Wes Craven’s 1977 cult film finally gets the special edition treatment
from Anchor Bay and it’s about time too.
The film which gave ‘E.T.’s mom’ her start in not only the horror genre,
but the film industry, has an underlying theme that is still as relevant
today as it was 25 years ago.
The premise is simple. When the Carter family crash in the desert, they
are set upon by a family of cannibals who live in the nearby mountain
caves.
Loosely based on the Sawney Bean family, Craven took this idea and decided
to see what would happen if middle class Americans were forced to become
what they feared.
The result is not pretty! We have (as this appears to be the uncut
version) dog guts, gunshot wounds, rape, crucifixion and incineration of
live people amongst others.
Whilst the film is very good, it is perhaps the origins of the story
(excellently described in the making of documentary) and the related
documentary, ‘The American Nightmare’ that are most fascinating to me.
OVERALL SUMMARY
In all, this is a solid package, for a film that is more than deserving of
it. Hopefully, younger audiences who enjoyed the likes of ‘Wrong Turn’
and ‘House of 1000 Corpses’ will embrace this film too.
