Arrow Video, out now

Seven years after the attack on a family by cannibalistic mutants, a bunch of motorcyclists stray into the same remote wilderness and discover that not all of the attackers had perished.

It’s really hard to believe that Wes Craven wrote and directed this poor sequel to his 1977 classic in the same year (1984) he performed the same duties on A Nightmare on Elm Street. If the movie that introduced the world to Freddy Krueger was an inventive blast of fresh air, Hills II is the antithesis – a tired, cheap cash-in that is inferior to its forefather on every level. It’s a movie that neither respects the original, contriving to bring dead characters back purely to suit the narrative, but worse of all, is as bad as any of the other ‘teen in peril’ movies being churned out at the time.

Gone is the social commentary and nerve-shredding drama, and in comes standard teenager hijinks facing off again the monsters. Yep, I thought Michael Berryman’s Pluto died last time round too, and who’s this uncle, The Reaper… where was he last time? It’s a film made with no money and with no purpose and is no better than the worst Elm Street or Friday the 13th sequel. What’s so galling is the frequent use of flashbacks to allow the insertion of footage from the first film. Everyone gets a flashback, including the dog, to bolster the running time.

Credit is given to Arrow for sourcing this UK Blu-Ray premiere, its HD transfer derived from original film elements. There’s a new audio commentary from slasher podcast makers The Hysteria Continues and a new making-of documentary that includes interviews with actors Michael Berryman and Janus Blythe, production designer Dominick Bruno, composer Harry Manfredini and unit production manager/first assistant director John Callas. There’s also stills and trailer, while the limited edition also includes postcards, fold-out poster and 40-page booklet.

Verdict: The pit of Craven’s movies (and yes I include Cursed and Vampire in Brooklyn) it’s tragic to see a classic being followed by such a slipshod and unnecessary sequel. Arrow’s release is fairly light on content versus a lot of their releases, but there really is little positive to say about it. Buy is as a completist or to satisfy your curiosity (can it really be that bad?) but you have been warned. 3/10

Nick Joy