(Reviewed by Snake-666) - Impressive, but often overlooked.  Jim Halsey (C. Thomas Howell) is driving from Chicago to San Diego and stops to pick up a hitch-hiker by the name of John Ryder (Rutger Haeur). Jim soon realises that Ryder is a sadistic madman and seizes an opportunity to eject him from the vehicle. Believing that his encounter with Ryder was now at an end, Jim continues his journey undaunted. However, Jim is soon to find out that the incident in the car was just the beginning of a horrific nightmare. Jim learns that sometimes mother does know best.

Rutger Hauer's somewhat short performance is probably the highlight of this exceptionally well crafted horror movie. Hauer plays his role as the psychotic John Ryder with wickedly adept style and manages to convincingly portray a seriously deranged murderer. Whenever Hauer is on-screen the atmosphere becomes increasingly dark and dismal; such is the power of Hauer's performance in this movie. Without ever changing from the dangerously calm exterior that Hauer fronts, he is able to make his character seem like one of the most insane killers in horror cinema over the last thirty years. Hauer is able to feed off a well-written and unrevealing script from Eric Red to truly portray his sinister character. Very little information is ever exposed about John Ryder, which effectively makes him a mysterious and quite intimidating presence. Ryder is also intelligently prevented from becoming a one-dimensional killer due to some remarkably well-written dialogue. From the script we can gather that there is a reason behind Ryder's actions, it just seems that this reason is never revealed and the viewer is left to make up their own mind as to why Ryder systematically slaughters those who he comes into contact with.

‘The Hitcher' was Robert Harmon's directorial debut and it probably remains his greatest achievement in cinema. Through some proficient direction, Harmon is able to give ‘The Hitcher' a desolate atmosphere somewhat similar to ‘The Texas Chainsaw Massacre' (1974) and ‘The Hills Have Eyes' (1977), yet still maintains a brutality within the movie all of it's own. Echoes of the isolated highway style of ‘The Hitcher' can be seen in some more modern horror films such as ‘Jeepers Creepers' (2001), however the style of ‘The Hitcher' far surpasses any of it's imitators. Harmon paces the movie incredibly well and although the tension and suspense continually rises, there are some uncomfortable respites in the action that allow the viewer to contemplate the situations. To its benefit, the style of ‘The Hitcher' changes from a psychological horror in the early scenes, to a more violent and fiery slasher-esque movie later on. In fact, there are moments during the film (particularly some explosions and a couple of car chases) that could easily be placed into many action films, proving the genre-diversity that ‘The Hitcher' possesses. The climax of ‘The Hitcher' is extremely powerful, and in some ways moving, as the movie builds to the final, lingering scene which portrays emptiness and an air of finality that can leave the viewer in an almost trance-like state.

C. Thomas Howell surprisingly excelled in his role as Jim Halsey. Howell comes across as a regular man who has been thrust into the seventh level of hell, after simply trying to help a man by offering him a ride. The way Howell manages to portray his character as becoming increasingly unnerved and desperate is admirable, and another reason this film holds up so well. Jennifer Jason Leigh is also worthy of mention for her part as the sympathetic Nash. Leigh's performance, albeit very short, was a welcome addition to the film and allowed Howell's character to display humanity thus allowing the viewer to connect with him. ‘The Hitcher', in my opinion, is a vastly underrated horror movie with a wonderfully created atmosphere of desolation, fine acting performances, some breathtaking cinematography (courtesy of Jonathon Mostow), great scripting and some very skilled direction. Even though it is not a perfect movie, with a few unrealistic situations and moments of suspect acting from the supporting cast, I highly recommend this one. My rating for ‘The Hitcher' – 8.5/10.