The Hills Have Eyes

They wanted to see something different, but something different saw them first!

—Trailer for '77 version

The lucky ones die first.

—Tagline to both the original and the remake

This article covers both the '77 and '06 The Hills Have Eyes.

'77 film made by Wes Craven, '06 by French director Alexandre Aja, who is also responsible for Haute Tension.

A typical American family is on vacation and, depending on the version, either cut through the desert to save time or for the trip itself. On the way, they break down thanks to sabotage and are stranded in the middle of the desert and are terrorized by a family who are mutated from nuclear fallout by government testing in the area. Though, ironically, they hate the people they rely on to survive, and lecture their victims before killing them about how it's their fault, which is terrifying and sadistic.

It can be seen as a statement on what people will do to survive and how the family unit can be corrupted, or a hardcore Gorn flick with some genuinely disturbing images.

The two versions are almost identical, and have both spawned a sequel each... both of which are almost entirely ignored by fans. See Sequelitis for the reasons.

Tropes used in The Hills Have Eyes include:

Adaptation Distillation/Adaptation Expansion: Oddly, the remake is a case of both. While Aja's 2006 film adds an extended sequence in a nuclear testing town and adds considerable depth to the characters of the Carter family, it also greatly dials back and Flanderizes the mutant characters, who barely have any dialogue, and are portrayed almost entirely as soulless monsters, besides Ruby. Also, it reduces the role of Fred, the gas-station man.
Anyone Can Die: Not even the pets were safe. In the original the director talked about possibly killing off the baby, only for the crew to threaten to leave if this was done.
- The remake's promotional comic plays this trope shockingly straight when Doug, the undisputed walking badass Papa Wolf of a man, and his baby both bite the dust. This was most likely done in order to demonstrate how much the new family does not fuck around. See below for further complaining on the subject and Canon Discontinuity for peace of mind.
Attempted Rape: The "stopped violently" part of this trope is acted upon by the rapist on the victim's mother... yeah.
- Only in the remake. In the original there is no attempted.
Auto Erotica
Ax Crazy: Lizard, Pluto and Papa Jupiter.
Bald of Evil: Pluto and Papa Hades.
Beard of Evil: Papa Jupiter in the '77 version.
Big Bad: Papa Jupiter and his children. Ruby does a Heel Face Turn in both versions.
Chekhov's Gun: In the original, Ethel won't stop talking about rattlesnakes. Guess what kills Mars.
Crucified Hero Shot: Literally, in both. And on a Joshua tree, no less.
Dolled-Up Installment: The film Mind Ripper (aka The Outpost) is called The Hills Have Eyes 3 in some areas.
Driven to Suicide: Via shotgun (Remake Only). Attempted in the original with a noose, only to be foiled and subsequently replaced with a worse death.
Dropped a Bridge on Him: Doug (And his baby, for that matter) in the remake's comic tie-in/prequel. Not perfectly fitting of this trope, but they may as well have killed him off in the opening panels. It's made all the more frustrating to witness when considering the fact that the last time we saw him, he was practically a one man Crowning Moment of Awesome spewing death machine who could probably vaporize all of them by simply dropping his pants.
- Ruby in the original sequel. She dies when she... hits her head on a rock.
Fade to White: The original movie's ending fades to red.
Feuding Families: On this side, the civilized family. On this side, the cannibal clan. Winner takes all. Loser is dinner.
Flanderization: The mutants in the remake, though particularly Pluto.
Flash Back: The sequel to the original is largely made of them. The dog gets one, for goodness sakes.
Giant Mook: Pluto.
Gorn
Gratuitous Rape: A very shoddily done example that could have easily been cut out without changing a thing.
Hand Cannon: Big Bob's weapon of choice.
Heel Face Turn: Ruby, in both versions.
I'm a Humanitarian: "I wanna eat the baby!"
It Runs in The Family: Granted, because of the fallout there's no choice in the matter.
Kill'Em All: The mutant's plan in the original, in the remake, it becomes Doug's.
Kill It with Fire: Combined with the crucifixion, terrifying, in both.
Mutants: In the original, the mutation of Papa Jupiter and his children is only subtly hinted to be the result of fallout (though casting Michael Berryman as Pluto is a rather... strong hint); in the remake, it's outright stated.
Red Right Hand: Papa Jupiter's split nose in the original.
The Savage South: Full of sadistic, inbred cannibals no less.
Spell My Name with an "S": In Wes Craven's it's "Doug Wood". In Aja's it's "Doug Bukowski".
- Bilingual Bonus: Bukowski is a Polish name which literally means "of the beech [tree]". Thus, wood.
Straw Political: The civilized family in the remake is made entirely of Straw Conservatives, except for Doug, the token Straw Liberal (and the only one presented as having to turn barbaric).
Sudden Sequel Death Syndrome: Ruby in the original series, making the ending of the first something of a Shoot the Shaggy Dog.
Talking to the Dead: In the original, Papa Jupiter talks about how his family will devour the outsiders to Big Bob's severed head.
Theme Naming: All of the males in the original's cannibal family are named after planets; Ruby, the only female child, is the odd one out and the one who makes a Heel Face Turn.
Took a Level In Badass: Doug Bukowski, the bespectacled pacifist telecommunications worker who, near the end of the movie, goes on a bloody rampage through the hideout of cannibalistic mutants to save his baby daughter.
- The last 30 minutes of the remake is pretty much pure, unfiltered badass.
Villainous Breakdown: Pluto suffers this when Lizard avoids him to rape Brenda.