Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Brisk
- Intensity
- Strong
- Complexity
- Simple
- Violence
- Graphic
- foreboding
- paranoid
- harrowing
- late night horror marathon
- road trip movie night
What critics said
Critics broadly found the remake technically streamlined but undermined by cheap shocks, gratuitous gore, and an inferior relationship to the original.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
Jim and Grace are pursued across rainy highways, gas stations, and remote New Mexico desert roads.
John Ryder is presented as a psychopath who murders strangers and relentlessly targets the young couple without a stated motive.
The hitchhiking encounter develops into a continuing mouse-and-cat chase involving cars, police, crashes, and repeated roadside attacks.
The film is a 2007 remake, produced through the 2000s horror-remake cycle and emphasizing gratuitous gore and torture.
Films like The Hitcher, and why
The Hitcher
Shares a desert road setting, relentless serial-killer pursuit, vehicular peril, and stripped-down survival-thriller structure.
Joy Ride
Combines isolated-road dread, a predatory killer, escalating violence, and young travelers trapped in a hostile landscape.
Wolf Creek
Features a sadistic pursuer, roadside encounters, brutal suspense, and a young couple fighting to survive a nightmarish journey.
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre
Shares slasher conventions, graphic violence, a seemingly unstoppable killer, and a sustained chase-oriented thriller format.
Movie Details
- Director
- Dave Meyers
- Release Date
- 2007-01-19
- Runtime
- 84 min
- Rating
- 5.9 / 10 (1031)
Cast
- Sean Bean
- Sophia Bush
- Zachary Knighton
- Neal McDonough
- Kyle Davis
- Danny Bolero
- Jeffrey Hutchinson
- Skip O'Brien
- Travis Schuldt
- Yara Martinez
Where to watch in United States
- Rent
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
- Buy
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
Streaming options come from TMDB and change over time.
Common questions
- What is The Hitcher about?
- Two college students stranded on New Mexico highways become the prey of a hitchhiking psychopath who turns their road trip into a brutal survival chase.
- What is The Hitcher like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of The Hitcher as brisk, its intensity as strong and its storytelling as simple.
- Is The Hitcher violent?
- Yes. Ember rates the violence in The Hitcher as graphic.
- What did critics think of The Hitcher?
- Critics broadly found the remake technically streamlined but undermined by cheap shocks, gratuitous gore, and an inferior relationship to the original.
- Which films are like The Hitcher?
- Films with a similar feel include The Hitcher, Joy Ride, Wolf Creek, and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.
- How long is The Hitcher?
- The Hitcher runs 84 minutes.
- Where can I watch The Hitcher?
- In United States, The Hitcher is available to rent or buy from Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home.
