Worth a Rewatch? Wes Craven’s ‘The Hills Have Eyes Part II’ 40 Years Later

It would seem as if Wes Craven didn’t have any downtime back in the 1980s. If he wasn’t actively making a movie, then he was writing the script for his next one. And if Craven’s work wasn’t found on the big screen, there was a good chance he had briefly pivoted to the small screen. Yet it was that waiting period for A Nightmare on Elm Street that led to Craven agreeing to make The Hills Have Eyes Part II. Getting financing for Elm Street was proving to be a hassle, and plans for a Craven-helmed adaptation of V. C. Andrews’ Flowers in the Attic had also fallen through at Universal. So, in an effort to stay busy, and knowing the project would be funded from the get-go, Craven began shooting what many now consider to be his worst movie.

Success means sequels in the movie biz. This is especially true in the horror genre. And in England, the classic The Hills Have Eyes did so well that its video distributor requested another movie. Of course, by the time The Hills Have Eyes Part II actually manifested, the horror scene had changed, yet again. Craven—who later co-wrote 2007’s The Hills Have Eyes 2 with his son—reflected the times by delivering youth-targeted horror, much to the frustration of overwhelmed critics. But in hindsight, that somewhat lateral move from grueling ‘70s survival horror to standard slasher is only a minor issue when revisiting the sequel.

The Hills Have Eyes Part II could have easily been a standalone sequel; in a few ways it is that. However, the story is a direct continuation, despite the passage of time since last meeting Jupiter and his cannibalistic clan. There are also returning characters from the first movie, including one whose major death was now cheapened by his resurrection. Nevertheless, this second outing in the harsh Nevada desert doesn’t necessarily require you to watch, or rewatch, the original movie. Flashbacks fill in the blanks for the uninitiated and refresh the memories of everyone else.

A common complaint about the sequel, and perhaps an overstated one at that, is the flashbacks. Indeed, Craven literally replayed scenes from the first movie, strictly as troubling dreams for characters Bobby Carter (Robert Houston) and Rachel f.k.a. Ruby (Janus Blythe). The sequences, while disruptive, amount to less than seven minutes of the entire runtime, and they’re limited to the first act. So unless someone watched the two movies back to back—which isn’t recommended—bemoaning the mild use of old footage feels unwarranted.

If there is any one thing to legitimately criticize here, it is how dialed-down the sequel turned out. Needless to say, the original had the luxury of coming out first and being experienced by a less seasoned audience, thus leading to its current standing as a cult shocker. Even then, the ‘77 movie still manages to startle during retrospective viewings; that level of intensity has aged pretty well. Whereas in The Hills Have Eyes Part II, there is never a comparable sense of discomfort or tension. The danger is known right from the start, thanks to Bobby’s PTSD flaring ahead of his business trip out to the desert.

Despite having the exact setup for a movie about a survivor returning to the scene of their trauma, the sequel spares Bobby, for whatever reason behind the scenes, and instead has Blythe’s Rachel accompanying the new characters to their (final) destination. From there the routine goes as expected, give or take. It’s worth mentioning that there are the smallest of deviations sprinkled throughout, such as a woman’s very random and sudden shower scene that doesn’t end in her prompt death; she dies later at the hands of a new cannibal named Reaper (John Bloom). Whether or not Craven was intentionally toying around with horror clichés is unclear—notably those ones that became overused in the slasher golden age—but moments like this, plus the slightly unconventional choice of Final Girl, keep you on your toes as everything else drifts into familiar territory.

For all its underwhelming decisions, the sequel did wring out a smidge of dread whenever Cass (Tamara Stafford), who is blind, explores the movie’s setting. The busload of characters winds up at the abandoned mining town that’s conveniently close to where the Carter family was attacked, and in true slasher fashion, the cast splits up and leaves Cass on her own. You’re never quite sure if you should squirm or roll your eyes—you’ll likely do both—as Stafford’s character feels her way around various locations, sometimes coming within inches of injury or death. Funnily enough, her wandering around in the dark by herself, and with no real clue as to where she’s going, becomes a rather apt metaphor for this movie. 

When viewed in this particular age of horror where legacy characters return on the regular, and often with a sense of excitement attached to their comebacks, The Hills Have Eyes Part II comes off as subversive. In exchange for Bobby facing his demons, it’s Rachel/Ruby, Jupiter’s defected daughter, who confronts her past. And once we’re beyond the incredibly silly revival of her character’s thought-to-be-dead brother Pluto (Michael Berryman), the movie steers Rachel down a path of additional redemption; she’s now entrusted with the safety of those younger, ill-prepared friends she’s made since leaving behind her old life. However, in a bit of a twist, Rachel’s character dies—and unceremoniously so, one might add. Ruby isn’t as vocally beloved or brought up anywhere as much as other Craven characters, but even still, her death is a letdown.

The producers anticipated a bigger hit with The Hills Have Eyes Part II—really an expectation of any sequel—and the fact that there was a novelization reinforces that belief. The number of failed horror movies with hastily made fiction tie-ins is higher than you would think. In this case, though, the story on paper is not all that different from the one on screen; author David Ferring is mostly faithful to Craven’s screenplay. So much so that even Beast the Dog’s flashback dream is included in the book. Any significant changes, including a more elaborate and gruesome death for Rachel, do not warrant your immediate purchase of the novelization, which seems to have only been released abroad. Hence its rarity and costly price tag on resale sites.

By no means is this a movie that’s undeserving of its reputation; the effort exerted here was less than ideal. But had this not been a Hills Have Eyes sequel, and it was just another slapdash and kinda quirky one-off that got lost in the ‘80s slasher shuffle, then maybe, just maybe, audiences would be more merciful. It’s surprisingly more watchable than its biggest detractors probably remember. However, once again, you’re recommended to not view this straight after the original (or the remake). That’s just asking for further disappointment.

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