Wednesday, January 18, 2012

NEVER TRUST A HITCHHIKER By: SASHA SLAUGHTER

Ughh! Did I ever tell you how gross you are? Yeah, you...you know who you are.. looking up gross stuff. We love it! haha. You're nastiness keeps us going, so thanks! Yes it is yours truly, Sasha Slaughter, and you're in for yet another day of pure unadulterated awesomeness. And since this is slasher week, I'll be telling you about a movie titled The Hitcher. It is a remake of the 1986 film of the same title. The Hitcher was directed by Dave Myers and written by Jake Wade Wall and Eric Bernt. The film was released January 19, 2007 and debuted at number four at the box office. Five weeks after it's release, The Hitcher was pulled from most screens due to it's poor performance and bad reviews. Now let me tell you what it's all about.

A young couple named Jim and Grace are on the road for Spring break when they come across a demented hitchhiker known only as John Ryder. It all begins when Ryder is standing by his broken down car at the edge of the road. Jim nearly hits the man and his car spins out of control. Grace insists that they don't pick him up because someone else will stop, so they speed off and don't look back. Further down the road, Jim spots Ryder climbing out of a tractor-trailer cab while getting gas. Ryder introduces himself and asks Jim for a ride. Jim hesitates at first but reluctantly agrees. As soon as John Ryder gets in the car, things turn violent. Ryder holds a knife to Grace's throat and and tells Jim that the only way to save himself and Grace is to say "I want to die". Jim refuses and instead slams on the breaks, causing Ryder to hit his head on the windshield. He then speeds up, while kicking Ryder repeatedly, while Grace opens the door and throws him out.
Shortly after, while riding down the road, they encounter Ryder again. This time is he is in a station wagon with a family, apparently hitchhiking. Jim and Grace try to warn the family, but they are run off the road by an oncoming vehicle, which totals Jim's car. The couple is forced to travel on foot as they fear for their lives and try to stay hidden from John Ryder. A short distance down the road, they find the station wagon that Ryder was in and discover that the mother and children are dead, and that the father is dying slowly. Jim decides to take their car to the nearest town for help. Ryder appears in a stolen truck and tries to run them off the road. They finally get into town and when the locals see the dead family in the car, they immediately suspect that Grace and Jim committed the murders. The town Sheriff is called and Jim and Grace are arrested.
While being questioned, Ryder shows up at the station and kills everyone except Grace and Jim, who flee on foot. The couple arrive at a junkyard and are soon found by the lone surviving cop from the station. As she tries to negotiate with the officer, he is shot in the head by Ryder. Grace and Jim steal a police cruiser and try to explain to the cops that they haven't killed anyone, and that someone is after them, trying to kill them. Soon after, John Ryder shows up and single handedly takes down all of the police cruisers and one helicopter, thus helping Grace and Jim escape, for the time being. He eventually catches up with Jim and Grace again at a motel, where he kidnaps Jim. He ties him between a truck and a trailer and steps slowly on the gas, badly hurting him. Grace finds Jim tied up and goes to the cab of the truck and points a gun at Ryder, telling him to stop the truck. Ryder revs up the truck and stomps on the gas pedal, splitting Jim in half at the waist. But Ryder's rampage has only just begun. He'll stop at nothing to make sure that Grace dies, and will kill anyone that gets in his way.
What a mean mean man! Geez. I think that guy needs a hug from his mom! Anyway, this was a decent film, I've never seen the original, so I can't really compare the two. The Hitcher got alot of negative reviews from people. 19% of critics on Rotten Tomatoes gave the film positive reviews, with the consensus that the film is "interested in cheap shocks and gratuitous gore and torture". Uhhh isn't that what slasher/horror films are about? Others have said that it is absolutely inferior to the original and that it's not worth a watch. I don't know about all that. There's plenty of blood, a crazed hitchhiker killing people with whatever he can find...guns, a truck, knives. It's awesome! I think overall I'd give The Hitcher a 3 out of 5. It may or may not be better than the original, I don't know, but it was a decent film. There was a good big of gore, the shock factor was good, and the acting was decent too. I'd probably watch it again. Now that I've told you about that, how about you go and see what Zane's got going on? And while you're there, ask if he's had any NB lately! Thanks for stopping by!

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