Amazon.com video review:
Steven Spielberg's first feature film, 1971's Duel, is set on
a desert highway. It stars Dennis Weaver as a driver being pursued by a
menacing truck, which is following him with all the vengeance of the
ancient furies. In this spiritual update from 1984, C. Thomas Howell plays
a guy taking a drive-away car from Chicago to San Diego. On a whim, in the
rain, and against his better judgment, he picks up a hitchhiker (Rutger
Hauer). The hitcher quickly admits to being a murdering psychopath, and
once Howell finally gets him out of his car, he is pursued with all the
vengeance of the ancient furies. We're never sure if the hitcher is a
figment of his imagination, making Howell a schizophrenic killer, or if
he's real and Howell is the random victim of a wandering madman, which is
how his potential new girlfriend (Jennifer Jason Leigh) thinks of him.
Either way, The Hitcher is great fun, kinda scary, and teetering on
the brink of "must see." --Andy Spletzer
