Yar, you be here: The Hills Have Eyes, Part 2 > Customer Reviews

The Hills Have Eyes, Part 2 Customer Reviews (1 - 3 of 12 Reviews)

ehh it got old/boring
the movie wouldnt have been as bad if it wasint filmed like friday the 13th because in my opinion them movies suck. it was like there was too much walking around and investigating then there was chasing , theres only one real chase scene when pluto or w/e steals the dirt bike, which is a cool scene but after that it was just them walking around being followed by random kills. and the ending was just liek teh 1st one except they get some dumbass to go into a bus for what ever reason and it blows up and hre comes runing out and falls down a well. Its a bad movie friday the 13th is better and i hate them movies.

Not as great as it could have been...
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.

CANNIBALS WHO WANNA BE LIKE JASON
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.

1 2 3 4

Next Page