Why Bobby and Brenda were the ultimate duo in the original Hills Have Eyes.

 Why Bobby and Brenda were the ultimate duo in the original Hills Have Eyes.

One of the ultimate vacation gone wrong movies has to be the Wes Craven original Hills Have Eyes. This 1970's classic was gritty, brightly lit, raw, and brutal. This was Craven's follow up to his grim tale of loss of innocence with The Last House On The Left. This movie tells the tale of a family driving through the desert to California to celebrate their parent's anniversary. Along the way, they run into some car trouble, while taking a short cut through the mountains where old silver mines used to be which were shut down after the government began using the area for a nuclear test site. Unknown to anyone else, a wild clad of cannibals, affected by the radiation, crawl into the caves where they become inbred, and attack anyone who makes the tragic mistake of traveling through there. Broken down, the family tries finding help before the mutant cave people attack them one by one in the middle of the night. After kidnapping an infant child, it's only three family members remaining. Two of which are teenage twins Bobby and Brenda. Here they have witnessed the brutal murders of both their parents and sister. Brenda has been sexualy assaulted, and the two are frightened, and stranded while their brother in-law goes into the mountains to find his baby girl. Alone, the two decide instead of giving up, they fright back with nothing to lose. 

The events shown in this film are highly disturbing. In just the matter of a few hours both Bobby and Brenda witness their father burning to death, their sister and mother getting shot, their niece getting kidnapped, Brenda being raped, and one of their family dogs gutted. The two are attacked, beaten, and pushed to the very limits. What started out as two beautiful young teenagers, full of energy, and giving a playful brother sister banter. By the end of the movie they are bloody, beaten, exhausted, and most likely half insane. Sure Brenda screams her brother's name more times you can even count (Try playing a drinking name to that...every time you hear the name Bobby...drink. #whitegirlwasted) Any who in typical Craven fashion, the two kick total ass. One of the most heartbreaking scenes is when they need to drag out their poor mother's corpse to use as bait. They rig the trailer aka their only shelter to try and kill the monsters attacking them. One of the best moments if how clever they rig everything, including Brenda finally snapping and attacking one of the mutants with an axe to save her brother. These two fight up until the very end and their will to survive is something to truly respect.

This movie had one HELL of a remake (One just as good as the Dawn Of The Dead remake) here everything is a million times more disturbing and brutal. Yet again, we witness these two characters taking a stand instead of allowing these brutal killers to finish them off. Together they pair up and kick some major ass. 

Sadly the original sequel to this movie gets a really bad rap. I for one have always liked it and really wish Bobby's role would have been bigger. I would have LOVED to see Bobby and Brenda return to the desert all those years later to finish off the family that destroyed theirs. 

So three cheers to two of my favorite survivors. Arrow Video knocked the blu-ray release to this baby right out of the park. The transfer is crystal clear, and the special features are amazing. What I love most about this release is the fact that the artwork showcases Bobby and Brenda in all their glory just like the Mondo poster that I proudly own. 

Let's pour one out for Bobby and Brenda! The original home boy and home girl!