Review of Hitcher 2, The: I`ve Been Waiting

Introduction

In the sequel to the Hitcher which starred Rutger Hauer as the demented hitchhiker of the title, The Hitcher 2 sees Jim Halsey (C. Thomas Howell) discharged from the police force after shooting dead a child kidnapper. While taking his girlfriend Maggie (Kari Wuhrer) on a trip to Texas to visit an old friend they pick up a hitchhiker (Jake Busey) on the way…you can pretty much see what`s coming pretty much a mile off cant you!

Video

Video quality is solid if nothing particularly startling, picture is clear throughout and perfectly acceptable. Camerawork itself varies, lots of "atmospheric" shots of the clouds going overhead, slow motion sequences, etc, most of which is pretty pointless but the director seems to like them.

Audio

Again a fairly standard affair with nothing to shout about really, the lack of big movie budget is all too apparent and instead this has fairly run of the mill quality sound. That may sound harsher than I intend as the quality is still quite good but as I said it`s just nothing above that.

Features

None at all, not even a trailer…unless you count subtitles and scene selection screens etc as menu`s but generally speaking I tend not to nowadays!

Conclusion

The fact that this was a straight to video sequel shows, the acting is lacking (Jake Busey is no Rutger Hauer), there are plot holes galore and all the usual suspects. Even the delightful Kari Wuhrer can`t lift this above mediocrity unfortunately and despite some nice plot twists it never quite manages to grip you, the ending is particularly unsatisfying but I won`t "spoil" it for you. Definitely straight to the rental pile for a dull weekend if there`s not much else to watch though you`d be much better off with the original.