The Hitch-Hiker (1953)

Something about the oldies of horror; before the days of special effects, even practical effects, you had to come up with a story compelling enough on its own since you couldn’t have a buckets of blood being sprayed every which way to compliment or boost what was being told. The old psychological thrillers/horrors of the mid-century used an engaging narrative, engaging actors, and suspense to pull off what it was trying to tell. THE HITCH-HIKER is a simple story; we see a hitch-hiker get picked up by a couple buddies after the audience sees the lone traveler murder two people in the opening scene. The new addition to the car pretty quickly shows his intentions with a gun and mentions he’ll kill the two guys if they don’t do what he says. We see an ongoing psychological and physical cat-and-mouse game as the two buddies try to stay alive and also figure a way out of their current predicament. The stand out is the actor who plays the hitch-hiker himself; with an eye that never seems to ‘close’, even when sleeping, and has the look down of a psychopath with no remorse. If you want a nice, lean, classic psychological and suspenseful thriller, check this one out. Also, look up the true story this film was based on. Quite a wild ride itself.

SLASH SCENE: The climax

SLASH SCORE: 4.5/5

GAMING SCORE: 9/10