Metascore
28 out of 100

Generally unfavorable - based on 16 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 0 out of 16
  2. Negative: 11 out of 16
  1. 50
    The Hitcher is the Jessica Simpson of psycho killer flicks - cheerfully in touch with its own brainlessness.
  2. Reviewed by: Stephen Saito
    50
    The Hitcher's main problem is that many of the title character's dirty deeds are done off-camera. Instead of seeing Ryder trap his victims before he kills them, the audience is treated to plenty of butchered corpses that seem to magically appear after Ryder leaves a room.
  3. Reviewed by: Jason Anderson
    50
    The young couple is far less compelling, which is one reason why the remake is only intermittently effective. Bland and dim-witted, it's hard to see why they'd attract Ryder's wrath.
  4. A remake of the 1986 suspense ''classic,'' is as processed and hoot-worthy as the original.
  5. 42
    Somehow, music-video veteran David Meyers fails to hurtle this project into the pantheon of great horror movies.
  6. 38
    Bean carves out his own modest variations on the theme of John Ryder-on-the-storm, but Bush and Knighton are so blandly forgettable that it's hard to believe that they're the protagonists and not Victims 1 and 2.
  7. 38
    This is a mechanical gore-fest that offers preposterous stunts in place of escalating tension and waxwork mannequins in place of marginally interesting characters.
  8. 30
    Reviewing it is a wholly meaningless exercise, but I do it against my better judgment that anyone even seeks a second opinion before plopping down their hard-earned money for garbage like this.
  9. Reviewed by: Jim Ridley
    30
    That leaves little to fill 83 expendable minutes, which barely register as a movie even with snazzy KNB gore effects, critic-baiting clips from "The Birds," a splattery variation on the '86 "Hitcher's" most notorious scene, and some out-of-place Bruckheimerisms on loan from producer Michael Bay.
  10. Reviewed by: Mark Olsen
    30
    The original film was intellectually engaging as well as tangibly creepy, while the new remake is just plain bad, and boring to boot.
  11. Reviewed by: Matt Zoller Seitz
    30
    The movie genuflects toward pop depth in a scene where Grace sprawls on a motel bed watching Alfred Hitchcock's "Birds," another thriller about implacable, undefined evil, but there's a difference between refusing to give viewers the answers and having nothing to say. For all its death-metal vigor, The Hitcher falls into the latter camp.
  12. Any good will built up during the decent first half hour is quickly vaporized.
  13. Reviewed by: Ty Burr
    25
    If you boil off dialogue, performance, narrative logic and grind a movie down to the nub of genre, will there be any suspense left? The answer is yes, but only in a Pavlovian sense. You react to this dull shockathon like a wired lab rat who's seen it all before. And guess what? You have.
  14. While the 1986 edition was no classic, it's light years better than this update, which naturally opened without being screened for those ultimate villains, the critics.
  15. Reviewed by: Ronnie Scheib
    20
    In the absence of actors with the tremendous presence of Rutger Hauer and Jennifer Jason Leigh, picture loses its raison d'etre. Yet, directed by video helmer Dave Meyers with a certain fastidious distance from its plentiful gore, picture is also insufficiently over-the-top or corny to incite gleeful audience feedback.
  16. 11
    The first film was near-mythic in its tone and treatment of its characters, while this remake barely serves as a primer in how not to generate suspense.
User Score

Mixed or average reviews- based on 59 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 13 out of 22
  2. Negative: 7 out of 22
  1. DanT
    2
    Mindless violence justified only by poor characterization. The Hitcher offers predictable 'thrills' and a shallow plot that seems to perpetuate itself for the sake of attempting to fill the void between the film's beginning and a divergent conclusion, the only possible end to such a spiraling sequence of events masquerading as a plot. Full Review »
  2. 6
    Passable horror that has some good moments but unfortunately falls into the category of "what are they playing at" and instead of just taking a hint, turning around and heading home the road trip continues and subsequent mayhem ensues. Full Review »
  3. This movie could have been a lot better if there weren't so many what in the hell moments. I understand that it's a movie and I need to suspend my disbelief but some of it was just to much. The soundtrack also didn't fit in a couple spots either. One thing that deserves credit is the acting was actually pretty good. Usually horror movies are not packed with actors that make you go wow, but this one was actually very respectable. Overall the movie isn't anything great but it a lot better then some. http://moviegrabbag.blogspot.com/ Full Review »