The Hitcher (1986)

The Hitcher

I picked up The Hitcher at the video store last night because my friends who work there, Bryan and Molly, recommended it. I must have passed over it a hundred times really not thinking twice about it, but I watched it last night.

The Good:
It was a fun game of cat-and-mouse (as the box had advertised).
The scenery was great and much of the cinematography was interesting.
It takes no time getting started and then basically the tense action doesn't stop until the end.
Rutger Hauer, C. Thomas Howell and Jennifer Jason Leigh are in it.
Rutger Hauer is such a great villain and an underrated actor, well at least in the eighties (see Blood of Heroes, Ladyhawke, and of course Blade Runner).

The Bad:
There isn't a lot of substance in the film.
Does make you say, "What he should'a done is ..." a lot.
There is a severed finger I didn't quite understand.
There was a few over-the-top moments.

Overall: I would give this movie a double A Nightmare on Elm Street Part 2: Freddy's Revenge (meaning The Hitcher is at least twice as good as it... and I suppose that makes it 4 times better than A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master).