the plot: En route to California, the Carter family car breaks down just outside of an Air Force artillery range in the middle of the desert. The family splits up to search for help, but, unbeknownst to them, there's another family lurking in the desert-a psychopathic family of hungry cannibals, eager to prey on hapless travelers. A bloody raid on the Carters' camper leaves only siblings Bobby (Houston) and Brenda (Lanier) and their brother-in-law Doug (Speer) alive. The marauding murderers have kidnapped Doug's infant daughter, and the three survivors must use their wits and a handful of weapons to exact bloody vengeance on the family from hell.

why it's good: Like many of the low budget horror/exploitation flicks of the 1970s, Hills is up for a remake next year. If the producers stick to Craven's original story, they should have a winner on their hands. Hills is down and dirty, a gritty, violent film that eschews the camp comedy that Craven used to lighten up his first feature, The Last House on the Left. Lanier, Houston and the rest of the cast give above-par performances for such a cheap movie. Berryman, with his piercing eyes and terrifying bald visage, steals the show. Surprisingly, the film is light on gore, at least compared Last House. What gives Hills its punch, though, is the surviving Carters' descent into savagery. In one scene, Brenda and Bobby use their dead mother's body to lure Jupiter (James Whitworth), the cannibal patriarch. The two teenagers sob and wail as they prop up their mom's corpse in a lawn chair, and it's clear that even if they make it out of the desert, they'll never be normal again.

why you should own it: Hills is a horror classic and is probably one of Craven's best films. The special edition DVD released in 2003 by Anchor Bay is your best bet, with commentary by Craven, a retrospective of the director's career, and the documentary Looking Back at "The Hills Have Eyes."