Review of The Hitcher (2007) by Chads. — 14 Mar 2007

Did John Ryder(Sean Bean) have a prior history of violence? We assume he does, but if that was the case, the trucker who eventually picks him up should've been killed. Maybe he's less like Henry(Michael Rooker from "Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer") and more like the Michael Douglas character from "Falling Down", an ordinary man who finally snaps at the injustices of the world(you'd be pissed too if you were left to stand in a downpour at night).

Even though Ryder kills a group of people, he does show some remorse in his wish to die himself. This killer is a little more complex than your standard issue murderer. If the young couple(Grace and Jim) gave Ryder a lift, they might've escaped the wrath of the thoroughly drenched.

And more importantly, Jim would've met Grace's friends, assumingly hot. This ambiguity about the hitchhiker's true nature saves "The Hitcher" from being utterly mindless and bloody, but it's still a long ways off from being a good movie.

Most needless remakes of mediocre thrillers are, but at least this one has a wicked liberal bias(the people in the station wagon were Christians, and the cowboy hats worn by the sheriff's department are signifers for stupidity), which will either amuse, or irk; depending on who you are.

"The Hitcher" is trash, of course, but it's well-paced trash and mercifully short.