Wes Craven was really making some waves with his second feature. Here the Carter family are on a trip to LA towing a trailer. You may tell early in the picture the influences from Tobe Hooper's TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE. After being warned by Fred (John Steadman) who owned a gas station the family fuelled up and the father "Big" Bob (Russ Grieve) wanted to claim a silver mine he was inherited you know something bad is going to happen. Adding to the fire certainly if you have seen the Hooper classic. The car skids off the desolate road and they become stranded. Now they must deal with a much greater challenge; the cannibals that live in the hills including Michael Berryman as Pluto who was on the front of the poster and became a horror icon due to this film.
Much like his previous LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT there is no real let up in the story. Where as with LAST HOUSE I felt the comedy wasn't needed and in my eyes hurt the film, you as the viewer are just subjected to the terror that the cannibals bring onto the average every day family. Personally I can see the growth as a director Wes Craven had taken and also as a writer. Not to mention it hit a homerun at the box office.
One thing though that was not good with the film at times was the lighting. Too dark at times and not being able to really tell what was happening on screen. Also starring Dee Wallace as the eldest child of the Carter family. Followed by a bad sequel and a remake (with its own sequel).
Much like his previous LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT there is no real let up in the story. Where as with LAST HOUSE I felt the comedy wasn't needed and in my eyes hurt the film, you as the viewer are just subjected to the terror that the cannibals bring onto the average every day family. Personally I can see the growth as a director Wes Craven had taken and also as a writer. Not to mention it hit a homerun at the box office.
One thing though that was not good with the film at times was the lighting. Too dark at times and not being able to really tell what was happening on screen. Also starring Dee Wallace as the eldest child of the Carter family. Followed by a bad sequel and a remake (with its own sequel).