Wes Craven's The Hills Have Eyes is the story of one family's fight for survival against a group of inbred cannibals who's love for human flesh is equalled only by their desire to kill. Released in 1977 The Hills Have Eyes has long since been available on video but never has it been released on DVD, until now.
Available through Anchor Bay Entertainment in a two-disc edition the film not only looks better but also sounds better. Presented in a widescreen format that has been enhanced for 16X9 televisions the film comes with not one but four seperate audio tracks(6.1 DTS-ES, 5.1 Dolby Digital Surround EX, 2.0 Dolby Digital and original mono.) as well as featuring an audio commentary track with writer/director Wes Craven and producer Peter Locke.
The extras, which are available on the second disc, include a new documentary entitled "Looking Back On The Hills Have Eyes", an episode of the tv show The Directors which focuses on Wes Craven, a restoration featurette, an alternate ending, theatrical trailers, tv spots, three photo galleries, a bio on Wes Craven and some DVD-ROM content.
On their audio commentary track writer/director Wes Craven and producer Peter Locke discuss the making of the film, its low budget, scenes that had to be trimmed or cut to avoid an X rating and share anecdotes. While it is informative and interesting it's hardly the best audio commentary track I've ever heard but it's still worth a listen.
Looking Back On The Hills Have Eyes, which runs for 55 minutes, is a retrospective documentary on the making of the film as told by writer/director Wes Craven producer Peter Locke, director of photography Eric Saarinen and various cast members. This documentary is actually more informative than the audio commentary track provided by Craven and Locke because they go into greater detail in describing what went into making this film as well as touching upon subjects that weren't talked about on their audio commentary track.
The Directors:The Films Of Wes Craven(58:29) is a retrospective look on Wes Craven's career in film. Told through interviews with the man himself as well as with actors Courtney Cox-Arquette, David Arquette, Adrienne Barbeau, Neve Campbell, Robert Englund, Mitch Pileggi, Bill Pullman, Meryl Streep, Kristy Swanson and Ray Wise The Directors:The Films Of Wes Craven is very intersting and, at just under an hour long, just seems to go by too quickly.
The alternate ending, which runs just over ten minutes, is essentially the same ending as in the final film with the exception of the last two scenes having been switched in order. Another brief little scene has been added and the end credits are slightly different but otherwise it's the same ending. The picture is rather rough and grainy and could of used some restoration as well.
Rounding out the extras on this disc are a restoration featurette, theatrical trailers(U.S. and German), tv spots(U.S. and U.K.), three photo galleries(Behind-The-Scenes, Posters + Advertising and Storyboards), a bio on Wes Craven, the original screenplay(DVD-ROM) and screen savers(DVD-ROM).
Anchor Bay once again delivers a top notch DVD. The picture, while still somewhat grainy, has been cleaned up quite a bit, as you'll see in the restoration featurette, and the extras are great. Fans of Wes Craven and of horror films in general will definetely want to add The Hills Have Eyes to their DVD collection.