Horror legend The Hills Have Eyes.
The Hills Have Eyes was another hit, but Scream 4.
However, in between his cinematic horror efforts, Craven directed a handful of TV movies of mixed reputation through the ‘70s, ‘80s, and ‘90s. TV movies came with lower budgets and more strict limitations on their content, meaning that most of them were less gory and ambitious than Wes Craven’s multiplex outings. So, how do the four rank in comparison to each other?
Chiller (1985)
The weakest of Wes Craven’s TV movies, 1985’s Chiller wastes both a killer premise and an appearance from future Michael Crichton adaptation The Terminal Man. Chiller is not the movie it could have been, and unlike most of Craven’s efforts, there are few solid scares to make up for how flat the story is.
Stranger in Our House (1978)
Based on the novel Summer of Fear by Lois Duncan, perhaps best known for penning the book that The Exorcist’s Linda Blair elevates this above Chiller and makes Stranger in Our House feel like a legitimate Craven effort - albeit one that has been softened and sanitized for television viewing.
Invitation to Hell (1984)
Not to be confused with the British horror of the same name from two years earlier, 1984’s TV movie Invitation to Hell sees a family man relocate to a tight-knit suburban community with his young, picture-perfect brood. As tends to occur in horror movies, this small neighborhood is home to a dark secret, which in this movie’s case turns out to be a creepy country club that holds sway over its in classic Mystery Science Theatre 3000, but as a result, Invitation to Hell is an enjoyable enough effort - once viewers aren’t anticipating anything in the way of real scares, that is.
Night Visions (1990)
Critics have not been kind to 1990’s Night Visions, a psychological thriller that, from its poster art to its plot, is designed to cash in on the then-massive “sexy serial killer” fad popularised by iZombie. It’s a silly premise for sure, but one that makes for an enjoyable thriller with solid twists that work best when not taken too seriously. Nowhere near as scary as Wes Craven’s best, Night Visions is at least as witty and watchable as the rest of the genre legend’s oeuvre, which is more than can be said for some of his television outings.
