The Hitcher(2007)

7.5/10

"The Hitcher" is a 2007 remake of the 1986 classic with C. Thomas Howell and Rutger Hauer. It hasn't always been loved by fans of the genre, but I personally like it. There was a lot of impressive action and plot twists, and while it wasn't a masterpiece, it was a fun flick to give an adrenaline rush. 

The movie begins by introducing a teenage couple named Grace and Jim. The two are driving to New Mexico for spring break. This scene is good, because it gives the necessary meeting of the main characters, and even though they don't say a whole bunch, they have likable personalities. 

When the night comes, things get strange as a hitchhiker stands in the middle the road, and almost gets hit by their car. The duo drives away quick out of fear, and stops at a gas station. At this stop, they run into the hitcher, and apologize and give him a ride. As they drive, the man gets stranger and stranger, and he then puts a knife up to Grace. After this, the trip intended to be fun becomes a living hell, and the two have to fight for their lives. 

The main characters of this movie were all cast extremely well, because they all got into the roles so much that the viewer forgets it was a movie. Sophia Bush kicked butt as Grace, because in the beginning she gave a weak performance, but then became a very tough and awesome girl. Zachary Knighton was good as Jim, because he was a very likable guy, and he made the audience feel for him a lot. Sean Bean gave an extremely dark, and horrifying performance as "The Hitcher." He made the sadist nature of his character seem so real, and was the ultimate bad guy. He definitely did the Rutgers Hauer role it's Justice. 

The strongest part of the film for me was the action. This movie was a high octane, brutal, and gory thrill ride that sometimes made the viewer cringe. There were stabbings, slit throats, shootings, and one of the most disturbing things I have ever seen(yet I will not explain it for spoiler reasons). I loved the look of all the gore effects, because they were very realistic, unlike many films of recent times. 

The last 25 minutes of the movie were absolutely thrilling, because the chains of events that took place were insane, with a huge twist to top them off. After this scene, things went crazy as the surviving characters had the ultimate showdown with this horrible person. I thought that the ending was very good, although it was pretty predictable. 

The only weakness of the movie was some stupid plot elements. This is kind of typical for a Michael Bay movie, and they were just small little things that didn't add up. The main problem was the arresting of the couple. It could've worked, if Jim hadn't been sitting in the car trying to save the injured man. I think it was really dumb for this to happen, because no murderer would just stay with their crime. This definitely didn't hurt the movie much for me, but it was just something that made me scratch my head. 

Overall, "The Hitcher" is a really good movie. It has an energy to it that isn't found often nowadays, and for the most part it was well made too. It was also a well done remake, because it stayed true to the original, while putting some twists in too. I definitely recommend this to horror fans, because it is an underrated film that will keep you on the edge of your seat the whole time.