One thing you really should know about me is that I am a horror movie junkie! I go to see as many horror films as I possibly can, there are some good ones and there are some really awful ones and then there are the down right campy horror films that really are only good for a laugh and should have been deemed comedies in pre-production. The truly great ones are hard to come by, recently I saw The Decent which was one of the best horror movies I have seen in quite some time. I also recently saw Pulse, which was, well, one of the worst I had ever seen. So this genre is pretty hit and miss and most people either love horror movies or hate them. I love them and can appreciate the good and the bad and take them for what they are. That being said, I must say I wasn’t expecting a great horror movie when I walked into The Hitcher, for one it’s a remake and we all know how those usually turn out (check out new version of Night of the Living Dead 3D… just terrible), however, I must say I was very impressed. It is director Dave Meyers first feature film, he is a music video director, but he made it seem like he has been directing these types of movies all his life, and an added bonus to him being a respected music man is an awesome soundtrack to fit a perfectly updated adaptation of a classic horror movie. Sean Bean (Lord of the Rings) plays Ryder, the hitcher, a very disturbed individual that Grace (Sophia Bush) and Jim (Zachary Knighton) nearly run down on the road and feel compelled to help him out completely unaware that he is a serial killer. Their encounters with Ryder continue to intensify and as the story plays on Grace and Jim are faced with one life and death situation after another and are even being framed for the murders and pursued by the police. The Hitcher is also skillfully updated for modern day and not once did I think the characters acted irrationally, which always brings to mind for me the famous quote from Scream“ I hate horror movies, there is always some big breasted girl running up the stairs when she should be going out the front door, it’s insulting”. The Hitcher has it all, talented actors, a well-written script and fantastic directing, set with the gorgeous back drop of the New Mexico mountains. Unfortunately it is not available in MoPix and I do believe some description would be very helpful for the visually impaired here. There is another company called the National Captioning Institute that is also starting to do descriptive narrative for the visually impaired, I have not been able to find a list of films that they provide the service for but it is definitely something to look into, if not try and take a sighted friend who can fill you in on all the gory details, well so to speak! Enjoy!
(Rogue Pictures)
Starring: Sean Bean, Sophia Bush and Zachary Knighton)
