The Hitcher (2007)

the audience applauded

Just what I expected

Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

I don't understand why people dislike this film so much? I personally enjoyed this film. I found it entertaining and suspenseful. I was too young when the original came out, so I never watched it. I tried watching it when I got older, and just couldn't get into it. It's all perception, and if you're a huge fan of the original, then yes, you probably won't like the remake, but if you have no relation to the original, then I think you would enjoy it. It has a good cast, good story, and keeps you watching. I'm glad I didn't listen to the reviews on here, and watched it for myself. Not everyone is going to like this film, just like not everyone is going to like the original.

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

Considering that "The Hitcher" from 1986 was a very well-made film, remaking the movie would have been unnecessary. And although there are remakes which could potentially be good movies, this is definitely not one of them. Not by a long shot. Now getting into the movie itself, I thought that this movie was boring and didn't contain a single scene which was remotely as emotional or as suspenseful as the original. C. Thomas Howell gave in a brilliant performance as the lead in the original, while Rutger Hauer played an excellent villain. In this movie, none of the actors did a good job with their roles. While Sean Bean is good in other movies, he was definitely a forgettable villain as The Hitcher in this movie. And as for the other two main leads; absolutely forgettable characters as well, whom you didn't care for because they were so horribly miscast and badly-written that you didn't connect with them on an emotional level at all. Horrible, horrible casting. Another problem with this film, besides the casting, is the mere fact that it's almost a carbon-copy of the original (except for a couple of changes). Almost every scene from this movie seems to have been plucked out of the original, which defeats the whole purpose of suspense, not to mention that almost every scene which was copied is absolutely inferior to the original. All in all, I have no idea what the director Dave Meyers was thinking when he decided to make this film. As others have said, you might as well just show 1986's "The Hitcher" in cinemas again and it won't make a difference. Why Sean Bean and Neal McDonough decided to even bother starring in this film is beyond me. My advice is to stay away from this film and just watch the original instead. 1/10. Absolutely dreadful.

I am a HUGE fan of the original Hitcher so I approached this with a lot of caution especially given how so many reviews were slamming it. But I think people are being overly harsh here. This is a terrifically shot & directed little movie. The lead actors all do well and there is great action & suspense throughout. I was very impressed with the cinematography especially in the first half. There were some especially clever & 'beautiful' (tho slightly gory) sequences involving animals and insects. I can see why they made the changes they did and while they take away a lot from the original story by introducing a couple instead of just the lone "hero" it's actually got it's own appeal. On the down side, the music they used was mostly inappropriate unfortunately, more suited to a romantic drama than a thriller and completely ruined the mood. One exception - I thought the NIN track worked beautifully when that came in. Similarly sinister music in the rest of the flick would have been a lot better than the MTV fluff they seemed to run with. Apart from anything else, if you use the latest top 10 songs as your musical score you end up dating the movie very quickly.The ending could have been done better - it seemed a bit unrealistic - perhaps a little less "super-heroic" and more damage to the hero would have been in order. But apart from the above few niggles, I thoroughly enjoyed this movie. It's not quite as good as the original but who cares really? And it's good in it's own right. I also liked that they didn't make the female lead useless and pathetic & that neither of the two acted like morons. Their actions were perfectly logical and believable in the circumstances they found themselves in. Not always the wisest decisions were made but that's realistic & understandable for two traumatised college kids & if the characters didn't take the wrong path occasionally there'd be no story now would there!!Oh and there's nowhere near as much "gore" as people have suggested. There's a bit of blood & guts but nothing too outrageous. Very tame in that respect compared to many other horror flicks I've seen. Altho there was one scene where I was wise enough to look the other way at the crucial point. Unless you're hard core I'd recommend you do the same!! LOL You'll know what I mean when you get there.Don't look at this flick as a remake of a classic and set it up to fail no matter how good it is. Just watch it as a movie in it's own right and I guarantee you WILL enjoy it. It's 100x better than most of the rubbish around lately. My actual vote is somewhere around the 6 mark as I think it's an above average action/horror movie but not brilliant. But I've rated it higher to make up for the mean-spirited and unjust low ratings this is getting from many people. :)