What actually happens
The dogs bark at the hills
The Carter family is on vacation, towing a trailer toward Los Angeles. Bob and Ethel are driving, with their children Bobby and Brenda, their eldest daughter Lynne, Lynne's husband Doug, and Lynne and Doug's baby daughter Catherine, who goes by Katy. The family dogs, Beauty and Beast, ride along. Out in the desert the dogs grow anxious and start barking at the hills. Beauty runs off, and Bobby chases after her and finds her mutilated body. Frightened, he runs, trips and knocks himself unconscious.
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The owner of Fred's Oasis has a family secret
Bob walks back to Fred's Oasis for help, and after dark he catches up with Fred, who talks about a son named Jupiter. As a boy, Jupiter slaughtered the family's livestock and then his own sister, so Fred beat him with a tire iron and abandoned him in the hills. Jupiter lived, and he and Mama, a depraved and alcoholic prostitute, raised three boys, Mars, Pluto and Mercury, along with a mistreated daughter named Ruby. Papa Jupiter's family lives off cannibalized travelers and stolen supplies. Papa Jupiter suddenly bursts in through a window, beats Fred to death with a tire iron, captures Bob and crucifies him.
A fire as a distraction
Brenda finds Bobby, and they head back to the trailer together. Bobby keeps quiet about Beauty so the others will not be frightened. Pluto slips into the trailer and gives Papa Jupiter the signal to light Bob on fire as a diversion. Brenda remains in the trailer with the baby, and the rest of the family runs out to save Bob. They put out the fire, but Bob dies soon after. Meanwhile Pluto and Mars tear through the camper, and Pluto assaults Brenda. Ethel and Lynne come back to the trailer, and Mars shoots them both. Pluto grabs Katy and flees with Mars, intending to feed her to the family. That is the scene to brace for, and it sits in the middle of the story. Doug and Bobby hurry back and find Lynne dead, Ethel dying and Brenda in shock.
Beast joins the fight
Mars and Pluto return to the cave where they live. Beast shoves Mercury off a hilltop, and he dies from the fall. Mama chains Ruby up outside the cave, tortures her, and makes her eat Beauty, which is her punishment for feeling sorry for the Carters. In the morning, soon after Ethel dies, Doug heads out to look for Katy while Papa Jupiter and Pluto hunt the rest of the family. Brenda and Bobby use a series of booby traps to overpower Papa Jupiter.
The ending, explained
Brenda and Bobby overpower Papa Jupiter with booby traps and shoot him, and Beast mauls Pluto. A remorseful Ruby helps Doug rescue Katy, and Doug stabs Mars to death. Bob, Ethel, Lynne and Beauty are dead. An alternate ending, on the DVD and in some TV prints, adds an epilogue in which Ruby goes with Doug, Katy and Beast to rejoin Bobby and Brenda, and Brenda reaches out her hand to Ruby.
The post-credits ruling
Nobody has confirmed either way whether there is a scene after the credits.
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Questions people ask at 1am
Is The Hills Have Eyes scary?
Yes, The Hills Have Eyes is a 6 out of 10 with high dread. It is a bleak survival story with jump scares, a night attack on a trailer, and a family of cannibals.
How does The Hills Have Eyes end?
Brenda and Bobby trap and shoot Papa Jupiter, Beast mauls Pluto, and Doug stabs Mars and rescues Katy with Ruby's help. Bob, Ethel and Lynne are dead by then.
Does the dog die in The Hills Have Eyes?
Yes, a dog dies in The Hills Have Eyes. Beauty runs off early and Bobby finds her mutilated body. The other dog, Beast, survives and helps the family win. A tarantula is also stomped early in the film.
Is there a post-credits scene in The Hills Have Eyes?
Nobody has confirmed either way whether The Hills Have Eyes has a scene after the credits.
Who are the cannibals in The Hills Have Eyes?
They are the family of Papa Jupiter, a man left for dead in the hills by his own father, Fred. Papa Jupiter lives with Mama, their sons Mars, Pluto and Mercury, and their daughter Ruby, and they survive on travelers and stolen supplies.
