The Hills have Eyes (1977)

With the remake of this movie now attracting surprisingly good reviews in the States, I thought I would revisit the original before the new one comes to town.  Written and directed by Wes Craven (he was never so good again as he was in his early films), this is a raw and generally disturbing movie.  Like "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre", it concerns a family group in their trailer, here taking a detour, enroute to California, and what happens when they run into a family of mutant cannibals.  The concept is pretty much old hat now, but back in the seventies there was a certain raw strength and genuine malaise to the story, and I do wonder how the new film can improve upon this.  It is hardly brilliant film-making, but the horrible things that can happen to good people (rather than sexually promiscuous teens) remains disquieting.  And in the misshapen face of the actor Michael Berryman who plays one of the mutants, there is an iconic image that continues to haunt.  A thoroughly nasty film, but classic in its way.