist only of an excess of traps in which the savage(s) themselves do not even come into the picture. The unpleasant consequences of these traps for the city dwellers are clearly depicted, but precisely the oppressive threat and horror that should arise due to the actions of the savages themselves are largely left out of the picture. After all, the makers of this film seem to have realized this themselves, judging by the relatively many flashbacks of various horrific images from the previous film. Also because of this it is difficult to judge this sequel separately from its predecessor, which once again makes the shortcomings in this film all the more obvious.

The only savage who radiates any appreciable threat and bestiality through his actions is their new leader. He shows himself to be a dignified savage when he energetically and unfeelingly makes short shrift of various townspeople, accompanied by the necessary explicitly portrayed gruesome scenes in which the necessary humor can be recognized now and then, however wry may be the outcome for various city dwellers. The injuries sustained by the savage in the meantime provide an appropriate opportunity for various narrow-escapes. The performance of this savage at least provides some horror and indicates how things could have been better designed in this film. Unfortunately, with the exception of the final confrontation, he only appears briefly. Furthermore, the clumsy way in which he is finally settled also unfortunately detracts from his performance.

This is a disappointing film, especially compared to its predecessor. The initial situation is unbelievable and the threat that should emanate from the savages does not manifest itself for various reasons, so that the oppressive atmosphere of the 1977 film does not come about here either. Only the action and the threat emanating from the leader of the savages is still somewhat apparent, but this only happens quite late and does not last too long. In addition, the relatively many flashbacks of the previous film ensure that the meager content of this film comes to the fore all the more sharply and therefore especially the nostalgia for the first part blossoms.