Film Reviews

The Hitcher

• Rating:
• Director: Dave Myers
• Starring: Sean Bean
• Details: US / 83mins (18).

So the horror remake train trundles on, but did The Hitcher - the 1986 B-movie horror, which garnered something close to a cult status - need a makeover? Yes, if that remake was to bring the film to today's audiences and added to the original. No, if that remake was to jettison everything that made the original remotely worthwhile. The original played with the formula of the psychological thriller: Rutger Hauer might have been tormenting C. Thomas Howell, but there was a suggestion that the maniac was a hallucination - a projection of Howell's disturbed psyche. It looks like director Meyers and his two writers (whose credits include the tepid remake of When A Stranger Calls and Highlander: Endgame) watched The Hitcher, loved it, but didn't get it. Needless to say, they ploughed on regardless: Enjoying their spring break, Jim (Knighton) and Grace (Bush) pick up stranded motorist John Ryder (Bean). Bad move, because Ryder is a psychopath and is hell bent on killing our young heroes and anyone else who comes near. This version of The Hitcher (which comes fast on the heels of endless remakes) ups the gore factor, which will please fans, but there is a sense that the gore is only being upped to paper over the lack of suspense. Meyers, instead of creating tension or mood, falls back on the old tactic of using sudden sounds and quick jumps into frame to scare us. The only thing that might send a shiver up your spine is when you see them watching Hitchcock's The Birds on TV - could this be in line for the next remake? Sure enough, a little research revealed that it's on its way in 2009. Is nothing sacred?

Review by Gavin Burke