First Advisor
Kali Simmons
Date of Award
Spring 6-26-2023
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) in Film and University Honors
Department
Film
Language
English
Subjects
Hills have eyes (Motion picture : 1977), Symbolism in motion pictures, Indians of North America -- Colonization – Drama, Wes Craven -- Symbolism, Horror films -- History and criticism
DOI
10.15760/honors.1357
Abstract
The year 1977 saw the release of Wes Craven’s second major production, The Hills Have Eyes. A film that sits within a filmic library of Craven that works to use the horror genre to reflect on and critique the American society that he lived in. The Hills Have Eyes employs the stereotypes that the films of John Ford helped to solidify in U.S. society. He does this in order to explore the tense historical relationships between Indigenous and United States settlers during the time of westward expansion. Using the white middle class Carter family to serve as settlers, and the Cannibals living in the hills as Indigenous people, Craven posits that not only has this violence been used to create U.S. society, but is used to maintain a conservative white society.
Rights
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Persistent Identifier
https://archives.pdx.edu/ds/psu/40257
Recommended Citation
Van Alst, Blue, "The Allegory of United States Settlers v. Native Americans in Wes Craven's The Hills Haves Eyes (1977)" (2023). University Honors Theses. Paper 1328.
https://doi.org/10.15760/honors.1357