The Hitcher

--Reviewed by Lindy Loo

Plotline: A young man traveling cross-country picks up a hitchhiker in the hopes of keeping himself awake, as he's begun to doze off as he drives. Almost immediately, he learns that it's the wrong decision. And the wrong decision continues to turn worse as he finds himself being held responsible for the deaths of various other travellers who've run into The Hitcher along the way.

Scariness factor: Rutger Hauer is a creepy man, so yeah, it has its moments. Although they are very 80's-esque ones.


Gross-Out Factor: Mostly just aftermath, blood-scenes. Nothing more horrible than that.

Complaints: Nothing was particularly terrible about this movie--it requires you to suspend your disbelief a lot, but so do most horror flicks. It's perhaps not as interesting as I would've liked it, but it's not terrible. I just found myself comparing it to Spielberg's Duel the whole time, which I absolutely adore, and which is in the same vein as this movie (but does an infinitely creepier job of playing up the fear of being hunted on the road). But despite it paling in comparison to Duel, it's not bad.

High Points: Rutger Hauer is creepy as always. Such a strange thing since he *is* kind of a fox, the more I think about it. Perhaps that's what lends to his creepiness? I dunno. Anyways... This movie has a lot of fantastic car-crash scenes in it which is kinda fun. Think old-school chase scenes, and that's what they're gonna hook you up with here. There is a lot of nervous energy in this movie which I also enjoyed--the feeling of being pursued is definitely in high throttle for 90 minutes here. I feel like this could've been made a more perfect movie somehow, with just a little bit of tweaking, but as it stands, it's a pretty solid and good one. It's suspenseful, though perhaps not fantastically high-paced. It's a bit far-fetched, but still manages to be creepy. So I can't complain.


Overall: This is an entertaining 90 minutes. I wasn't impressed enough that I'd seek it out again and again to watch, but it was definitely fun and creepy and suspenseful. And if you like Rutger Hauer, you'll definitely dig this.

Grade: B