The Hitcher II: I've Been Waiting

Like most others who have seen this movie, I also grew up with watching the first "The Hitcher" movie. Even though it was far from a masterpiece, it has still grown a bit into a classic over the years, mainly due to Rutger Hauer's impressive and scary performance. This movie doesn't have Rutger Hauer in it, so I wasn't expecting a better movie and expected the worst. But why compare this movie to the original in the first place? You should take the movie just for what it is, a straight-to-video thriller. And for what it is, a straight-to-video thriller, it's a pretty good movie. It's professionally made, with good camera-work and editing and some fairly good performances by the cast.

The movie might not be that scary but it does have a few surprises in it. It does have some returning element from "The Hitcher" in this movie but it does it in an original way. Fans of the first movie should be pleased by some of the subtle and not so subtle homage to the first movie and not be offended or angry about it. It also does have more than enough original moments in it and the movie is mostly unpredictable, in terms of who dies and who will survive in the end.

Even though the budget of the movie was probably low, it doesn't really show on screen. There are some spectacular moments, with gunfire and explosions and also the visual look of the movie is good. The cinematography is nice and the movie is told with a pleasantly fast pace and with some nimble editing.

The performance are fairly good. It's sort of fun to see C. Thomas Howell reprising his role but was it really necessary? Real main part of the movie is being played by Kari Wuhrer, who has appeared in quite a few B-movies over the years. She is good enough as the new main character of the movie. This time the hitcher is being played by Jake Busey. Leave it up to the Busey's to play a convincing and scary looking psychopathic villain. Of course he is no Hauer but he pulls it of pretty well and is more than good enough in his role.

Of course the story does have its flaws and improbabilities but when you watch a movie like this, you know you shouldn't expect to much from its story.

Especially when you've seen more straight-to-video and TV thrillers, you have to admit that this movie is a good one or at least an above average one, that has a professional look.

6/10

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For all the people saying how bad this film was, all I can say is what the hell were you expecting?!!

A $50 million blowout tour de force that keeps you on the edge with its endless visual fx shots?!!

No, this movie I think is a pretty good sequel to a film made long ago and people give too much credit to only because they were probably teenagers when they saw it and far too forgiving for all of its flaws.

This is a low budget film which was done extremely well - I would rather watch this any day of the week than Matrix 3 or Kill Bill v.2 where after awhile you get really bored.

The detective Jim Halsey (C.Thomas Howell) is fired from the police force after a daring rescue of an abducted child, when he shot and killed the kidnapper. He is advised to look for psychological assistance, but he decides to travel with his girlfriend Maggie (Kari Wuhrer) to visit Capt. Esteridge (Stephen Hair), his old friend who believed and supported him some years ago after a traumatic experience. While traveling, Maggie decides to give a lift to Jack (Jake Busey), a weird man on the road, under the strong protest of Jim. Jack is indeed an evil psychopath, who decides to chase the couple, killing everybody around them. This movie is horrible, being a ridiculous sequel (or remake?) of a classic, but full of clichés and totally predictable! The promosing first five minutes cheats the viewer and are excellent, having a great plot point in the very beginning of the story. However, the rest of the story has a totally absurd screenplay, and none of the situations are resolved. The participation of C. Thomas Howell, a C-class actor, is minimum, basically to give his name to the credits, and his character is one of the unluckiest I have ever seen. Further, the change of the lead actor to a lead actress is very problematic, since Maggie is the guilty for the whole situation and her character is hysterical, non-charismatic, has a horrible voice and does not convince as a heroin. I do not understand the reason for the sequel of an excellent thriller after nineteen years. The end of "The Hitcher II: I've Been Waiting" is one of the worst I have ever seen. My vote is three.

Title (Brazil): "A Morte Pede Carona 2" ("The Death Hichhikes 2")

Jake Busey is pretty OK in this,verging on worthwhile for the genre.

Starts out with a stalled plane on the highway...and the guy needs alittle help to get it going...yep that happens all the time.

The story is one of revenge but never fully explained.The situations are pretty far fetched and the gore and violence reasonable realistic(special effects).

I never really felt for any of the characters nor got involved in the movie,still the production values are good,and the editing fine,it just is not a very good movie.

I first saw this more than a decade ago on a dvd which I own. Revisited it recently. The start sequence of this one is done very well with solid suspense n good twist.

The original is a classic thriller in my opinion. Inspite of the lack of violence and Nash's death offscreen, the tension, suspense n performance made the original one of the best thriller.

This one cud have at least added the killer's backstory or motive. This one too boasts of some lovely sun soaked settings. It has an offscreen scalp removal scene but the tension is missing.