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18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Didn't your parents warn you not to pick up hitchhikers?, 1 Dec 2003
Originally given a cinema release in the UK under the title 'Death Drive' in 1978, Hitch-Hike is a real gem of a foreign film that has received little attention over the years from the mainstream. Until recently the only people who were likely to have been searching out this film would be hardcore David Hess fans, but this anchor bay release deserves to find a much wider audience.The story begins with Franco Nero and Corrine Clery as a married couple on vacation. The couple seem to spend a great deal of time arguing, and given the time and place the film was made, we see a great deal of male chauvinism from Nero's character. Despite this it is hard not to warm to him at least to some extent. During the car journey back from the vacation the pair stop to pick up a hitchhiker, and have a row about whether picking up a hitchhiker is a good idea, and who should the hitchhiker turn out to be? David Hess! Now, most of us know what to expect from a David Hess character, the guy got so typecast after 'Last House On The Left', that we would probably be disappointed if he didn't play a vicious nutcase! Needless to say, the car journey afterwards becomes a great deal more lively... The rest of the film works extremely well as a tight and violent thriller with the characters playing off each other brilliantly so that our sympathies are shifted to and fro between them, and ultimately ending with a shocking twist that both pulls and repulses our sympathies leaving us with a powerful sense of moral ambiguity. One thing to remember is that this is an 18 rated film, and some of the scenes are particularly unpleasant, including rape. Whilst this does fit in with the plot, some viewers may wish to avoid the film because of it. The big draw for this DVD is the film, in Widescreen it looks pretty good considering the relatively low budget that the film was originally made for. The extras on the DVD are nice enough, but not world shatteringly good, but the film is a big enough draw that the lack of a huge bunch of extras does not really matter. Buy this film because it makes you think deeply, not just for the thrill of the violence. This is quality stuff and definitely deserves a place in your DVD collection.
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