Welcome to one of the main features of 'Castle Dracula,' the movie reviews section.
The reviews placed here are from all around the world, from the USA to the UK Japan
and everything inbetween. The formats reviewed are video and DVD. I have included the
origin of the film reviewed so you can check your player for compatibility. You may
also notice that there are some DVD-R reviews. These are not 'bootlegs' or 'copies'
but official screeners that I have been sent containing an as yet unreleased film to 
review. All the reviews here have been reviewed either by myself or my current movie 
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New reviews are normally placed here once a week, check my front page for under 'Castle
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- The Hitcher - US DVD -  

What would your initial feeling be toward a movie with the following components?  
Long stretches of barren desert highway. A young man driving across country all alone. 
A callus killer on the loose. Sounds like this movie might be worth watching, right?
"The Hitcher" takes place in the isolation of the Texas desert. 'Jim Halsey' (C. Thomas
Howell) is driving a car across the country. Being a good Samaritan, he picks up a 
hitch hiker. Quickly he realizes his mistake. 'John Ryder' (Rutger Hauer) is the wrong
person to allow into your vehicle under any circumstances. He is a deranged murderer. 
"The Hitcher" might sound good on paper, but that is about it. This movie has no chance
almost from the start. The plot is extremely senseless. It is nothing more than an 
improbable cat and mouse chase. I often got the feeling that I was watching a 1970s-era 
made for television movie rather then a theatrical release. Director Robert Harmon uses 
explosions, car chases, and gun fights to try and cover the many flaws in Eric Red's 
script. It does not work. The major characters are just too shallow. For the most part, 
I really did not care who got killed. To me, that is a major shortcoming. If the audience 
does not care for the good guys that takes something away from the role of the bad guy. 
The killer 'John Ryder' seemed like he might have a lot to offer. Due to the insignificantly
developed characters of 'Halsey' and 'Nash,' the film did not know exactly how to handle 
'Ryder.' Director Harmon tried to put suspense into the film. The initial scenes of the 
movie did give me the impression that there might be a good deal of tension in the film.
Unfortunately, what suspense was included was not even close to what was needed to give 
this film a good boost. As a last ditched effort the movie tried to turn into a love story. 
That did not work either as the two potential young lovers never had the chemistry to make
it work. Even the gore in the film is useless. It serves no point at all. Toward the last 
portion of the film I started to get a feeling that there might be a connection between 
'Jim Halsey' and the 'hitcher.' Somehow either the script missed this, or the director 
changed what was in the screenplay. Most of the acting is substandard. C. Thomas Howell 
acted too hard to be scared. It made his performance unbelievable. Jennifer Jason Leigh put
little effort into her role of 'Nash.' The bright spot in the movie is the job done by 
Rutger Hauer. He gave some interesting life to the murderous hitch hiker. His facial 
expressions and sinister grin made his character easily the best in the film. If nothing 
else, his performance is worth watching. Only a few extras are included. These are cast/crew
bios and a theatrical trailer. If you are looking for something mindless to watch late at 
night, this movie might be an okay choice. Other then that, do not bother.

Reviewed By Scal Williams

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