The Hills Have Eyes, Part 2 (1985)

0% of critics liked it
(5 reviews)
42% of users liked it
(10,581 ratings)

This atrocious sequel to the 1977 horror classic is padded with so much of that film's footage that it seems more like a rerun than a new story. The entire cast seems to have lengthy flashbacks of the previous movie's events, including -- in what must be a cinematic first -- the German shepherd dog.… More This atrocious sequel to the 1977 horror classic is padded with so much of that film's footage that it seems more like a rerun than a new story. The entire cast seems to have lengthy flashbacks of the previous movie's events, including -- in what must be a cinematic first -- the German shepherd dog. The remaining screen time is spent on an uninvolving battle between some bland motocross bikers and the cannibal hillfolk. To be fair, director Wes Craven has stated that the film was extensively tampered with prior to release. That may get Craven off the hook, but doesn't make this muddled mess any easier to watch. ~ Robert Firsching, Rovi

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Rating, Runtime: R, 1 hr. 26 min.
Directed By: Wes Craven
Genres: Horror

In Theaters: Sep 12, 1985 Wide
On DVD: Sep 3, 2002
Studio: HBO Video

Critic Reviews

Budd Wilkins, Slant Magazine
Those hills may still have eyes, but only the hardiest fans should have their eyes on The Hills Have Eyes Part 2, an indifferent Blu-ray release from Kino Lorber.
Jeffrey M. Anderson, Combustible Celluloid
What could have inspired such lazy filmmaking?
Scott Weinberg, eFilmCritic.com
Might be the only film in cinema history to feature a flashback sequence ... by a DOG!
Ken Hanke, Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)
The original was a minor classic. This is just minor.
Rob Gonsalves, eFilmCritic.com
Craven throws away most of what made the first film shocking and relevant.

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Featured Audience Ratings

Cassandra M

The Hills Have Eyes Part II starts with Bobby (Robert Houston returning from the original) having a session with a psychiatrist (David Nichols) as he is still haunted by the events of 8 years earlier. Since those events Bobby has created a brand new type of fuel named 'Super… More
The Hills Have Eyes Part II starts with Bobby (Robert Houston returning from the original) having a session with a psychiatrist (David Nichols) as he is still haunted by the events of 8 years earlier. Since those events Bobby has created a brand new type of fuel named 'Super Formula' that he & some friends are going to test out in the desert in a dirt-bike race. However he gets cold feet & decides to stay behind, so it's down to riders Roy (Kevin Spirtas as Kevin Blair) his blind girlfriend Cass (Tamara Stafford), Harry (Peter Frechette) who turns out to be the practical joker, Hulk (John Laughlin), the mechanic Foster (Willard E. Pugh) & his girlfriend Sue (Penny Johnson) who also double us as the obligatory token black characters & finally Bobby's friend Rachel (Janus Blythe, another returnee from the original) who was Ruby from the first film but has now turned civilised to drive out deep into the desert for the race. Unfortunately after a mix-up with the time it appears that they won't make the start in time, in time that is unless they take a shortcut across the open desert where they damage their bus & become stranded at a abandoned house. It's not long before they come under attack from more cannibal cavemen including Pluto (Michael Berryman) who actually survived the original after all... Written & directed by Wes Craven this sequel to his original The Hills Have Eyes (1977) is probably not as good & has a bad reputation but despite this I actually found it an alright way to pass 85 minutes. The script has a decent set-up, I surprisingly quite liked the characters even if they were stereotypes & I thought it moved along at a fair pace. The one thing I didn't like about The Hills have Eyes Part II is the slow middle section which started to drag after a promising set-up & not a lot of thought was put into it's reasoning. It descends into standard slasher film mode towards the end but I thought it handled itself reasonably well although it could have done with a slightly better bad guy rather than an ugly fat drunk looking bloke who can't even run properly. I personally don't think the flashbacks from the original harm The Hills Have Eyes Part II much, they are few in number & are all over before the halfway mark despite what you may have read elsewhere. Director Craven manages to create some decent scenes & good atmosphere which he is aided immensely by the Californian desert locations as they add a unique picturesque bleakness & beauty to the film & make for a perfect isolated location that many horror films rely on. The cinematography by David Lewis capture these locations pretty well & as a whole The Hills Have Eyes Part II is well made with some OK bike stunts & considering it supposedly only had a budget of $1,000,000 I didn't think it turned out so bad. The gore is somewhat tame but more plentiful than the original, someone is impaled, there is a slit throat, some severed limbs & dead bodies & a hatchet stuck in someone's head. The acting is OK for what it's worth, which isn't much. While I can't say The Hills Have Eyes Part II is a particularly good film I can't say it's a bad one either, I found it quite watchable & to an extent entertaining. If your stuck for something to watch for 85 minutes than I think you could do a lot worse than this, worth a watch at least.
Leigh R

Yep... even worse than the first. I just couldn't help but laugh at how lame it was. Maybe (if I were old enough at the time) I should have watched it back then to see what kind of thrill factor it left, but in these days it's just boring and dumb.
Anthony L

A doggy flashback, a deluge of blind jokes (one of the main characters is blind), cannibals on motorcycles and a black man complaining that there aren't any discos in the desert. They are the unintentional best bits! It?s like a Friday the 13th film but instead of Jason we get a… More
A doggy flashback, a deluge of blind jokes (one of the main characters is blind), cannibals on motorcycles and a black man complaining that there aren't any discos in the desert. They are the unintentional best bits! It?s like a Friday the 13th film but instead of Jason we get a very unscary bald man and an even more unscary hairy man. I?ve seen better, I?ve seen worse!
Chris G

I hope Wes Craven got paid well for this craptatstic dequel from the 1980's. The one plus: Michael Berryman's return as Pluto.
Christopher B

Wes proves that the first Hills actually being decent was purely a fluke. Sorry for doubting your suckiness Mr. Craven, I shan't make that mistake again.
Nicky M

This 1 Wes Craven just did for a quick buck and you can tell. It's awful.
Patrick D

I was disappointed by this, I had such hi hopes for it. It's not terrible though, it's better than some other horror films and definetly some sequels but only for Wes Craven fans and fans of the original, other than that you won't get much out of it.