5 | / 10 |
Users | 2.5 | |
Reviewer | 1.5 | |
Overall | 2.1 |
A group of bikers, which includes some of the survivors from the original film, embark on a journey by bus to a biker race near the desert of the infamous incidents. However, because of a mistake, they are late and decide to take a shortcut through the desert. Halfway through the desert, the bus breaks down. While trying to repair the bus, some of the group wander off and wind up in the traps of the survivors of the mutant family of the first. Then the mutants go after the rest...
Starring: Tamara Stafford, Kevin Spirtas, John Bloom (III), Michael Berryman, Colleen RileyHorror | 100% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.57:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
English: LPCM 2.0 (48kHz, 16-bit)
None
25GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A, B (C untested)
Movie | 1.5 | |
Video | 3.0 | |
Audio | 2.5 | |
Extras | 0.5 | |
Overall | 1.5 |
Awful, unnecessary sequels aren't unusual in the horror genre, but they're rarely as bad or as inessential as The Hills Have Eyes II, Wes Craven's 1985 cash-in of a follow-up to his 1977 classic. The original, even today, is a disturbingly brutal exercise in terror, upping the ante set by The Texas Chain Saw Massacre and serving as an eventual template for the "travelers stalked by crazies" subgenre--see Hostel, Wolf Creek, etc.--that in the 2000s came to be called "torture porn." Part II, on the other hand, is far goofier than it is scary, a very nearly bloodless desert escapade that has little going for it beyond 1980s nostalgia. It's hard to believe the director made this dross just a year after Nightmare on Elm Street, another bonafide genre game-changer. Craven has long-since disowned the film, claiming he only did it for the money, and that's blindingly obvious in every frame. The only thing shocking about The Hills Have Eyes II is how little thought and passion went into the finished product.
Image Entertainment's Blu-ray release of the original Hills Have Eyes last year was an unmitigated disaster, a standard definition up-convert plagued by edge enhancement and aliasing, fuzzy textures and splotchy colors. It looks horrible. Part II, however, gets a bonafide 1080p/AVC-encoded transfer courtesy of Kino-Lorber, and the results--while not what you might call eye candy--are satisfying and faithful to source. First of all, there's no doubt that you're getting an actual high definition image this time. Though the picture is often quite soft--this is, after all, a dingy low-budget 35mm feature from the mid-1980s--there's more fine detail here than you'd ever spot on the equivalent DVD. If you watch a lot of cheapo horror from this time period, you've probably got a good idea what you're in for, clarity-wise. Color reproduction seems as good as can be expected as well, with no major tone fluctuations and a picture that's decently saturated. The only issue here--and this stems from the way the film was shot, I'm sure--is that the black levels during some of the nighttime scenes are seriously oppressive. In some of the underexposed and under-lit shots it's even hard to tell what's going on. I wouldn't advise watching this one with any bright lights on--or in a window-filled room during the day--particularly if your screen is prone to glare. The print itself features some negligible damage--white/black specks, mostly--but nothing especially distracting. There's no sign of overt edge enhancement, DNR, or compression woes either.
While I'm pretty tolerant of age-related print damage, poorly recorded and reproduced audio grates a bit more forcibly on my nerves. The Hills Have Eyes II features an uncompressed Linear PCM 2.0 stereo track that's brash, overly loud, and even occasionally distorted. I have no doubt Kino did what they could with the original audio--which probably wasn't much--but the end result is a peaky, bright and brittle-sounding crackle-a-thon that, at best, might generously be described with a wince and a shrug as listenable. I wouldn't go so far as to say it's an endurance test--you'll get through it with only mild aural discomfort--but the mix is far from a pleasurable experience, with tinny effects and a top-heavy score. The dialogue, even when murky, is at least understandable, but if you need or want subtitles you're out of luck--none are supplied.
The lone extras on the disc are a theatrical trailer, a gallery with 23 stills, and a collection of trailers for Redemption's Jean Rollin releases.
I can forgive Wes Craven for this one. We all gotta get paid. But let's just put The Hills Have Eyes II back on the trash heap of cinematic history where it belongs and forget about it. Agreed? What's really sad here is that Part II looks immeasurably better on Blu-ray than the original--a true travesty. Unless you're some sort of Hills Have Eyes completist--and I'm sure there are at least a few of you out there--I wouldn't bother with this release.
Part II
1985
The Hills Have Eyes Part 2 | Standard Edition
1985
Standard Special Edition
1977
2012
2003
Unrated
2007
Collector's Edition | The Return of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre
1994
SOLD OUT
1982
Nightmare Circus / The Barn of the Naked Dead
1974
2016
Unrated
2009
2015
1981
Collector's Edition
1981
Unrated Director's Cut
2006
Slugs, muerte viscosa
1988
Limited Edition
1982
1986
Unrated
2012
1989
Unrated
2007
2013