THE HITCHER 2

2003 / Director. Louis Morneau.
Review by Glenn Cochrane.

I am a glutton for shoddy sequels and I can't, for the life of me, figure out why. I love sequels in general and being able to explore storylines further excites me. It's an opportunity for filmmakers to be bold with established properties and the possibility for failure is as probable as the good fortune of success. One sequel that was entirely unnecessary (and stupid) was THE HITCHER 2.

Set 17 years after the original events Thomas C Howell finds himself travelling the exact same stretch of road with his girlfriend and terrorised by yet ANOTHER serial killing hitchhiker. So traumatised by the incident all those years ago, Howell's character is convinced that the new hitcher is the supernatural embodiment of Rutger Hauer. The film humours this notion and remains ambiguous as to whether this killer is supernatural or purely coincidence. And so from the moment he arrives on screen the film becomes a stupid and perplexing rehash of the original film. 

The biggest oddity of all is that the movie is quite well made. On a technical level it is fascinating and absorbing. The cinematography is good and employs creative and interesting techniques to give the story an appealing visceral quality. A particular tracking shot following Steve Railsback's sheriff character is stunning and various POV shots are well placed. The performances, however, are all flabby and forced with the exception of Jake Busey as the killer who is consistently menacing. Being such a needless sequel, fifteen years too late, its lacklustre and uninspired premise is expected. You can't ask much from it and the more absurd it becomes, the more fun you find yourself having - well for me anyhow. 

THE HITCHER 2... dumb. Unwarranted. Forgettable...... Kind of cool.  

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