What actually happens
A shortcut recommended by a man who would know
Retired detective Big Bob Carter and his wife Ethel are driving from Cleveland to San Diego to celebrate their silver wedding anniversary. Along for the trip are their children Lynn, Brenda and Bobby, Lynn's husband Doug, their baby daughter Catherine, and two German Shepherds named Beauty and Beast. They pull over at a gas station in the New Mexico desert, where the elderly attendant tells them about a route through the hills that will save a few hours. Soon after, a hidden spike strip bursts their tires, and the car, which is towing a trailer, crashes. The family is stranded, and the shortcut turns out to have been a bad idea.
Reading this instead of watching it is the correct decision. Scaredy Cat makes that decision automatic, for free.
Beauty goes into the hills
Bob and Doug head off in different directions to look for help while the others wait at the trailer. Beauty bolts, and Bobby follows her up into the hills, where he finds her butchered. He runs back in horror, falls off a hill, and knocks himself out. A shy mutant called Ruby shields him from her brother Goggle. Meanwhile, Bob returns to the gas station and finds newspaper clippings about disappearances in the area after nuclear tests at a mining town. He also finds a bag of valuables that must have belonged to missing victims. The attendant kills himself when Bob confronts him, and Bob is caught by the mutant leader, Papa Jupiter, when he tries to flee.
The trailer, left unguarded
Brenda finds Bobby, and Doug comes back from the interstate road with the news that it ends at a crater full of abandoned cars. While Papa Jupiter chases Bobby, the mutants Pluto and Lizard break into the trailer, where Brenda has stayed behind with Catherine. This is the scene people dread, and it comes in the middle of the movie. They attack and rape Brenda, and they set Bob on fire to distract the others. Lynn and Ethel return to the trailer, and Lizard shoots both before taking Catherine and leaving with Pluto. Doug and Bobby arrive after it is over, and Lynn and Ethel die soon after. Goggle, who stayed behind to watch, is attacked and killed by Beast.
Doug goes to the mining town for his daughter
The next morning, Doug takes Beast and heads into the mining town's cave system to get Catherine back. He finds an abandoned nuclear-testing village, where Big Mama knocks him out. He wakes in an ice box with the remains of earlier victims and escapes. He meets Big Brain, who tells him how the mutants came to be. Pluto attacks, but Doug kills him with his own axe, then kills another mutant named Cyst. Big Brain orders Lizard to kill Catherine, and Beast kills Big Brain. Ruby takes the baby from Lizard and runs. Back at the trailer, Brenda and Bobby rig a bomb and set it off when Jupiter goes after Brenda. Doug catches up to Ruby, but Lizard attacks before she can hand over Catherine, and Doug beats him with Cyst's shotgun.
The ending, explained
Ruby gives Catherine back to Doug. Lizard is still alive and points the shotgun at Doug, but Ruby charges him off a cliff, and both of them fall to their deaths. Back at the trailer, Bobby and Brenda find Jupiter wounded from the trap, and Brenda finishes him with a pickaxe. They meet up with Doug, Catherine and Beast. The survivors hug each other, and then the movie cuts to an unknown mutant watching them through binoculars from a distance. Lynn and Ethel are dead, and Bob, who was set on fire earlier, is not among the survivors.
The post-credits ruling
Nobody has confirmed whether there's a scene after the credits, so staying for them is your call.
✓ Spoiled safelyDog status: not fine, one of the two dogs dies early on.
Questions people ask at 1am
Is The Hills Have Eyes scary?
Yes, The Hills Have Eyes is a 7 out of 10 with high dread. It has jump scares, but most of the fear comes from graphic violence and a family with no escape.
How does The Hills Have Eyes end?
Doug gets Catherine back with Ruby's help, and Ruby dies pulling Lizard off a cliff. Brenda kills Papa Jupiter, and the survivors hug while another mutant watches through binoculars.
Does the dog die in The Hills Have Eyes?
Yes, one dog dies in The Hills Have Eyes. Beauty is butchered in the hills early on and her death is off screen. The other dog, Beast, survives and kills two mutants.
Is there a post-credits scene in The Hills Have Eyes?
Nobody has confirmed whether The Hills Have Eyes has a scene after the credits, so you can stay or leave.
Who is Ruby in The Hills Have Eyes?
Ruby is a mutant who is kind to Bobby and protects him from her brother Goggle. In The Hills Have Eyes she takes baby Catherine from Lizard, hands her to Doug, and tackles Lizard off a cliff.
