Monster Sketch Monday – Pluto from ‘The Hills Have Eyes’

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This was NOT my intended Monster Sketch for today! I spent a few hours on a drawing of Rexy, the T-Rex from Jurassic Park, because it’s Steven Spielberg month here at SAW. And then I completely botched it. Drawing digitally is usually a good thing, because I can erase mistakes and make sure things are backed up. Not today. I did a quick scribble background ( I thought) and saved and closed the file so I could open it in another program. Except I’d scribbled over the linework. So this was the result:

Needless to say, I was pretty upset. I briefly considered just doing Monster Sketch Tuesday, but to be honest I know I won’t want to re-do it tomorrow. Maybe next week.

SO. No slight on Michael Berryman or Wes Craven, but this is a consolation prize. An illo I’ve done earlier (for a hopeful upcoming book). I did it as an alternate movie poster:

If I’m honest, The Hills Have Eyes is not in my list of favorite Wes Craven films. It’s… it’s okay. It has moments. That first attack. Jupiter’s assault and Bobby and Barbara’s defense. There’s some nice framing of the vast, uncaring desert and the tiny Carter encampment. In the end, however, it feels threadbare and slapped together. The pacing is either so slow as to make you yawn or so frenetic you find yourself wondering what just happened. What little gore there is is almost laughably bad. And the acting is – well, it’s not the worst I’ve seen, but it made me want to slap a lot of people

Michael Berryman, though, makes an impression. He’s a good actor in addition to his unique appearances. His character of Pluto is my second favorite in the whole film, after Beast.

I’m just going to put this out there – Beast is the real hero of the movie. I’m a little unhappy about the poodle in Florida, but that’s on your owners. Other than that, you’re a good boy, Beast! Given enough time I think you’d have taken all of them out.

Anyway, Berryman’s appearance is a result of hypohidrotic ectodermal dysplasia, a genetic condition that results in a lack of hair and fingernails as well as sweat glands. That last was an issue on Hills, as the temperatures could easily give him heatstroke. While his appearance has led to a lot of “monster” roles the man himself is apparently a real sweetheart and a hard worker. I know I generally enjoy his appearances in movies, and this was the first film I remember seeing him in.

So are you a fan of The Hills Have Eyes? A Berryman fan? If so, what are some of your favorite roles?