The Hitcher remake

[Hunter Rider]

Michael Bay’s quest to remake every horror film of the last 30 years continues this week with the news that his production company, Platinum Dunes, has bought the remake rights to the 1986 cult classic The Hitcher. Clearly The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy is merely the start of a trend – expect more and more films about people standing by the side of the road / planet with their thumbs stuck out.

This latest remake follows on from its back-to-back successes with new versions of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and The Amityville Horror. Both those films made back their budget in the opening weekends, which has clearly encouraged Bay and his producing partners Andrew Form and Brad Fuller to keep feeding audiences’ seemingly insatiable demand for horror remakes. Which brings us back to The Hitcher, one of Rutger Hauer’s finest moments (behind Blade Runner but ahead of the Guinness ads) and the most effective public safety, anti-hitchhiking advert ever.

The story followed a young man called Tim (played by C. Thomas Howell in the original film), transporting a car to another state. He picks up a murderous hitchhiker (Hauer), who frames Tim for the murders he commits along the highway. Which just shows you, kids: never pick up a hitcher without first asking for references and performing a criminal records check. You might also want to consider using a portable lie detector before allowing creepy strangers into your car.

The producers are looking for a writer now, but are planning some changes to the original film’s format. Bay has suggested that they may add some “twists and turns” to the original’s fairly linear plot (well, driving in a straight line can become dull) and may even make the hero a heroine. It’d be more interesting if they made the villain a villainine for our money, but that might be a truck stop too far. Expect this some time next year – the makers are producing the Texas Chainsaw Massacre prequel first.

 

[Morg]

dammit! Leave that one alone, I love the classic one and the new one probably sucks

 

[Hunter Rider]

dammit! Leave that one alone, I love the classic one and the new one probably sucks

yeah i agree and although the expansion of the plot isnt a terrible idea changing the lead charcaters sex is silly and cliche

 

[KenK]

yeah i agree and although the expansion of the plot isnt a terrible idea changing the lead charcaters sex is silly and cliche

If the main character is changed to female, the killer would have to be too. A lot of the interaction between Tim and the killer was reliant on the fact that they were the same gender. I can't see a woman having the same dynamic with a male killer.

 

[AVEITWITHJAMON]

They better not make it crap, the Hitcher was ansd still is a good movie

 

[terry78]

Now if they make the killer a female and leave the hero a male, that would be very interesting, as unorthodox as it would be.

 

[Lord Blackbolt]

Wait....the hero in Hitcher 2 was female. So actually ..... It's not that big of a twist.


But then again....Hitcher 2 did suck. So I'd rather they keep it a guy.

 

[terry78]

Tobey Maguire as the hero, Courtney Love as the Hitcher. Tell me you wouldn't watch that.

 

[Chomp]

I HATE Michael Bay. Just because everyone has more talent than the man, doesn't mean he can go back and remake previous movies to make his crapfests look halfway decent.

Micahel Bay's motto: If it isn't broken, break it!

 

[Motown Marvel]

f**king michael bay.

 

[The Squirrel]

and may even make the hero a heroine.

why must horror movies always have the girls be the 'save the day' heros.

I'm not being sexist or anything, but it's getting kind of old. Especially if this is a remake.

 

[Wolfwood]

Yah the whole "girl is the only one left to stop the killer" idea got old after Scream, at least for me it did. I want to see a guy actually do something in a horror movie, not get knocked out from behind in a cheap way, only to have his girlfriend save him.

 

[terry78]

The woman is always the heroine in these flicks because it's some kind of empowerment cliche they like to put in horror and suspense. A dude vs. another dude seems pretty anti-climatic, but a female pitted against a deranged male seems to tip the scales apparantly. Boogeyman is the latest horror movie I've seen where the hero is male...not that it was all that good.

 

[Hunter Rider]

http://www.aint-it-cool-news.com/display.cgi?id=20822
Dr Doom going hitchhiking in THE HITCHER?


Hey folks, Harry here... It'd be real easy to be mean and unfair to Julian McMahon based on his Dr Doom, but ultimately... as much as I didn't enjoy that performance of his - I blame him least in its creation. Could Julian have played Victor better had the part been written better... giving him more character to work with? Well, McMahon has a lot of fans from NIP/TUCK and given I haven't watched that show, I'm not gonna begin to refute their appreciation, as I'm ill informed. Having said that, at this point - it's kinda hard for me to imagine him being nearly as delicious in the role of THE HITCHER as Rutger Hauer was. I mean, c'mon... Rutger was one ****ed up icky as **** on your forehead on a summer day in that film. Then again... I friggin love the original THE HITCHER. It isn't a sacred cow, and thus far I have definitely enjoyed the Platinum Dunes remakes, though I have to admit... I'm very curious to see them do something original in the genre. Hopefully, all in good time, eh? Them casting Jordana Brewster in TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE the prequel is interesting. I absolutely love Jordana, she was such a sweetheart when she shot THE FACULTY. Anyway... Total Film is reporting that Julian McMahon is attached as the title character in THE HITCHER remake... thanks goes to Loafroaster for the heads up!

 

[Hunter Rider]

http://movies.msn.com/movies/movie.aspx?m=2070780

Trailer

 

[The Dark Defender]

As flawed as it is, the TCM remake is still a good movie, Amityville was flat out horrible.

The trailer looks pretty intense and with Bean as the Hitcher I have faith in it.

 

[Hunter Rider]

I loved the original and saw no need for a remake but the trailer is badass and Bean looks fantastic as the Hitcher

 

[ToddIsDead]

All that trailer does is make me want to watch the original. I do like what little we got to see of Bean though.

 

[Tempest19]

I was skeptical at first. But, then the trailer through several cues out to fans of the original right when the line comes- "just say four little words... I... want... to ...die" and then we see shots of the huge police chase!!!

This might actually turn out to be good!

 

[Duende Verde]

I love the original.
This one could be good, but the trailer looks exactly like all the others from the same production company.

 

[ToddIsDead]

the trailer looks exactly like all the others from the same production company.

Exactly how I felt about it.

 

[Duende Verde]

For a moment I thought Leatherface was the Hitcher...t:

 

[livrule]

Sean Bean is hell of an actor ... because of him alone this has a chance.

Recently rewatched LOR : FOTR and he more than holds his own alongside some serious talent.

 

[zanos]

Anyone read Roger Ebert's hilarious review of the original film? Here's the end of the review. He sounds more like a crazed fanboy than a movie critic.

"The Hitcher" grants the Hauer character almost supernatural powers. Although that makes the movie impossible to accept on a realistic level, it didn't bother me. I could see that the film was meant as an allegory, not a documentary.

But on its own terms, this movie is diseased and corrupt. I would have admired it more if it had found the courage to acknowledge the real relationship it was portraying between Howell and Rutger, but no: It prefers to disguise itself as a violent thriller, and on that level it is reprehensible.

 

[Jennifer Walters]

This looks bad, awfully bad, even Sean Bean looks bad.

He had none of the intensity or creepyness that Rutger had in the original in that trailer.