The Hitcher

Jun 1 2007 By The Journal

Plot: This remake of the cult 1986 film opens in traditional fashion with college lovebirds Jim Halsey (Zachary Knighton) and Grace Andrews (Sophia Bush) slipping excitedly into his 1970 Oldsmobile 442 as Move Along by The All American Rejects booms from the car stereo.

As night falls and the rain belts down, Jim swerves to avoid a stranded motorist standing in the middle of the highway. The motorist, John Ryder (Sean Bean), eventually persuades Jim to give him a lift to a motel.

From the moment Jim laughably bleats, "How was I supposed to know he was a sick lunatic?" the film crunches through the gears, mimicking the premise of the original film, right down to the police dog with a taste for its handler's freshly spilled blood.

Verdict: The original 1986 version of The Hitcher, written by Eric Red, contrived a nerve-shredding game of cat and mouse between a driver and a psychotic drifter.

Rutger Hauer's riveting performance as the eponymous maniac and an unforgettable torture sequence with a truck elevated Robert Harmon's thriller to cult status. More than 20 years later, Red returns to the desert highways for this pointless remake.

In its new incarnation, The Hitcher lacks the elements which made the earlier film so engrossing: powerhouse performances, an intensely creepy bond between villain and prey and suffocating suspense.