Product Details

• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (90 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B001MEJUY0
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #138,738 in Movies & TV (See Bestsellers in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

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

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Road-Killer, May 26, 2007

By	Mark Eremite "This Is A Display Model Only" (Seoul, South Korea) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)

This review is from: The Hitcher (Widescreen Edition) (DVD)

"The Hitcher" is a so-so film that desperately wants to be a killer music video. Starring Sophia Bush (that One Tree Hill girl who is so pretty it makes my eyes water) and Zachary Knighton (I'd never heard of him before, but he looks like the type who'd date Sophia Bush), the film wastes no time with pleasantries. The two lovers hit the road, and then the road hits back.

The road in my oh-so-clever analogy turns out to be John Ryder, the hitcher, a man with a grudge against life. Literally. In one of his first lines of the film, Ryder admits that the reason he tortures, maims, and kills people is because he wants someone to stop him. This sort of Swiftean take on nihilism is often used by scriptwriters to give a character license to indulge in flat-eyed melodrama (emotive beef jerky, I call it), but Sean Bean -- as the unflagging madman -- lets his desperation and his senseless rage simmer without boiling over into false theatrics. Bean is really the reason to watch this film.

It's too bad he's not in it more than he is. Most of the time we are forced to watch Bush and Knighton wander around making typically bad decisions and then griping or whining about it to each other when there's a break in the action.

I don't blame the actors. These sorts of brash bonanzas of violence and destruction don't really need much in the way of plotting to do their job, but they do need some kind of decent writing. I mean, take a look at Spielberg's Duel. For a movie with such a minimal plot and perhaps two pages of dialogue, this film works macabre magic. "The Hitcher," in lieu of compelling characters and a solid build-up of tension has, instead, the rat-a-tat-tat subtlety (and pace) of a semi-automatic. Short bursts of loud chaos, interspersed with brief moments of silence. You don't want that barrel to melt.

I give the film a thumbs up for its dervishes, for the car chases (set to blaring Nine Inch Nails), the near-misses, and the bold direct hits (I'll admit that I was shocked and surprised by the scene with the semi-truck and the chains). But, just like the (lack of) beliefs of the title character, the movie doesn't seem to care about much of anything, making it easy for the viewer to feel likewise.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic Hitcher remake!, June 1, 2007

By	StarRaezer "Star" (mountain home, idaho United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Hitcher (Video On Demand)

I was a huge fan of the orginal film The Hitcher, and was very excited to see a remake being made in 2006. I was reluctant to rent it because I aboslutely loved the orginial. It was one of my all time scariest, creepiest movies that I've carried images of in my mind for two decades.

Now, I am happy to say--I've just rented The Hitcher and don't want to return it to the videio store! This movie is a keeper! The special effects are fabulous, the actors superb, and I am thrilled and delighted with this remake.

I feel it is a true piece of creative and thrillingly creepy and eerily wonderful horror!

Thank you for this film!

Sincerely,
Star

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Lethal And Jolting - One Of The Year's Top Horror Movies, July 12, 2007

By	Stephen B. O'Blenis (Nova Scotia, Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Hitcher (Widescreen Edition) (DVD)

An improved version of the already high-caliber 1986 "Hitcher" starring Rutger Hauer, this new incarnation casts Sean Bean ("Lord Of The Rings", "The Dark", "Silent Hill") as an even deadlier and more twisted title villain, and Sophia Bush ("Stay Alive") and Zachary Knighton ("The Prince And Me") as young lovers Grace and Jim, who on a road trip encounter the hitcher in the middle of a rainstorm, and become the prime targets of his obsession.

The Hitcher has been upped to where he's about as dangerous as a human being can be without raising the question of the supernatural. No remorse, apparantly no fear of death or pain, disturbingly with no apparant motivation, indisputably evil, and yet retaining an undeniable charismatic edge, as well as a huge air of mystery (his background, and even his real name, are never revealed) the character slashes and shotgun-blasts his way into the upper tier as one of the most instantly memorable killers to rampage across the screen in recent years. Zachary Knighton and the smolderingly gorgeous and cute-as-a-button Sophia Bush are likable and believable as the main couple of the film. Strong performances are turned in by the rest of the cast as well, and the tight flow of the movie encompasses psychological terror and suspense, up-close visceral carnage, and some of the most intense and high-octane highway chase/battle action ever seen, way above that seen in many higher profile action blockbusters with five times the budget. It attains a highly active tension and tightness the likes of which have not quite been reached by many of its more famous horror-thriller hybrid peers.

"The Hitcher" delivers on all counts it takes on, and is highly recommended for fans of such movies as the '86 original, "Highwaymen" (by original "Hitcher" director Robert Harmon), the "Hills Have Eyes" movies, and "The Vanishing".