A family vacation takes a wrong turn, and the hills are watching.
Wes Craven found this movie's story in a library while looking up "terrible things." Which country's legendary cannibal clan inspired it?
Scotland Craven based the film on the legend of Sawney Bean, whose clan was said to eat travelers and was later punished so brutally that Craven saw the 'civilized' people as savages too.
The role of Ruby, a wild girl of the hills, called for a speedy actress. How did the actresses audition?
They raced each other Janus Blythe won the part partly because she outran every other actress who tried out.
Ads bragged that a famous New York art museum had added this gory movie to its collection. What was the catch?
Only the study collection The film went into the Museum of Modern Art's lesser study collection rather than its prestigious permanent one, and a curator said he'd rather the ads not mention the museum at all.
When the cannibals feast on a victim, what were the hungry actors actually eating?
A leg of lamb The cast was paid minimum wage and baked in desert heat over long days, so the fake human flesh came as a real relief.
Craven once planned for the cannibal leader to eat a very young member of the vacationing family. Who survived because an actor flatly refused to film it?
The baby Michael Berryman, who played Pluto, refused to do the scene, so baby Katy lives and is rescued by her father in the final showdown.
