The Hitcher DVD Review

Women have just recently begun to get their dues in horror films with a sudden rise in female machismo. Suddenly the women aren’t just screaming, large-breasted, sorority girls running away from the killer, because Descent gave us a group of women who are going to fight their way out or die trying. Even with Hostel, a film which objectifies women so convincingly for the first half of the film that it lulls the audience into the usual preconceived notions of the attractive women until they turn out to be the greatest source of trouble, allowed to be feared rather than disposed of after sex; a praying mantis of sexual desire. The Hitcher may be continuing this trend, or they may just be riding on the success of Sophia Bush, a young attractive and charming actress which is of no real consequence in this film. Based on a much better horror film from the 80s, The Hitcher switches the leading hero into a heroine, placing Bush in that seat, miniskirt and all.

The Hitcher begins with a road trip that an innocent couple is taking, much like the road trip of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, only the villain in this film stalks all along the highway. When the young couple (Sophia Bush and Zachary Knighton) nearly hit a hitchhiker on their first rainy night on the road, the psychopath decides to terrorize them. What makes the hitchhiker so villainous (especially played by Sean Bean) is his complete disregard for risk. He is willing to lose anything just in order to terrorize this one couple, leading up to a final confrontation when running is no longer an option.

The end of The Hitcher suddenly turns into much more of a crowd pleaser than I can ever recall the original being, and it loses some of its edge with a sudden burst of action in a film which may have been better suited to stick with the horror aspects of the film. Although the combination of the genres, perhaps to make up for the extremely simple plot, is somewhat hindering, it also becomes a mixed bag of entertainment. This may be void of any real substance, but it makes a decent enough viewing on evenings when thinking is not welcomed.

The DVD includes over twenty minutes of deleted scenes, but it is the alternate ending which inspires the most urgent viewing. There is also a making of featurette and a featurette on the best part of the film; the car crashes. This is a serial killer road film, and in many instances cars are used as weapons, especially when guns are fired while driving. The Hitcher has many great car stunts and there is behind-the-scenes footage showing how they were filmed.