The Hitcher (2007)

To be honest, I wasn't expecting much from this film when I set out to watch it. I'd already heard all of the negative press, and two further things stood against it in my opinion: the first was the involvement of producer Michael Bay, whose work I'm not a great fan of (that bloated mess TRANSFORMERS, anyone?), and the second was that I saw no reason for a remake to begin with. The original THE HITCHER, made in 1986 and starring Rutger Hauer, is a perfectly good little thriller with plenty of scares, shocks, and suspenseful moments. So why remake it just twenty-one years later? The reason is obvious: money. And this version of THE HITCHER is little more than a cynical ploy to make more of it, without putting much thought or effort into the movie to begin with. However, despite all these flaws, negatives, and problems, I was left feeling genuinely surprised, because I thought this film wasn't too bad. Sure, it's no classic, and it's not one I'll ever really want to watch again, but it passes the time. It doesn't muster up much suspense but as a film reliant on 'jump' scares, it works a treat, with sudden characters bursting onto the screen, or bursts of sound or music, making me start from my seat time after time. It may not be art, but if it's what you're looking for...I'll admit right now that I have a soft spot for Sean Bean, one of my favourite actors. Maybe it's his working class origins or his rugged look, but I always enjoy seeing this guy up on screen. Having watched him act the hell out of the other cast members in THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING, it was no surprise seeing him give a great performance here. He's subtle, scary, and very much deranged, an absolute psychopath with no emotion or care for his own safety or the lives of others. Bean doesn't fascinate like Hauer did, but he's perfectly good in the role.The other cast members are okay. Sophia Bush and Zachary Knighton aren't given much to work with other than react to the various menaces, but they convince as the young college couple. Character actor Neal McDonough is on hand playing the lawman investigating the crimes but he's criminally wasted here, especially after he gave such a good performance in BAND OF BROTHERS – he could well have played the Hitcher himself with those staring eyes.As far as remaking the original movie goes, some bits are the same while others are different. One action set-piece in the middle of the film really got my goat, because of the decision to play some stupid, intrusive piece of pop music right in the middle of it. I know they did it for effect, but it really doesn't work – I'm a traditionalist when it comes to soundtracks, give me an orchestra any day. Elsewhere, it's predictable fun, with characters hunting around in dark basements or being confronted with bloodied corpses. The gore and violence is amped up, crucially in a moment near the climax where a character is tied between the cabin and trailer of a lorry, and it provides a welcome distraction from the plot holes and lack of logic you see elsewhere.Despite a rushed ending, I still enjoyed this movie. It keeps you watching and Bean, although he doesn't exactly set the screen alight, is an able menace; the escape from the prison van is well handled and disturbing. THE HITCHER is the kind of film I can take or leave, but I've seen worse – a lot worse...

January 20, 2007I never ever began to think that "The Hitcher" would ever be remade. Actually, hoped is a better word. The original film came out in 1986 and should have never seen the light of day. It was a reprehensible piece of violent and cruel trash that showcased brutality and violence with no purpose. A lot of films are being remade lately and I must be led to believe that the producers of this remake have to be really desperate if they are willing to look back on a picture that was truly one of the worst films of the 1980's.It's about a young man, Jim Halsey (Zachary Knighton) and his girlfriend, Grace Andrews (Sophia Bush) who are driving across the countryside for spring break. While driving, they see a man hitchhiking in the pouring rain and they speed off. Later at a gas station, Jim reluctantly agrees to give, John Ryder (Sean Bean) a lift. when the Hitcher becomes violent, they shove him out the door. Ryder begins tormenting the two kids and forces them to play a cat and mouse game of murder. when Jim and Grace are suspected of the murders Ryder is leaving behind, they make a run for it with the police chasing close behind while trying to figure out what Ryder wants from them.Remakes are starting to become the object of desire and I can see a lot of horror/thriller films getting a reboot, not that that is always a good thing and this film was one we did not need. The original film was about a young man who is chased all through the western countryside by a psychopathic serial killer with no motive, purpose or identity and that made the film sick in its portrayal of violence. The film's sadomasochistic theme between C. Thomas Howell and Rutger Hauer was disturbing enough but now Sean Bean steps into the role of Ryder and plays the same killer who is hell bent on murdering people for no reason. You would think a motive would finally be revealed but no, it's safer for the filmmakers to stick to the original film and on that note, this film is about as disgusting and meaningless as the original.Everything remains the same but they retool a few scenes, one of which I will get to after. If you have seen the original, you know which scene I'm talking about. After the opening credits pass, Jim and Grace are driving through the dark when they see Ryder in the middle of the road near a broken car. After giving a ride, he pulls a knife and becomes violent, sound familiar? After Ryder is pushed out, they continue driving when they see a station wagon with the Hitcher in the back. Again, sound familiar? They changed nothing with the picture. The only difference is that Sean Bean steps into the menacing shoes of John Ryder and he is more of a pain in the ass than Rutger Hauer was attempting to be terrifying. He remains largely unchanged and we are, once again, given a killer whose sole purpose is to murder innocent people for no reason. No motive, nothing. We were not even told where Ryder came from in the original and we are not told with this story either.As you expect, the rest of the story plays out like the original with non-stop mayhem with Ryder framing them and the cops being too stupid to figure out what's going on. I will say, it's less believable with Jim and Grace than it was with Jim and Nash, yet, the cops are hell bent on catching them. Now comes the sequence that truly shocked the hell out me in the original and left me feeling sick. In the original, Jennifer Jason Leigh is tied between two trucks and split into two parts and this time, it's Jim who is tied between the two trucks and Grace being terrified. I had to laugh for a second because when the cops show up, they still think Grace and Jim are the two killers, yet, he's tied between two trucks while Ryder sits in the cab looking like a bat out of hell. You can image what happens next and, yes, he is split in half. This time, they show the two pieces of his body dangling just to further the disgust factor.I was left really angry when Jennifer Jason Leigh was ripped in half in the original and I felt bad for the actress because she is very talented and she was subjected to meaningless torture. Sofia Bush is a talented actress but her role is limited here and I wonder why they didn't cut her in half? Mind you, this is Michael Bay who is producing here and maybe he thought the idea of cutting a woman in half was a bad idea? Who cares? In the end, this remake is an immortal piece of trash much like the original. It does the same thing over again to a lesser degree in terms of content but still stands out as a desperate attempt to revive a film that died a long time ago and that's a sad commentary when entertainment resorts to rebooting a film like "The Hitcher" for a young audience that isn't even old enough to see it and should never see either the original film or this remake.0/10

I had just finished watching the movie. The ending is not so satisfying for me. Why do most of the story writers don't make happy endings? Jim should be alive too. Since, Johnny Ryder is such an evil man, the couple should have shot him with a gun whenever an opportunity comes in! What's the use of their gun? The police and the villagers were also too narrow-minded to think that Jim and Grace were the suspects! Another annoying scene is the part where the police were chasing the couple, have their own interconnected radios and updating Lt. Estiridge (if I'm not mistaken)about the chase. There's a helicopter / air support following, right? The police manning the helicopter had witnessed everything Mr. Ryder had done with his co-policemen, but still he did not inform immediately the lieutenant until he is shot by Mr. Ryder easily! Nevertheless, the movie is full of suspense and thrill. The actors are very good in portraying emotions like love, fear and pity. But, for me the most effective actor of all is Sean Bean. I'm pretty sure, everybody of us was frightened and mad on his role us the Hitcher.

Jim Halsey (Zachary Knighton) is driving college girlfriend Grace Andrews (Sophia Bush) to meet her friends. On a rainy night while driving in desolate New Mexico, they almost run over John Ryder (Sean Bean). The couple leaves him behind and there is no phone signal. Ryder catches up to the couple at a gas station and guilts Jim into hitching a ride. Ryder turns out to be a psycho and Jim manages to kick him out. Ryder catches another ride with a young family but Jim crashes the car before they could be warned. As Jim and Grace walk along the road, they run into the family again but they are all stabbed. They try to drive them to the hospital but the family all die. They are arrested by the cops. Ryder comes and kills everybody at the station. Jim and Grace run away. State police Lt. Esteridge (Neal McDonough) comes in to take over the case.The main difference from the original is the girlfriend along for the ride. Sophia Bush is a good addition. Zachary Knighton is not compelling enough. He's just another grungy pretty boy. They need to write a few good jokes for him and give the guy a personality. Sean Bean is a good actor and he has the gruff demeanor. However, he doesn't have the superhuman presence of Rutger Hauer's Ryder. Bean is playing a straight forward psychopath. This movie has fixed a couple of problems from the original but it doesn't have that hyper shock that the original represented. Critics loved to hate the original. The final act makes a switch. It's a good idea because Bush is a better actor and probably a better crier.