The Hills Have Eyes (1977)

Wes Craven’s second feature shares many thematic traits with his debut, Last House On The Left, even if on the surface they share little in common. Hills tells the story of the Carter family, travelling across the Californian desert in their Winnebago in search of an inherited silver mine. A road accident leaves them stranded in a nuclear testing site - and an easy target for the mutated, cannibalistic family that lives in the nearby hills. As the Carters are picked off one by one, the surviving family members realise they have to play the mutants at their own game, leading to a deadly cycle of attack and retribution… Read more

Dawn of the Dead (1978)

Where do you even start with a film like Dawn of the Dead? Having already looked at Romero’s work in general, as well as casting a glance at some of the films he has inspired, it is all too easy to let his achievements speak for themselves and correspondingly difficult to confine any discussion of one of his offerings to the merits of that particular piece. This is especially so when you’re considering the second film in a series of four, all of which have their own messages but which are inextricably linked. It’s rather like trying to pull a vertebra from someone’s back (a metaphor which I trust will be deemed appropriate in a discussion of any movie involving Tom Savini); however well intentioned it’s really all going to go wrong. Try we must though. Read more