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Character Name: Brenda Carter
Fandom: The Hills Have Eyes

As the beginning credits come to the screen, the words "Between 1945 and 1962 (although the trailer for the films says "Between 1962 and 1992") the United States conducted 331 atmospheric nuclear tests. Today, the government still denies the genetic effects caused by the radioactive fallout", set a tone for the film, foreshadowing the cause of the future foe's anger. In the present time, men in NBC suits are seen. They slowly comb over the desert rubble with the sound of a Geiger counter beeping. The calm is quickly interrupted when the men are brutally attacked by what seems to be a large man wielding a pickaxe. The group of men are killed, chained crudely to the back of their own pickup truck, and dragged off into the open desert.

In the very same desert, along a beaten dirt road, is the Gas Haven, a small time gas station run by an aging man. The man, clearly upset, yells out to the emptiness around him that he "quits" and he "can't do it anymore". After calming down, he walks to the door of the station only to find a black duffle bag filled with valuables, and also a severed human ear. The man takes the duffle into the back room of his gas station and sorts through the mounds of jewelery and wallets. Midway through examining his "rewards", he is interrupted by the arrival of customers needing gas.

Driving in an SUV towing a trailer, Ethel (Kathleen Quinlan) and Bob (Ted Levine) Carter are traveling to San Diego, California on their Silver Anniversary from Cleveland, Ohio. Along for the trip is their teenage daughter Brenda (Emilie de Ravin) and teenage son Bobby (Dan Byrd). Also along for the vacation are their eldest daughter Lynne (Vinessa Shaw), her timid husband Doug (Aaron Stanford), the couple's baby daughter Catherine (Maisie Camilleri Preziosi) and the family dogs, Beauty and Beast. Taking the time for a pit stop, the family stretch their legs and the dogs are let loose. Beauty wanders into the back room of the gas station and begins to bark at an unseen object outside the window. As the group prepares to depart, Lynne heads to the back room of the station, following Beauty and attempting to take her back to the trailer. Not seeing the duffle bag, she is confronted by the gas station attendant and quickly leaves with the dog. Suspicious that Lynne may have seen the valuables, he decides to tell the group of a short cut through the hills.

After driving a few miles along the short cut told by the gas station attendant, the tires of the SUV are strategically deflated with a line of sharp spikes, quickly pulled away to give the effect that it was a mere accident. The blown out tires result in Bob losing control of the vehicle which crashes into a large boulder leaving the group shaken, but unharmed. Doug, who works in telecommunications selling cell phones, attempts to call for help but cannot seem to find a signal. Doug is referred to by his father-in law as a Democrat and is chastised, thereby implying that Bob and his family are conservative. Bob, a retired detective, decides that he would walk to the gas station for a tow truck and Doug would walk the opposite way in the hope of getting help. Bob takes a gun for himself and leaves another for Bobby, telling him that he is in charge. Bob reassures the group that he would be back before nightfall, but as a precaution Ethel rounds the group together and says a prayer. Unknown to the family they are being watched by someone through a pair of binoculars.

When the men depart, Brenda, Ethel, Bobby, Catherine and Lynne are left behind at the trailer. As Brenda opens the door to their trailer, she accidentally releases Beauty. The dog runs off into the hills and Bobby chases after her as the rest of the family call for Bobby to return. Bobby, not hearing his family, runs deeper into the hills, finally stumbling upon Beauty's corpse. He kneels next to Beauty and realizes she had been torn apart. Stunned at what he has discovered, Bobby runs and slips on a rock. Instantly knocked unconscious, he is watched by a young girl whose face is distorted. She watches over Bobby as another mutated man perches atop a cliff overhanging them, eating the severed leg of Beauty.

Meanwhile, Doug finally makes it to the end of the dirt road short cut, only to find an enormous crater filled with cars and other forgotten belongings. He heads down to the bottom exploring the odd place and rummages through the numerous cars’ belongings, completely oblivious to the blood smeared on some of the cars. As the view pans out, it shows that this crater is not the only one, but one of many craters created by nuclear tests.

As night falls, Bob finally makes it to the gas station and finds it deserted. After taking a bottle of water from the display cabinet, he stumbles into the back room looking for a phone. Noticing the duffle bag, Bob's curiosity gets the best of him and from searching the bag he finds a styrofoam container. Opening the container, he finds a severed ear with earrings adorning it, and after looking around at the room he realizes the danger. Pulling out his gun, Bob takes a closer look at newspaper clippings and photographs on the walls that depict the horrific effects of the nuclear testing and the missing people resulting from the gas station attendant’s deal with the mutated family in the hills. Over many years, the gas station attendant would lure victims into the hills and the mutated family would give him their valuables. Because of this the attendant had become weary of the life he had chosen.

Bob walks out of the gas station and finds a car parked on the forecourt. Moments from driving off, he hears a distraught voice coming from an outhouse nearby and with his gun at his side he proceeds to investigate it. Cautiously opening the door to the outhouse he sees the gas station attendant crying and completely hysterical saying that this was no way to raise children (referring to the children being raised with the cannibalism and killing). Shotgun in hand, the attendant raises the gun to his chin and quickly pulls the trigger- killing himself with an explosion of blood. This scene is much more graphic in the unrated version of the movie.

Bob takes a few steps back, but not before taking the shotgun for his own protection. Jupiter or Papa Jupiter (Billy Drago), who could be considered the leader of the mutated family begins to taunt Bob from the darkness. In a blind panic Bob fires several rounds ineffectually into the darkness and makes a run for the car. Bob quickly makes it to the car, but in the reflection of the rear view mirror sees Jupiter. Before he can escape, his head is pounded repeatedly into the car windscreen. Dizzy and barely conscious, Bob is dragged into a mine tunnel by Jupiter with the help of Jupiter's mutated family members, Lizard (Robert Joy) and Pluto (Michael Bailey Smith).

Back at the trailer, Brenda still calls out for Bobby. As the night hours continue, the Carters become increasingly concerned for Bobby's safety. Bobby, still unconscious, has been protected by Ruby (Laura Ortiz) who has stayed by his side since his fall. Hearing Brenda's call, Bobby wakes up and makes his way back to the trailer. As Ethel cleans his wounds he is silent about Beauty's death. The women tell Bobby that Beast has gone missing as well and although they tried to radio for help, there was no answer except for what Lynne refers to as what sounded like a "perverted call".

Moments later Doug returns with numerous items in hand, most of which are brand new and include a fishing pole and toys for Catherine. He explains that the supposed short cut dead ends in 5 miles, but at the end is what he describes what seems like a dump site. Doug, exhausted from the walk, heads to the SUV with Lynne to sleep, but Bobby - worried about the violent death of Beauty - tells Doug to stay in the trailer. After kindly refusing, Doug makes a deal with Bobby that if Bob has not returned by midnight that they would both go and search for him. Mildly assured, Bobby goes to search for Beast (but is scared by growling, laughing and tauting coming from the darkness) and Brenda, not knowing of the danger as she heads to sleep. With her earphones playing music she cannot hear the mutant, Pluto, creep into the trailer. He caresses her and pulls back the blanket covering her, and when she suddenly wakes before being able to utter a syllable Pluto muffles her screams. Bobby who does not know of his sister's danger, wakes up Lynne and Doug claiming that there are "people in the jills" and tells of Beauty’s death, explaining that he remained quiet so as not to scare his mother. Before any action could be taken an explosion in the distance catches their attention. (This explosion was initiated by Pluto's instruction through his radio a means of distraction so Brenda can be violated. Lizard enters the trailer once everyone is trying to save Bob.)

In horror, they realize that Bob has been tied to a wooded pole and set ablaze. Lynne, Bobby and Ethel go running to him screaming and in shock. Doug runs into the trailer to fetch a fire extinguisher and in the commotion does not notice Pluto with Brenda. Before Lizard rapes Brenda, as well as killing a bird, he drinks and eats the family's food, he then shoves Pluto aside. In Pluto's frustration he angrily trashes the trailer killing the other bird and then hears the baby Catherine in her bed, he crouches down to her and she touches his hideously deformed face.

Meanwhile, all is done to save Bob with no avail. The fire is put out and as Doug unties the rope holding Bob, Bobby runs off with his gun to kill whoever killed his father. Hearing Brenda screaming Lynne returns to the trailer and is greeted by Lizard, holding baby Catherine and a gun. After clocking him with a frying pan Lizard disarms her and whilst pointing their father's revolver at the baby he forces Lynne to allow him to suckle from her breast. Ethel enters moments later and is caught in an attempt to hit Lizard from behind and is quickly shot in the stomach and thrown across the trailer. As Lynne sees this, protecting her daughter and sister who Lizard was about to shoot, she takes a near by screw driver and plunges it into Lizards leg, who then without hesitation shoots her in the head. Pluto legs it from the trailer and Lizard leaves the trailer with Brenda held by the neck. Lizard attempts to shoot Brenda in the head before leaving but the gun is empty. Lizard exclaims that he'll come back for her, leaving Brenda hysterical. Lizard hobbles away, due to his injured leg. Bobby shoots at the two mutants who jeer and laugh, whilst Lizard exclaims "Bitch darn stuck me like a pig!"

Doug and Bobby then return to see the chaos that ensued. As Bobby tries to comfort Brenda, Doug enters the trailer to see Lynne lying on the floor, the side of her head bleeding onto the floor. Doug cradles his wife as she passes away and he realizes that their daughter Catherine has been taken. Ethel, barely alive is comforted by a shaken Doug and made comfortable before her passing moments later. Over Brenda's crying, voices over a walkie talkie are heard, and quietly Bobby creeps to the trailer door shooting through it hoping to kill the source of the noise. Realizing there is no danger; Doug and Bobby leave the trailer and pick up the walkie talkie only to hear the voice of Jupiter say kill them all. Doug yells into the walkie talkie and tells them to give back Catherine, but his call is answered only with the crying of Catherine over the static. Doug asks Bobby how much ammo he has left and as Bobby replies, "a clip and a half," he makes a plan to rescue Catherine.

Beast, returning from killing Goggle (Ezra Buzzington), one of the mutated family members (user of said binoculars), accompanies Doug on his quest. Beast, going on the scent of the mutants, leads Doug through a mine tunnel which inside has the scattered graves of dozens of killed miners. Once out of the tunnel, Doug stands atop a cliff and sees what looks like an abandoned town down a dirt path. Over the walkie talkie, he tells Bobby and Brenda his location and proceeds into the town.

Meanwhile, Bobby and Brenda, still at the trailer, begin to prepare for the next attack. As Brenda ignites a tyre, hoping the smoke would attract a rescue, Bobby rigs the entire surrounding area. Taking the fishing line and pole Doug had retrieved from the dump site, he carefully fences the area off, tying the line to the fishing pole with a baby rattle dangling from the tip. They hope, the sound of the rattle will warn them before they get killed as they place the bodies of their loved ones into their SUV.

Walking deeper inside the town, Doug realizes that it is not a mere abandoned town, but a Military Testing Village. He walks past empty 1950's style houses; all filled with eerily posed and burnt mannequins, until his eyes come to the house Catherine is being kept in. After leaving Beast safe inside a broken down car, Doug proceeds into the house with a baseball bat in one hand ready to fight for his daughter. He carefully creeps past the bald, wig wearing female mutant watching over Catherine but as he nears escape, is knocked unconscious.

Doug wakes up disorientated and as he uses his lighter to look around, realizes that he has been locked in a meat storage bin filled with the severed limbs of previous victims. He panics and quickly breaks free just as Beast escapes from the car and runs off. Doug climbs out of the storage bin and makes his way to the dining room where the charred body of Bob rests, an American flag impaled in his skull. Making his way through, he begins to hear the the US national anthem faintly sung through raspy breaths. As Doug turns the corner, a man whose mutation has hailed him the title Big Brain, is supported in a wheelchair and is the source of the singing. He explains to Doug that they told the people to leave their homes because they were going to be destroyed. But the townsfolk didn't leave, they fled to the mines and the military set off the bombs resulting in the mutation of dozens of people. After explaining to a very distracted Doug, he yells "Its Breakfast Time", and Pluto crashes in.

Wielding an axe, Pluto lunges at Doug and after a struggle Doug is saved by Beast who has made his way into the house. As Pluto fights off Beast and apparently knocks the dog unconscious, Doug takes the opportunity to run, hiding in a room that serves as a crude bathroom. He attempts to secure the room by pushing a bathtub to block the door, but Pluto doesn't think to use the door, instead he breaks straight through the wall. Using his strength and height, Pluto grabs Doug by the neck and tosses him around like a rag doll. Fighting back, Doug takes the baseball bat, which has now been splintered and broken, and plunges it into Pluto's stomach. Pluto pulls out the bat and continues to overpower Doug, tackling him and swiftly throwing him through a window. All seems lost as two of Doug's fingers are cut off (albeit only in the unrated cut of the film which is available in the UK) and he begins to tire. As Pluto raises the axe to ultimately kill Doug, Doug retrieves the screwdriver from his side and points it desperately at Pluto but as all hope fails, Doug drops his hands and begins to beg for his life. "Please don't kill me." Doug pleas to Pluto, Big Brain mimics him and laughs. But as Pluto realizes his victory, Doug drives the screwdriver into his foot. With his foe distracted, Doug retrieves the flag from Bob's corpse and stabs it through Pluto's neck then finishes him off with a single axe blow to the head.

Big Brain tells Lizard over the walkie talkie to kill Catherine as Doug leaves the house in a rage, but not before Beast can take revenge on Big Brain, killing him. Doug, now with Pluto's bloody axe, takes out Cyst, another mutant family member and takes his shotgun. Across the village, Lizard, receiving Big Brain's message takes a butcher knife and prepares to kill baby Catherine. Ruby, realizing Lizard's intentions, takes Catherine and flees- serving only to fuel Lizard's rage.

Meanwhile, at the trailer the baby rattle sounds and signals the start of Brenda and Bobby's plan. They go to check on who may have sounded the rattle, but see it was just a tumbleweed. As they head back to the trailer, they find the body of Ethel is missing, realizing a member of the mutated family has taken her, Bobby tells Brenda to head to the trailer to execute their plan. Bobby then runs into the hills to find the culprit and sees Papa Jupiter, devouring Ethel's heart. Bobby catches Jupiter's eye and he begins to pursue Bobby towards the trailer. Brenda, inside the trailer, quickly releases the gas from the remaining propane tanks as Bobby runs inside, attaching a strip of matches to the sliding door behind him. Jupiter finally makes it to the trailer, crushing the window and pinning Brenda. Bobby takes this time to free Brenda and tie Jupiter's hand to the window. They proceed to escape through the window on the opposite side as Jupiter struggles to break free. Jupiter manages though and, not knowing the two have already escaped, makes his way to the sliding door which strikes the matches and ignites the gas inside the trailer. The trailer explodes and everything nearby is engulfed in flames as Bobby and Brenda rejoice at their accomplishment.

Deep in the hills Doug follows after Ruby who then sees him and attempts to return Catherine, but before father and daughter can be reunited, Lizard jumps from a high perch between Ruby and Doug. Ruby ducks away protecting Catherine and leaving Doug to fight Lizard. Doug, worn out from his other encounters of the family, doesn't last long and is seemingly killed as Lizard loses interest and goes after Ruby once more.

Lying on the dirt ground, Doug spots his wedding ring through the bandages and blood and finds the strength to continue. He steadily gets up and goes after Lizard, hitting him with the shotgun and shooting him down. As Lizard seems to go down for the last time, Ruby slowly gives Catherine back to Doug. Doug holds her and is so caught in the moment he fought for, and killed for, that he does not notice Lizard stumble up. When Ruby sees this, she runs and throws herself at Lizard in the ultimate sacrifice and plunges them both over the edge of a cliff, instantly killing them.

Meanwhile, at the remains of the exploded trailer, Bobby and Brenda walk through the ruins and see that Papa Jupiter is still alive. Although severely injured and impaled through the chest, he had survived the explosion. Suddenly, Brenda, with Jupiter's mining pick, finishes him with a blow to the head. As Bobby and Brenda realize what they have survived, Brenda spots Doug. With Catherine and Beast, Doug joins Brenda and Bobby in a hug. As they celebrate their victory, a pair of binoculars watches from the hills.

bio taken from here

Disclaimer: I am not Emilie De Ravin. I make no money whatsoever from this. I do not own Brenda, Wes Craven does. Thank you. This is a roleplaying journal for horrorwoodland

©Joss Whedon. // Buffy the Vampire Slayer

brokenimaginary // The mun

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