The Hills Have Eyes (1977)

Star Rating- 3
Length of Film- 89 minutes 
Director- Wes Craven
Cast- Susan Lanier, Robert Houston, Martin Speer, Dee Wallace-Stone, Russ Grieve, John Steadman, James Whitworth, Virginia Vincent, Lance Gordon, Michael Berryman, Janus Blythe, Cordy Clark, Brenda Marinoff, & Peter Locke

"Horror continued to infiltrate the most common place visions of domestic bliss, turning the American dream inside out... most horror films portrayed red-blooded Americans fighting for their own life...it was all about random violence, about unpredictability, about seeing the things you couldn't imagine around the next corner."

-Nightmares in Red White and Blue   

Which takes us to the 1977 film, "The Hills Have Eyes". This movie is a stereotypical 70's horror film. Much like The Texas Chainsaw Massacre where they stumbled upon this horrific event by accident. In this film, the Carter family was traveling across the dessert,  got stranded in the middle of nowhere, and their party got split up. Inbred savages preyed the area, and decided to have some fun with the Carter's. 

This movie made the list in my opinion because of gruesome rape scene, talk of cannibalism, the odd look of actor Michael Berryman, death of the family dog, kidnapping a child, and the huge winnebago explosion.

When I first saw the film, I thought they did special effects on Pluto (Michael Berryman), but they did not. That's what he looks like, and once I researched on Berryman, I found out he has a disorder called Ectodermal Dysplasia. 

"Ectodermal dysplasias are described as "heritable conditions in which there are abnormalities of two or more ectodermal structures such as the hair, teeth, nails,sweat glands, cranial-facial structure, digits and other parts of the body"-www.wikipedia.org

Pluto (Michael Bailey Smith) -2006 remake

Pluto (Berryman)-1977

I commend Berryman for using what God gave him, and choosing to go down the path of acting in the horror genre. Because when you look at him, you know there's something not right, and he played the inbred neanderthal very well. If you look at the photos up above, I believe that Pluto, 1977 looked more realistic, than when they remade "The Hills Have Eyes" in 2006. Pluto (Michael Bailey Smith) looked fake. You could tell that they enhanced his features with make-up, so I commend the casting directors who chose to hire Berryman for the role. 

The movie wasn't scary in my opinion, it was more gut wrenching/high anxiety, because you had sympathy for the family, and that's scary in itself. This was just a normal family that was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Anyone sitting in the theater in 1977, could've gone on a road trip, and it could've happened to them. Some people are scared of Godzilla, but in reality, that would NEVER happen. Savages stalking, murdering, and taking advantage of your family IS possible, and that's what makes this movie memorable and worthy to be on the 1,001 Movies You Must See Before You Die list.

Watch the movie and make an opinion for yourself, Craven hit the nail on the head writing this movie, because it fit in perfectly with what was popular at the time; the most horrifying thing that could happen, could be right around the corner. 

The Big Chill (1983)

Star Rating- 2 1/2
Director- Lawrence Kasdan
Length of Film- 105 minutes 
Cast- Tom Berenger, Glenn Close, Jeff Goldblum, William Hurt, Kevin Kline, Mary Kay Place, Meg Tilly, JoBeth Williams, Don Galloway, James Gillis, Ken Place, Jon Kasdan, Ira Stiltner, Jake Kasdan, & Muriel Moore
Oscar Nominations- Michael Shamberg (best picture), Lawrence Kasdan & Barbara Benedek (screenplay), Glenn Close (actress in support role)








Here's the movie in a nutshell: friend committed suicide so everyone from college got together for the funeral and ended up spending the weekend at married couples house, Sarah (Glenn Close) & Harold (Kevin Kline). The whole movie takes place in a weekend and at this one house. 

The greatest part about this movie is the soundtrack:

1. Marvin Gaye – "I Heard It Through The Grapevine" (Extended version)
2. The Temptations – "My Girl"
3. The Young Rascals – "Good Lovin'"
4. The Miracles – "The Tracks of My Tears"
5. Three Dog Night – "Joy to the World"
6. The Temptations – "Ain't Too Proud to Beg"
7. Aretha Franklin – "(You Make Me Feel Like A) Natural Woman"
8. Smokey Robinson & The Miracles – "I Second That Emotion"
9. Procol Harum – "A Whiter Shade of Pale"
10. The Exciters – "Tell Him"
11. Creedence Clearwater Revival – "Bad Moon Rising"
12. Percy Sledge – "When a Man Loves a Woman"
13. The Young Rascals – "In the Midnight Hour"
14. The Spencer Davis Group – "Gimme Some Lovin'"
15. The Band – "The Weight"
16. The Beach Boys – "Wouldn't It Be Nice"
17. Bert Kaempfert – "Strangers in the Night"
18. The Rolling Stones – "You Can't Always Get What You Want" (Church version)
19. "J. T. Lancer Theme"

20. Four Tops – "It's the Same Old Song"
21. Martha & The Vandellas – "Dancing in the Street"
22. Marvin Gaye – "What's Going On"
23. The Marvelettes – "Too Many Fish in the Sea"
24. Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell – "Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing"
25. Jimmy Ruffin – "What Becomes of the Brokenhearted"
26. Jr. Walker & The All Stars – "Shotgun"
27. Doobie Brothers – "Take Me in Your Arms (Rock Me a Little While)"
28. The Supremes – "Ask Any Girl"
29. Lesley Gore – "You Don't Own Me"
30. Spanky & Our Gang – "Like to Get to Know You"
31. The Mamas and The Papas – "Monday, Monday"
32. Moody Blues – "Nights in White Satin (The Night)"
33. Joe Cocker – "Feeling Alright"
34. Wayne Fontana & The Mindbenders – "Game of Love"
35. James Brown – "I Got You (I Feel Good)"
36. Blues Magoos – "(We Ain't Got) Nothin' Yet"
37. The Zombies – "Time of the Season"
38. Howard Tate – "Get It While You Can"

The big shocker in my opinion on why this movie is considered "one of the best" is when Meg (Mary Kay Place) talks to Sarah about wanting to have a baby:

Meg: They're either married or gay. And if they're not gay, they've just broken up with the most wonderful woman in the world, or they've just broken up with a bitch who looks exactly like me. They're in transition from a monogamous relationship and they need more space. Or they're tired of space, but they just can't commit. Or they want to commit, but they're afraid to get close. They want to get close, and you don't want to get near them.

Sarah: It can't be that bad.

Meg: I don't know. I'm goin' easy. I've been out there dating for twenty years. I've gotten where I can tell in the first fifteen seconds if there's a chance in the world.

Sarah: Well, at least you're giving them a fair shot.

Meg: Yeah, that's easy for you to say. Married to Harold, the perfect man. I don't know. Sometimes, I think I don't even want a man anymore. So here I sit on my ticking biological clock, and the only thing I've known in my entire life is that I want to have a child. Don't remind me. This probably was the right thing to do at the time.

Sarah: So, what do ya do?

Meg: I'm gonna have a baby.

Sarah: What?

Meg: Now, I've been taking my temperature and I know I'm ovulating right now. The ground is ready. I just need someone to plant the seed.

Sarah: Yeah, but who's gonna be the lucky farmer?

Meg: These are the best guys I know. My favorite men in the world. Unfortunately, Nick, as I discover I'm the last to know, is no longer a candidate. Michael's a possibility, but considering everything, I think a fall-back position...So that leaves Sam...

Sarah: Have you discussed this with Sam, or are you just gonna plan a surprise attack?

Meg: Why should he have a problem with it? I mean there won't be any obligations. I love him as a friend. I assume he loves me. He'd do anything for me.

Sarah: You know, somehow, I feel it isn't quite this simple. You know, for one thing, it doesn't always happen the first time.

Meg: That's not what they told us in high school.

In a TWIST of events, Sarah asks her HUSBAND to give her friend a baby. She's waiting there in the bedroom, they strip down a do it the old fashioned way, I mean...no jerking off in a cup and then inserting it in the girl...she let her husband sleep with another woman, and you know Sarah had a hard time with this decision, because she was hanging out in the kitchen pantry. So sad... so selfless.... so not anything I would EVER do. I'm not that good of a friend. WOW! 

I wouldn't necessarily consider this a high candidate for being in the book. The only memorable part in this film Harold sleeping with Meg to get her pregnant and the music. I know the movie is supposed to be about the bond of these 7 friends and how life changes for everyone and even though everyones life is on a different path, that when a tragedy strikes, the bond forms again. I get that...but the movie isn't life changing. Truthfully, they could've gotten in a lot more trouble and done way more risque things, but the film was made in 1983, they hadn't broken that barrier yet. 

The movie's just blah...very vanilla. Make your opinion, but when the next edition comes out, they can nix this one I will not be upset :-) Happy viewing!

Videodrome (1983)

Star Rating- 2
Director- David Cronenberg
Cast- James Woods, Sonja Smits, Deborah Harry, Peter Dvorsky, Leslie Carlson, Jack Creley, Lynne Gorman, Julie Khaner, Reiner Schwartz, David Bolt, Lally Cadeau, Henry Gomez, Harvey Chao, David Tsubouchi, & Kay Hawtrey

(I have been so far behind of my movie reviews that I don't necessarily remember this film, because I watched it 4 months ago. Oooops! So I am going to write down what the film critic, R. Barton Palmer wrote about Videodrome; direct quote from the book.)

"A groundbreaking film of the commercial/independent movement of 1980s Hollywood, David Cronenberg's story about the horrible transformation wrought by exposure to televised violence wittily thematizes the very problems that the director's exploration of violent sexual imagery in his previous productions has caused with censors, Hollywood distributors, and feminist groups. Max Renn (James Woods) is a cable-station operator whose cynical marketing of sex and violence backfires on him when his abdomen suddenly grows a vagina-like opening into which, among other objects, audiocassettes can be inserted. The film, in which such sado-masochistic fantasy and transgendering play key roles, ends tragically, with Max's self-destruction.

In many ways the most audacious formal incarnation of Cronenberg's characteristic themes, Videodrome begins as a fairly standard commercial thriller, only to be transformed, at midpoint, into subjective fantasy of the most outrageous and unusual kind. Visually rich, Videodrome is also thought-provoking in its startling meditation on both polymorphous perversity and the interpenetration between public and subjective realms of experience. Cronenberg has been both praised and condemned for his fluid treatment of gender (a closing sequence in which two female characters grow penises in a kind of riposte to Max's "vagination" was cut from the release print as too disturbing). Even in its edited form, Videodrome remains one of Hollywood's most unusual films, too shocking and idiosyncratic to be anything but a commercial failure." - R. Barton Palmer holds a Ph.D from Yale University (Medieval Studies) and New York University (Cinema Studies). He is a professor of Literature at Clemson University and Director of the South Carolina Film Institute

Even though I gave the film a 2 out of 5 stars, I do believe that this movie deserves to be in the book and it does stick out like a sore thumb in my mind as perverse and groundbreaking and I will never forget it. Videodrome reminded me a lot of Blue Velvet & Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer. Here are some of the still shots from the film...I decided to watch the film because the photos intrigued me. Just be aware, this movie is gross and stretches the comfortability of the audience (which is why this movie deserves to stay on the list). 

Happy viewing!