The Hills Have Eyes Part 2 (1985) Review

If The Hills Have Eyes was a raw and unsettling survival horror experience, The Hills Have Eyes Part II feels like a strange echo of that original scream—familiar in shape, but far less powerful.

Directed once again by Wes Craven, this sequel shifts the focus toward a group of motocross riders traveling through the same hostile Nevada desert where the Carter family once fought for their lives.

Unfortunately for them, the nightmare in the hills isn’t over.

Janus Blythe returns as Ruby, the reformed daughter of the cannibal clan who escaped the violence of the first film. Now living under a new identity, she becomes entangled with a traveling motocross team that unknowingly heads straight into the same cursed territory.

As expected in desert horror tradition, their vehicle breaks down.

And as expected, the cannibals return.

This time the threat is led by a new monstrous figure known as The Reaper, while Michael Berryman reprises his role as Pluto—still one of the most visually striking villains in horror cinema.

Berryman remains the standout presence in the film. His eerie physicality and unsettling grin give the movie flashes of the menace that made the original so effective.

But beyond that, the sequel struggles to find its footing.

Much of the cast consists of thinly written characters whose main role is to wander into danger and meet grisly fates. While the film attempts to blend slasher-style kills with desert survival tension, it rarely reaches the grim intensity of its predecessor.

Perhaps the strangest aspect of The Hills Have Eyes Part II is how heavily it relies on footage from the original film. Flashbacks appear frequently—including one infamous moment told from the perspective of a dog.

Yes.

A dog flashback.

It’s the kind of bizarre creative decision that perfectly captures the film’s odd, almost dreamlike tone.

Over time, it has become widely known that Craven himself considered the movie more of a contractual obligation than a passion project—and that lack of enthusiasm sometimes shows in the uneven pacing and patchwork storytelling.

Still, there’s a certain dusty charm buried beneath the film’s flaws.

Like many low-budget horror sequels from the 1980s, it carries a strange energy—part slasher, part survival thriller, part desert fever dream.

The Hills Have Eyes Part II may never reach the savage heights of the original, but for fans of gritty 80s horror oddities, it remains a curious relic of its era.

Just don’t expect the same nightmare.

This one feels more like the aftershock.