The Hills Have Eyes Part II (1984) - Craven's embarrassing train wreck sequel

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A multi-colored, über-cool poster for Wes Craven's The Hills Have Eyes Part II

 

A kind of motorcycle gang of young, braindead lunatics end up in the middle of the desert, in which two equally motorcycle-enthusiastic killer mutants are awaiting...

 

The Hills Have Eyes Part II is written and directed by great Ohioan filmmaker Wes Craven (The Last House on the Left (1972)) as a sequel to his The Hills Have Eyes (1977).

Does the plot above sound silly to you? Then you are correct. It is in a way impressive, how Craven here, - directly prior to his big breakthrough A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984), - has collected such a comparatively untalented lot around him for this his second desert horror. (Though the film was apparently also marred by lack of funds.)

In The Hills Have Eyes Part II the young die, but their deaths are sometimes out there. Even so the film remains somewhat entertaining in a train wreck sort-of-way.

 

Related posts:

Wes Craven: 2011 in films - according to Film Excess
Scream 4 (2011) - Craven & Williams serve an irresistible slasher treat 

My Soul to Take (2010) - Craven returns with a subpar teen slasher

A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987) or, Your Kids and the Bastard Son of 100 Maniacs! (co-writer)
A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) or, Don't Fall Asleep!  

Watch the first 3 minutes of the film from a VHS recording here

 

Cost: Estimated 700k $

Box office: Unknown

= Uncertain

[The Hills Have Eyes Part II premiered at Mystfest in June (Italy) and runs 90 minutes. Shooting took place from March - May 1983 in California, including in Los Angeles. The studio halted production due to budgetary fear. But once A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) was released to huge success, the studio convinced Craven to scrap together The Hills Have Eyes Part II from the footage shot. In order to boost the running time, sequences from The Hills Have Eyes were used. Details about the film's gross are regrettably not readily available online. Craven since disowned the film. The The Hills Have Eyes films were remade with the same title in 2006 and 2007. Craven returned with Chiller (1985, TV movie), The Magical World of Disney (1986, TV-series) and theatrically with Deadly Friend (1986). 10k+ Rotten Tomatoes users have given The Hills Have Eyes Part II a 2.2/5 average rating.]

What do you think of The Hills Have Eyes Part II?

24 - season 3 (2003) - The virus-centered peak for the great action show

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+ Best Action Title of the Year + Most Suspenseful Title of the Year

Jack Bauer is not in the greatest shape of his life, when his third hellish day kicks off in Robert Cochran and Joel Surnow's 24 season 3


3 years after season 2, a virus-infested corpse is dropped off with a bomb in LA, and a season with an overall threat of chemical, viral terrorism is kicked off.

The following summary of the season contains SPOILERS:

The troubles ironically evolve due to a risky, covert undercover operation gone haywire, which was co-headed by Jack Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland (Mirrors (2008)) and Tony Almeida (Carlos Bernard (Dallas (2012-13)). After a dramatic and action-packed prison break, led by Bauer, the audience is pulled around by the nose in a chase after the virus carrier, a juvenile delinquent named Kyle Singer. Meanwhile, Jack struggles with the dangerous, drug-running Salazar Brothers, the return of the grand villain, Nina Myers, and the ultimate henchman, Steven Saunders, a disgruntled ex-MI6 agent, who succeeds in getting his demands straight to the president.
Ryan Chapelle (Paul Schulze (Zodiac (2007))) tragically falls at his ruthless hand. Only by being equally ruthless, Jack finally manages to locate the 12 virus canisters.
At the political level, president Palmer's (Dennis Haysbert (Love & Basketball (2000))) brother Wayne Palmer turns out to be a real black sheep in the family, as he is revealed to have slept with their main campaign contributor's wife. Sherry Palmer (Penny Johnson Jerald (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1995-99))) is brought in to handle the situation, but it all spirals out of control.
Jack has gotten a new partner, Chase (James Badge Dale (Flight (2012))), whom he trains as they move along, reluctantly learning that he is heavily involved with his now CTU agent daughter, Kim (Elisha Cuthbert (He Was a Quiet Man (2007))).

She unfortunately remains a very unpleasant part of the show: Scheming, blank, and ever annoying. However, even Kim Bauer can't overshadow the fact that 24's third season is highly intense action, powerfully scored by Sean Callery (Small Time (2014)), inventively written and a regular triumph for Sutherland and the show's creators, Robert Cochran (Sons and Daughters (1991), TV-series, writer) and Joel Surnow (La Femme Nikita (2000-01), creator).
After this season, the show began its steady decline. Each episode began having more and more unbelievable, action-heavy scenes, until the storylines grew downright grotesque. Sad, but nothing lasts forever, and if you want to see 24 at its most brilliant, the third season is it, - the most coherent, suspense-full and exciting in the series. The chemical threat at the heart of the season is scarier than a regular bomb, and the device is utilized with tremendous skill, especially in the episodes that play out inside a hotel. The political affair storyline unfolds equally effective. 

Best episodes:

Episode 9: 9 PM - 10 PM - written by Evan Katz (The Commish (1993-94)) and Stephen Kronish (MacGyver (1986-87)), story by Cochran and Howard Gordon (Homeland (2011-14)); directed by Brad Turner (Hawaii Five-O (2010-11))
SPOILER Nina Myers finally dies

Episode 15: 3 AM - 4 PM - written by Cochran and Gordon, story by Michael Loceff (La Femme Nikita (1997-01)); directed by Kevin Hooks (Bones (2009-13))
SPOILER The virus spreads

Related posts:

2003 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II] 

2003 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]

24 season 2 (2002) - The Bomb 

Top 10: The best action movies and TV-series reviewed by Film Excess to date
24 season 1 (2001) - TV action milestone

Listen to a snippet of the season's fine score here

Cost: Unknown
Box office: None - TV-series
= Unknown
[24 season 3 aired first on Fox from 28 October 2003 - 25 May 2004. The first episode runs 51 minutes, while all the rest run 43 minutes, totaling approximately 1,040 minutes. The season's average ratings in North America were down almost 1.5 mil. viewers from the preceding season, averaging 10.3 mil. The season was nominated for 8 Emmys, winning 3, for Outstanding Casting for a Drama Series as well as Outstanding Single-Camera Picture Editing and Single Camera Sound Mixing for a Series. It also won the two Golden Globes it was nominated for, for Best Drama Series and Best Actor in a Drama Series (Sutherland). In 2003, Sutherland also did Behind the Red Door, Paradise Gone, L.A. Confidential (TV movie) and a voice performance in The Land Before Time X: The Great Longneck Migration (video), before returning in 24 S4 in 2004. 117 Rotten Tomatoes users have rated 24 season 3 4.3/5.]

Do you agree that the show's quality slowly declined after this season?
What do you think of 24 season 3?

24 - season 2 (2002) - Jack Bauer's great first return

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+ Best Thriller of the Year

Jack and the major characters of 24's second season

24's second run deals with the peril that the show was obviously made for: Islamic terrorism. 18 months after the events in the first season, a nuclear bomb gone missing forces the now elected President Palmer home from a fishing holiday, and Jack out of his slacker lifestyle to reinstatement with the Counter Terrorist Unit.

The following plot account contains SPOILERS: 

CTU gets blown up, and chief Mason subsequently falls in the line of duty, - masterfully acted by Xander Berkeley (Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)). Paul Schulze (Nurse Jackie (2009-15)) is then introduced as a new office superior, and it is very evident why the creators increased his part in the following season; a very well acted part again. Slightly cheesy romantic intrigues surface at the broken down office. A subplot about an upscale LA wedding with a possible alien terrorist involvement unfolds surprisingly. Sarah Wynther (Jerks (2000)) and Laura Harris (Final Safe (2011)) are good as the yin-yang Warner sisters in this plot strand.
The merciless bad-woman of season 1, Nina Meyers' re-unification with the CTU office is played up as of almost mythic importance. First lady Sherry Palmer again writhes behind her husband's back, and yet she remains a  joy to watch due to Penny Johnson Jerald's (Automatic (1995)) talent. The president is derailed by an internal cabinet coup-de-grace, and Jack actually dies, (for a short while), when things are at their worst.
The ultimate thugs of season 2, however, turn out to be Westerners: Great German actor Thomas Kretschmann (King Kong (2005)) and Saw-famed Tobin Bell (In the Line of Fire (1993)). They do well in the episodes leading up to the big, final struggle in the LA Coliseum.
The biggest issue for the show is, once again, the increasingly unlikely storyline of Jack's daughter, Kim Bauer (Elisha Cuthbert (My Sassy Girl (2008))). In season 2, she leads a bloody escape with a girl she babysits from the girl's violent father through LA, gets into a car accident, is chased by a puma, takes refuge with a hermit who locks her up in his scary safe-room; she escapes, but gets into a store hostage situation that turns extremely bloody again; but she gets out intact, and then has a final run-in with the mad father, whom she shoots. Her reactions to the conflicts around her are obviously supposed to be recognizably human, but are in fact totally incomprehensible. She is a ridiculous element and once again a faulty character that should have been written out of the series long ago.

But 24 is still a highly suspenseful series without equal, and the cliffhanger in the last episode creates chaos in a most thrilling way.

Best episode:

15 - written by Joel Surnow (The Equalizer (1985-86)), Robert Cochran (The Commish (1991-95)); directed by Ian Toynton (Bones (2007-15))
The bomb goes off

Related posts:

24 season 1 (2001) - TV action milestone

2002 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I] 
24 - season 3 (2003) - Viral suspense peak of great show

In lieu of a trailer for the season, no longer on Youtube, here is a part of Sean Callery's Emmy-winning score for the show to get you in the mood

Cost: Unknown
Box office: None - TV-series
= Unknown
[24 season was first shown 29 October 2002 - 20 May 2003 and spans 23 43-minute episodes, with the first episode 51 minutes long, totaling approximately 1,040 minutes. The season began the show's use of the Air Force One set initially created for Air Force One (1997). Lead Kiefer Sutherland (Taking Lives (2004)) was upgraded to producer as well for the season. The viewer ratings in North America were up more than 3 mil. from the first season to an excellent 11.73 mil. average for the season, which also received a rating of 83/100 on Metacritic, based on 23 reviews. The season was nominated for 9 Emmys, winning two, for Sean Callery's (Jessica Jones (2015), TV-series) score and one for singe-camera editing, and for 3 Golden Globes, which it didn't win any of. 143,625 IMDb-users have given 24 an average rating of 8.4/10.]

What series is TV's best replacement for 24 today?
What do you think of 24 season 2?

24 - season 1 (2001) - The TV action milestone

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The stars of Joel Surnow and Robert Cochran's 24 season 1

Counter-terrorist agent Jack Bauer does whatever is necessary to prevent the assassination of  presidential candidate David Palmer, the first black candidate in American history, in the hectic 24 hours in which his teenage girl is also kidnapped, his wife suffers amnesia etc. etc. etc.

24 is the great modern action suspense series. Its innovative real-time format heightens the show, and the multi-layered stories are often hugely captivating
Kiefer Sutherland's (Melancholia (2011)) great comeback role as Jack Bauer is a great modern hero, navigating between complex situations and threats with cut-throat determination and at the constant risk of making mistakes. Ultimately a warm present for the new, radical anti-terror legislation of presidents Bush and later Obama, 24 is a show where terrorists are often tortured or shot in the field with total justification. It is not a show with much after-thought or reflection in that regard, although the first seasons are more insightful and realistic than late ones. As such it is a perfect product for Fox.
Creators Joel Surnow and Robert Cochran (24 (2008), both) are veterans in TV; they did the Michael Chiklis-starring police comedy series The Commish together from 1991-95.
The role of Kim Bauer (Elisha Cuthbert (House of Wax (2005))) is an annoying know-it-all teen from episode 3 onward, a major problem for the season. Furthermore the dramatic situations that she gets into along the way become increasingly unbelievable. She is probably there for promotional and demographic reasons, but should clearly have been killed off in my opinion.
The show was not a sure hit: Fox initially commissioned just the first 13 episodes, treading into the expensive venture lightly. The plot line is a bit influenced by that unideal touch-and-go-policy.
Dennis Haysbert (Dear White People (2014)) and Penny Johnson Jerald (NCIS (2009-10)) as the future presidential couple are brilliant in the melodramatic political/family struggles in the second half of the season. In good supporting parts are Zach Grenier (Curb Your Enthusiasm (2001), TV-series) as a spin doctor swine, and Xander Berkeley (Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)) as an office-running minor psychopath.
24 is a great show and Haysbert and Sutherland are much of the reason for it, along with the show's exciting editing scheme, - as when video windows grow and diminish in multi-image layouts, - and great sound and composing work, by Sean Callery (Homeland (2011-15)). The first season is an extraordinary production and the start of the longest running espionage show in television history. - Great TV!

Best episodes:

8: 7 - 8 AM - written by Surnow, Cochran, Michael Loceff (La Femme Nikita (2000-01)); directed by Stephen Hopkins (The Life and Death of Peter Sellers (2004))
SPOILER Jack diverts the first assassination plot.

20 : 7 - 8 PM - written by Surnow, Cochran, Howard Gordon (Homeland (2011-15)); directed by Hopkins
SPOILER Jack is captured and taken to a secret prison, and the main villain, Victor Drazen, is revealed to be played by Dennis Hopper (Speed (1994))! - Quite a surprise treat!

Related posts:

24 - season 2 (2002-03) - The Bomb
24 - season 3 (2003-04) - Viral suspense peak of great show

Sarah Clarke (Twilight (2008)) as Nina Myers in Robert Cochran and Joel Surnow's 24 season 1

Kiefer Sutherland gives an interview about the first season here

Cost: Unknown
Box office: None - TV-series
= Uncertainty
[24 season 1 was originally shown 6 November 2001 - 21 May 2002 and runs 24 43-minute episodes, (approximately 1,032 minutes in total.) Cochran and Surnow got the idea for the show together in the IHoP in Woodland Hills, LA. The premiere was moved due to 9/11. After Sutherland won the Golden Globe for Best Actor - TV Drama, Fox decided to order the last 11 episodes. The season averaged 8.6 mil. viewers in the US. It was shown the world over; in the UK on BBC, where it was their biggest hit show ever. The DVD release was also #1 in the UK, and 24's strong DVD sales are thought to have been a big part of why the ratings for the later seasons increased. The season was nominated for 10 Emmys, winning 2: Best Writing for a TV-series and Outstanding Picture Editing for a Series. The show has ended its run now after 9 seasons and a TV-movie. It was remade in India in 2013. 24 season 1 is fresh at 100 % with an 8.85/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What is your favorite 24 season?
What do you think of the first season?