Few horror series make you reconsider every road trip, gas station, and “shortcut” quite like
The Hills Have Eyes franchise. Across four films, we get stranded families,
cannibal clans, radioactive mutants, and enough desert dust to clog your soul. But which entries
truly deserve a place at the top of the bloody hill, and which ones should be left to rot in the
sun-baked sand?

In this deep-dive, we’ll rank the entire The Hills Have Eyes franchise,
weighing critical reception, box office performance, gore, tension, and good old-fashioned
nightmare fuel. Think of it as your survival guide to picking which mutant-infested classic to
rewatch nextand which sequel to only put on if you’re folding laundry and half-paying
attention.

How We Ranked The Hills Have Eyes Movies

Horror fans are passionate (and a little unhingedin a good way), so let’s be clear about the
criteria behind these Hills Have Eyes franchise rankings:

• Impact and legacy: Did the film influence horror, become a cult classic, or at least leave a scar on pop culture?
• Story and characters: Are we invested in the survivors, or secretly rooting for the hills?
• Scares and atmosphere: Tension, dread, and that “I need all the lights on” energy.
• Craft: Direction, practical effects, pacing, and overall execution.
• Rewatch value: Would you willingly go back into the desert for another round?

With that in mind, here’s how the movies in The Hills Have Eyes franchise
stack upfrom essential viewing to “only if you’re a completionist.”

#1 – The Hills Have Eyes (1977)

The vicious classic that started it all

Wes Craven’s 1977 original is still the king of the hills. Shot on a modest budget and released
into the grindhouse era, it turned a simple premisea stranded suburban family versus a
cannibal clan in the desertinto a nasty, morally complicated nightmare that helped define
’70s horror.

Critics have increasingly embraced the film over time. It’s often cited as one of Craven’s most
fully realized works, praised for its raw tension and grim sense of humor. The movie’s small
budget reportedly turned into a box office haul in the tens of millions, cementing its cult
status and proving that audiences had no problem watching vacationers get torn apart in the
middle of nowhere.

What makes the original stand out isn’t just the violence (though there’s plenty of that), but
the way it turns the all-American Carter family into savages as they fight back. The film plays
like a brutal mirror: once the attack starts, the line between civilized suburbia and feral
survival blurs. By the end, it’s hard to say who’s more frighteningthe cannibals or the
family that’s been pushed to their limits.

Add in memorable performances (especially Michael Berryman’s iconic look), rough-but-effective
desert cinematography, and that relentless sense of dread, and you’ve got a horror film that
still hits hard decades later. If you only watch one entry in the franchise, make it this one.

#2 – The Hills Have Eyes (2006)

A brutal remake that earns its place

Alexandre Aja’s 2006 remake is that rare horror redo that doesn’t just cash in on nostalgia.
It modernizes the original while keeping the core premise intact: a family gets stranded in a
government testing site where nuclear fallout has turned the locals into vicious mutants.

From a commercial standpoint, the remake was a clear success, grossing around $70 million
worldwide on a relatively modest budget. It also found a hungry audience among fans who grew up
on more graphic, fast-paced horror. The pacing is tighter, the action more explosive, and the
violence dialed way upthe film leans into the 2000s trend of hyper-intense, gory horror
without completely sacrificing story.

The mutants themselves are more overtly monstrous here, with heavily stylized makeup and visual
effects emphasizing radiation-induced deformities. Some fans of the original prefer the
grittier, more grounded feel of the 1977 cannibal clan, but the remake’s choice works in the
context of its themes about fallout, government secrecy, and the long shadow of nuclear testing.

Where the movie really shines is in its second half, when the surviving family members stop
being victims and start turning into resourceful, ruthless fighters. The reimagined attack on
the traileralready disturbing in the originalis even more nerve-shredding here, and it
remains one of the more infamous sequences in modern horror. Overall, the 2006 film lands high
in most Hills Have Eyes rankings for good reason: it respects the source while
confidently going for the jugular.

#3 – The Hills Have Eyes 2 (2007)

Mutants vs. the military: messy, gory, oddly watchable

One year after the remake, the franchise returned with
The Hills Have Eyes 2, a sequel that swaps out a family in an RV for a group of
National Guard trainees. Instead of breaking down in the desert by accident, they’re sent into
the very testing site where the previous film’s carnage took placeand promptly learn that the
hills are still very much occupied.

Critically, this one usually lands near the bottom of the franchise, with reviewers pointing to
thin character development and a heavy emphasis on gore over story. Still, if you’re the kind
of horror fan who doesn’t mind a plot that feels like a video game level (go here, get ambushed,
repeat), there’s a certain grim energy to it.

The movie leans into military horror tropes: inexperienced soldiers, bad intel, malfunctioning
communications, and enemies who know the terrain better than they ever will. It doesn’t reach
the psychological depth of the earlier entries, but it does deliver relentless attacks, cave
chases, and a few creatively nasty set pieces. Call it comfort food for fans who enjoy
creature-feature brutality more than nuanced storytelling.

In most franchise rankings and opinions, this sequel is seen as “for
completists only,” but if you accept it as a bloody B-movie with mutants and military panic,
it’s a passable late-night watch.

#4 – The Hills Have Eyes Part II (1984/1985)

The infamous low point of the series

And then… there’s The Hills Have Eyes Part II, the ’80s sequel that even many
die-hard fans politely pretend doesn’t exist. Directed by Wes Craven but hamstrung by budget
problems and studio constraints, it’s widely considered the weakest entry in the franchise.

The plot follows a motocross team and their support crew who take a shortcut through the same
cursed desert region, only to be picked off by surviving members of the cannibal clan. On
paper, it’s a basic slasher setup, but the execution feels half-hearted. The movie even resorts
to extensive flashbacksincluding one from the dog’s point of viewjust to pad the runtime.

Critics have routinely slammed it for cliché kill sequences, dull pacing, and a lack of the
tension or thematic bite that made the 1977 original so striking. For many viewers, it feels
like an attempt to ride the success of the first film without understanding what made it work.

That said, there’s a certain camp value here. If you enjoy cheesy ’80s horror with questionable
decisions, wild hair, and the occasional unintentional laugh, Part II can be fun in a
“so-bad-it’s-good” way. Just don’t make it your first entry into the franchise, or you might
wonder why anyone talks about The Hills Have Eyes with reverence at all.

Franchise Themes: Why These Mutant Hills Still Haunt Us

Beyond the blood and screaming, part of what keeps
The Hills Have Eyes franchise alive in horror conversations is its layered
themes. The original and the remake both tap into anxieties about:

• Urban vs. rural: The comfortable suburban family versus the “forgotten” people left to rot in the margins.
• Government secrets: Nuclear testing, cover-ups, and the lingering consequences of official decisions.
• Survival ethics: How far “normal” people will go when the rules disappear and it’s kill or be killed.

In both the 1977 and 2006 versions, the horror works because the Carters are not action heroes.
They’re ordinary people, and watching them transform into ruthless survivors feels unsettlingly
believable. The franchise keeps asking the same question in different forms: when civilization
is stripped away, who are you really?

Which Hills Have Eyes Movie Should You Watch First?

If you’re new to the series, here’s a quick viewing guide based on our rankings and opinions:

• Start with the 1977 original if you love gritty, low-budget horror and want
  to see where the modern survival-horror aesthetic came from.
• Start with the 2006 remake if you prefer more modern pacing, slicker visuals,
  and higher-intensity gore.
• Watch The Hills Have Eyes 2 (2007) if you’re curious about how the story
  evolves with a military angle and don’t mind a more conventional creature-feature vibe.
• Save Part II (1984/1985) for lastor for a night when you’re in the mood for
  campy horror and can appreciate it as a time-capsule oddity.

No matter where you begin, just remember the franchise’s most important lesson: if a random
stranger at a remote gas station says, “Don’t go that way,” maybe listen.

Personal-Style Experiences: Living With The Hills Have Eyes In Your Head

Spend enough time with The Hills Have Eyes movies and they start to seep into
the way you look at the world. Horror fans will tell you that this franchise has side effects:
you become suspicious of any “scenic route,” you eye rest-stop bathrooms like crime scenes, and
you absolutely do not let your gas tank drop below half when you’re anywhere near the desert.

One of the most common “Hills” experiences is the post-marathon road trip. You watch the
original and the remake back to back, then find yourself driving through an empty stretch of
highway at dusk. Suddenly every rock formation looks like a hiding place, every radio
static-filled moment feels ominous, and you’re pretty sure that rundown trailer on the side of
the road is not just someone “taking a break.” The franchise amps up your awareness of how
isolated some places really areand how vulnerable we all become when technology, cell service,
and help are miles away.

Another recurring fan experience is introducing the movies to someone who’s never seen them.
There’s always that moment during the first big attackespecially in the original and the
remakewhere the room goes quiet. The laughter stops, the “this isn’t so bad” comments die off,
and everyone leans in, realizing this is much harsher than they expected. It’s not just jump
scares; it’s the feeling that the situation is truly hopeless for a while. Watching a new
viewer’s face as they transition from cocky to horrified is practically a rite of passage in
horror circles.

The franchise also creates a kind of strange empathy. As nasty as the cannibal or mutant clans
are, the movies hint at the fact that they’re products of abandonment, exploitation, and
falloutliteral and metaphorical. After a few rewatches, you may find yourself thinking less
about “monsters” and more about what happens to communities that are written off and left to
rot. It doesn’t excuse the brutality, but it adds a layer of unease: the hills are terrifying,
but they didn’t become that way in a vacuum.

And then there’s the home-viewing ritual. Fans who love The Hills Have Eyes
franchise tend to treat it like an endurance test: blinds closed, volume up, phones
away. Some people make it their annual “desert horror night,” pairing it with other dusty
nightmares like Texas Chain Saw Massacre or Near Dark. Others save it for
late-night solo viewings when the world is quiet and the house feels just a little too big and
a little too dark.

The more time you spend with these movies, the more they linger in small ways. You double-check
the locks before bed. You scan the horizon when you’re out in the middle of nowhere. You think
twice about mocking “remote” towns or forgotten landscapes. The franchise’s blend of survival
horror, class tension, and environmental dread doesn’t fade quicklyit hangs around like heat
waves above asphalt.

Ultimately, the core Hills Have Eyes experience is about being dragged far
outside your comfort zone and forced to imagine what you’d do if the civilized rules vanished.
Whether you side most with the raw brutality of the 1977 film, the polished viciousness of the
2006 remake, or the chaotic sequels, one thing is consistent: once you’ve stared into those
scorched hills, it’s hard to look at any empty stretch of desert the same way again.

Final Thoughts: Ranking the Hills, Respecting the Horror

When all is said and done, The Hills Have Eyes franchise rankings tend to line
up the same way: the 1977 original as the definitive classic, the 2006 remake as a worthy,
modernized bloodbath, the 2007 sequel as a serviceable but messy follow-up, and the mid-’80s Part
II as a relic mostly for completists and curiosity seekers.

But that’s part of the charm of horror franchises. They’re rarely neat. They sprawl, stumble,
reinvent themselves, and occasionally faceplant. Yet even with its uneven entries,
The Hills Have Eyes continues to matter because it taps into something primal:
the fear of being lost, isolated, and hunted in a place where help isn’t coming.

So if you’re planning your next horror marathon, the hills are still very much worth revisiting.
Just… maybe don’t book a desert road trip right afterward.

SEO JSON

The post The Hills Have Eyes Franchise Rankings And Opinions appeared first on Blobhope Family.