The Hitcher
The Hitcher II : I ’ve Been Waitingisn’t a sequel that needed to take place , and its one truly surprising scene is also it ’s most controversial . The former , great Rutger Hauer had a few iconic purpose to his name , withBlade Runner’ssympathetic " villain " Roy Batty being the most acclaimed . make out in a tight minute isThe Hitcher’sJohn Ryder , a successive killer who prowls the desert of West Texas . C. Thomas Howell ’s Jim makes the error of picking him up during a rainstorm , and Ryder do out to make his life a populate hell .
The Hitcherunderwhelmed critically and commercially during its 1986 press release but thanks to VHS and goggle box airings it was rediscovered . The flick is a sour , atmospherical thriller with great performances and it tarry in the mind long after the credits turn over . What does n’t linger is 2007’sThe Hitcherremake , asterisk Sean Bean ( Game Of Thrones ) and Sophia Bush . The flick basically remodel the same script but with more vehemence and zero subtext , and it flunk to do much job either .
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Even lover of the original may not realizeThe Hitcher II : I ’ve Been Waitingcame and went in 2003 . This STV continuation learn the return of C. Thomas Howell ’s Jim , who is now a cop who is ( understandably ) still haunted by his experiences in the original over 15 years later on . He and his girlfriend Maggie ( Kari Wuhrer ) take a road misstep along the same desert for the interest of poorly - send word therapy , where Jim reluctantly picks up another hitcher dubbed Jack ( Jake Busey , The Predator ) . As if Busey ’s casting was n’t a hint , Jack is uncover to be another psychopath who torture the twosome throughout the subsequence , which seems to be a retread of the original - though it does pull a Battle of Midway surprisal .
In just about every way possible , The Hitcher II : I ’ve Been Waitingis inferior to the original . It utterly lack the creepy , aerial tone and alternatively swear on Busey overplay up an almighty violent storm - he ’s fittingly acquaint during an real sandstorm - and some crunchy practical military action for thrills . That said , the movie go fullPsychoaround midway where during another brush with Busey ’s hitcher , Jim promote Maggie out of the way of his gun and is fatally injure . Jim dies shortly after , leaving Maggie to take on Jack alone .
Bringing back the independent character only to kill them off is n’t a new sequel thread , but Jim ’s death is a material surprisal . The Hitcher II : I ’ve Been Waitingwas setting itself up for another face-off between Jim and Jack - who the movie heavily implies is a reincarnation of Hauer ’s Ryder - only to vitiate expectations . Needless to say , this move was n’t appreciated by lover since it countermine Jim ’s journey and the end ofThe Hitcher .
C. Thomas Howell would later express regret about returning forThe Hitcher II : I ’ve Been Waitingin anAV Clubinterview , yell the production a " real mess " and stating he ’d been precede to believe Rutger Hauer would be returning also . When approached as a meretricious , STV b - motion picture fronted by Jake Busey there ’s some fun to be had with this follow - up , but it fares ill compare to the original . With Jim ’s shock destruction , however , it did pull at least one real surprise out of the cup of tea .
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