Rating: 3.5/5
Oh My Horror 2025 | 26/52 | Sweaty Horror
Jim Hasley can barely keep his eyes open as he crosses West Texas deserts at dusk. He’s transporting a drive-away from Chicago to San Diego. He chugs his coffee and turns on the radio. A storm breaks, and lightning strikes. Still, he drifts away, nearly colliding with a truck, but manages to awaken and regain control of the car. On the side of the road, he sees a hitchhiker and stops for him, joking that his mother tells him not to do this. Jim asks the man where he’s going, but the man evades the question with other questions or observations.
Down the way, Jim sees a car stranded on the side of the road. Jim intends to stop, but the man pushes Jim’s leg down on the accelerator, forcing him to speed past. Jim finally stops the car and demands that the man leave, but the man refuses. The man coaxes him to continue and finally reveals that he is responsible for the stranded car—the man dismembered the driver, and he’s going to do the same to Jim. What does the man want? He wants Jim to stop him. Jim pushes the guy out of the car and escapes.
Later down the road, a station wagon with a mother, father, and daughter pulls in front of Jim. He sees that the man is in the back with the daughter. Jim tries to signal them to get the guy out, but a bus comes and knocks Jim off the road. He recovers and drives further, seeing the station wagon pulled over on the side of the road. Jim looks in the car. We don’t know what he sees, but we know there is blood everywhere. For some reason, Jim stops at a gas station to make a call. And there, waiting for him, is the hitchhiker.
The movie follows Jim as this dude keeps chasing him. Is this real life, or did Jim fall asleep at the wheel? Is Jim’s life in danger, or is this hell?
I ask those questions because the hitchhiker is basically magic, appearing and disappearing at plot-convenient times. The world seems to morph around Jim so that he is the only logical person who could be committing these murders. So, perhaps the hitchhiker is Jim.
Well, the movie very quickly dispels this notion, so…
Buffy and Star Trek fans will be happy to see Armin Shimerman, however briefly. Frank Darabont stans will appreciate Jeffrey DeMunn’s scenes.
Rutger Hauer is stellar as the hitchhiker. He didn’t need to go this hard, and he did. C. Thomas Howell, of Soul Man fame, is fine. The movie gets a little more interesting when Jennifer Jason Leigh shows up as Nash. Her Texas accent sucks, but I don’t care.
The film boasts numerous visual spectacles, particularly for those who enjoy car stunts and chases. The cinematography and lighting are quite outstanding in places, effectively conveying moods that the movie otherwise struggles to articulate.
I’m open to more surreal interpretations of this film. I’m also open to the possibility that this may not be a very good movie. From what I’ve read, it would be easy to blame studio execs, who chopped this movie to bits to avoid making a straight horror movie.
It’s a bit gay, though!