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Michael Berryman, Tamara Stafford, Kevin Spirtas, John Bloom (III), Janus Blythe ... see more see more... , Peter Frechette , Robert Houston , Penny Johnson , John Laughlin , Willard E. Pugh , Colleen Riley , Edith Fellows , James Whitworth , Kevin Blair , Lance Gordon , Susan Lanier , Brenda Marinoff , Virginia Vincent , Martin Speer , Arden Roger Meyer , Dave Nichols

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... read more read more... 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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42% liked it

10,580 ratings

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5 critics

R, 1 hr. 26 min.

Directed by: Wes Craven

Release Date: September 12, 1985

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DVD Release Date: September 3, 2002

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Flixster Reviews (468)

  • matertenebraum
    February 15, 2011
    matertenebraum
    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 Form... read moreula' 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.
  • dreamfaeries
    December 4, 2009
    dreamfaeries
    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.
  • SirPant
    September 30, 2009
    SirPant
    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 ... read morevery unscary bald man and an even more unscary hairy man. I?ve seen better, I?ve seen worse!
  • sononothing
    April 14, 2008
    sononothing
    I hope Wes Craven got paid well for this craptatstic dequel from the 1980's. The one plus: Michael Berryman's return as Pluto.
  • cacutshaw
    October 4, 2007
    cacutshaw
    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.
  • nickymo89
    July 27, 2007
    nickymo89
    This 1 Wes Craven just did for a quick buck and you can tell. It's awful.
  • patrickdol
    July 13, 2007
    patrickdol
    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.
  • joemamaohio
    April 23, 2012
    joemamaohio
    Eight years after facing cannibals in the desert, Bobby ( Robert Houston) is still haunted by the events of that fateful night, so much so he refuses to travel to the desert with his motocross company to participate in a show. Rachel (Janus Blythe), Bobby's assistant (and someon... read moree who has connections to the desert as well), goes in his stead, with his crew. When their bus runs out of gas, they find themselves stranded in the same area where the cannibals still live - Pluto (Michael Berryman) and The Reaper (John Bloom).

    Wes Craven considers this film one of his worst, one he made because he needed money, and has completely disowned it. It wasn't bad, but it seemed like a "Friday the 13th" ripoff with similar music and a bunch of clueless teenagers dying one-by-one without much dialogue or character development. The smartest person in the group (besides Rachel) was the dog Beast (who was also in the first film) - he even experiences his own flashback! Dog with a flashback definitely earns an extra star for this film.

    This film adds nothing to the horror genre, but it's still an enjoyable flick to watch when you just want to veg and not think about anything.
  • CostellosCrew
    August 21, 2011
    CostellosCrew
    A group of bikers traveling through a remote desert encounter some flesh eating crazies, and must fight for their lives!

    While that description may sound cool or appealing, it's quite the opposite actually. The first question I ask myself, is why go if you are aware of wh... read moreat lies ahead? One of the characters is Lucy from the first film. She tags along, and eventually everyone realizes who she is. She knew all about it, so why risk everyone's life by going back? I really don't know. Sadly, that's only one of many flaws to be had in this film.

    The plot is as straightforward as you can get, with a group of friends getting stranded in a remote desert, only to realize their lives are at stake due to deformed cannibals. Nothing special. And nothing worth re- watching. The hill dwellers are the same from the original version as well, so it was just same-old. Maybe adding a couple more villains would have helped? I think so. You have Pluto (Berryman), and his hairy friend the reaper. I mean, eight bikers or so can't take two idiots living in the hills? Just ridiculous. They were all pretty tough at that.

    To be honest, I really enjoyed Wes Craven's first Hills Have Eyes film, and thought Michael Berryman did pretty fantastic as well. That at least packed some suspense, and had likeable characters. To think Craven took part in this picture is beyond me; very pitiful. But I suppose every director has there down moment right?

    When I think of cheesy horror flicks, The Hills Have Eyes Part II is definitely one of the worst. It brings visibly nothing to the table, with literally boring characters, a predictable story, some of the worst dialogue I have ever seen, and absolutely no suspense to be had. I can't even look at this movie as a sit back, relax and enjoy it for what it is type flick. It's that bad.

    Don't watch this if you're a Hills Have Eyes Fan. It just might ruin your day.
  • TransmissionsFromNostromo
    February 27, 2011
    TransmissionsFromNostromo
    I couldn't finish watching this one and turned it off after about an hour. At least half of it was flashbacks from the characters in the first film. Yes, even Beast the dog has a flashback.

    But I learned some very important things:

    *Even if you live your entire life in the dese... read morert totally isolated from society, you still know how to operate a motorcycle and that you should wear a helmet when you ride.

    *Black men need discos, even in the desert.

    *You can fix a leak in a gas tank with bubble gum.

    *Dogs have excellent memories and often ruminate about past occurrences.

    *When driving across the desert to get to a race, do NOT leave the day before. Planning to arrive 30 minutes before the start of the race is fine.

View All The Hills Have Eyes, Part 2 Reviews

Critic Reviews

Jeffrey M. Anderson
March 23, 2012
Jeffrey M. Anderson, Combustible Celluloid

What could have inspired such lazy filmmaking? Full Review

Scott Weinberg
April 3, 2005
Scott Weinberg, eFilmCritic.com

Might be the only film in cinema history to feature a flashback sequence ... by a DOG!

Ken Hanke
June 16, 2003
Ken Hanke, Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)

The original was a minor classic. This is just minor.

Rob Gonsalves
May 14, 2003
Rob Gonsalves, eFilmCritic.com

Craven throws away most of what made the first film shocking and relevant. Full Review

November 26, 2008
Variety

Click to read the article Full Review

Emanuel Levy
July 25, 2005
Emanuel Levy, EmanuelLevy.Com

No review available.

March 9, 2004
Film4

Click to read the article Full Review

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The Hills Have Eyes, Part 2 Trivia

  • The Hills Have Eyes Part 2 (1985)- with most of his family dead, Pluto (Michael Berryman) now kills people alongside another savage. What's his name?  Answer »
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