The Hitcher (Widescreen Edition)

The Hitcher (Widescreen Edition) Review

I usually hate remakes & think they are unnecessary & for the most part think Hollywood is lazy in this sense...but I have to admit, some remakes are actually good (Amityville Horror, Dark Knight), & of course this one...I never intended to see this one, having spent my teen years watching the original 1986 film with Rutger Hauer as the menacing "Hitcher"..I just felt his performance could never be topped, boy was I wrong, Sean Bean (Goldeneye, Flightplan, Troy) is just as menacing if not worse as the vengeful "Hitcher"...I caught this one on T.V. awhile back expecting to hate it, & to my surprise I liked it a little better than the original 1986 film, below are the things I like better with this one compared to the original

Sean Bean's evil performance...yes even outdoes Rutger Hauer just a bit, hate to say it, but he does

Sophia Bush is just downright gorgeous...she alone is reason enough to like this one, but her eventual takedown of Bean at the very end is satisfying..

I like the idea of a couple being terrorized rather than a lone guy like in the original film....you really didn't fear for C.Thomas Howell in the original as much, simply because he was alone, however this Jim Halsey has a girlfriend (Bush) & you feel a sense of fear in this guy, not only for himself but for her as well, much like the Kurt Russell film "Breakdown"

Neal McDonough is more convincing as a angry Captain Esteridge when Bean is caught, unlike Jeffery DeMunn's character in the original who displayed almost no emotion for his men who had been killed early on

The pursuit sequence where Halsey & Bush are under fire by state police is very reminisent of the original film with Howell & Jennifer Jason Leigh under fire, Bean like Hauer kills the pursuing police..but in this one the song "Closer" by Nine Inch Nails plays in the background as Bean dispatches the cops..the song does fit the scene believe it or not...& the car pile ups are upped a bit here

The motel sequence where Halsey & Bush seek refuge is a bit more erotic as Halsey & Bush comfort each other in the shower, Halsey is dispatched in pretty much the same way Leigh was in the original....I am so glad it wasn't Bush who was killed, however this death scene is one scene I wish they hadn't done again, but the scene where Bean sneaks into her bed & tries to rape her is scary & funny at the same time as you realize he just might be toying with her instead, it is never clear if raping her was his intention...what is clear is that he just as deranged as Hauer's original "Hitcher"...in some ways this one could more or less be considered a sequel if not for the original film's repeated moments...however I tend to like this one a bit better...but the original is just as good too, Rutger Huaer will always be the original "Hitcher", but Sean Bean more than outdoes his performance.

The Hitcher (Widescreen Edition) Overview

A road trip takes a deadly turn in this terrifying thriller about a young couple (Sophia Bush and Zachary Knighton) tormented by a psychotic hitchhiker (Sean Bean) who forces them to face their fears head-on. The open road becomes a battleground of blood and metal in the race to reveal the chilling truth about this relentless killer. No one knows who he is, what he's after, or how to stop this "truly twisted villain"*. Watch the madness unfold with intense edge-of-your-seat chase sequences drive this sinister film to a deadly ending you won't soon forget!

The Hitcher (Widescreen Edition) Specifications

20 years is a long time in the lifeline of movie plot-arc necessities. It's also a pretty big generational stretch in the lives of audience demographics, which may be part of the reason the producers of this remake of the 1986 cult horror classic felt the need to update the original spare mano-a-mano backbone into a girl-and-mano-a-mano. The Twilight Zone-ish setup is still a pretty neat idea: regular guy on a lonely highway picks up a hitchhiker who turns out to be a psychopathic killer with some very unsettling supernatural might. Fans of the original could hardly hope for a demon villain with such creepy charisma as Rutger Hauer. But Sean Bean makes a respectable replacement, with his understated stare and stewing rage that brings a new brand of hair-raising devilry to the role of hitcher John Ryder. The lone "good guy" originated by a boyish C. Thomas Howell has been upgraded to a lovesick couple. In a twisty touch, Jim (Zachary Knighton, sorta unknown) and Grace (Sophia Bush, of One Tree Hill fame) trade gender roles, with Jim turning wimpy and feminine and Grace becoming a shotgun-toting testoster-ette. The body count's a little higher and the gore factor increased by the power of 20 (years), but some of the original film's set pieces remain much the same-- body-snapping case in point being an 18-wheeler being put to use as a old-fashioned torture rack. While the original might have placed a bit more emphasis on the philosophical and existential elements of evil passing from soul to soul, it wasn't exactly an intellectual thrill ride. Likewise, 2007's The Hitcher is no art film, and it can't be faulted for choosing fright and might for audiences that are always looking for bigger and more elaborate splats for their horror entertainment buck. And if you stick out your thumb for this one, expect plenty of splat. --Ted Fry