Sameer Callahan It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.

Jonah Abbott There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

Mandeep Tyson The acting in this movie is really good.

Deanna There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

Martin Bradley At the risk of sound sexist you would never guess that "The Hitch-Hiker" was directed by anyone other than the toughest of hombres. In fact, this male-dominated thriller about a hitch-hiking psychopath, (William Talman), who takes two fishermen hostage, (Edmond O'Brien and Frank Lovejoy), was directed by none other than Ida Lupino but then Lupino was no ordinary 'woman director'. At a time when the industry, particularly in Hollywood, was dominated by men Lupino fought the powers that be in order to make the kind of films she wanted. "The Hitch-Hiker" was very much a personal project made on the slimmest of budgets. She and producer Collier Young wrote the film and she shot it entirely on location in California, (standing in for Mexico), and it tells its suspenseful story in just 71 minutes. The premiss is simplicity itself and Lupino uses the desert locations superbly to build tension. If at times Talman's madman seems a little over the top the underplaying of both O'Brien and Lovejoy nicely balances things out. A small classic.

Rainey Dawn A really good, dramatic, suspenseful crime-thriller. In a way, this film is comparable to the 1963 film The Sadist with a sadistic madman with a gun holding others hostage until he is finished dealing with them. But I have to say that both films are completely different from one another.The Hitch-Hiker deals with a violent escaped convict that hitches a ride with two fisherman heading on their trip. Naturally he holds them hostage at gun point and taunts the two men and ends up forcing them to drive into Mexico. The police are after the escapee and has word in Mexico this man is dangerous and most likely armed. This is one long trip the two men will not forget for a very long time.8.5/10

sol- Two fishing buddies unwittingly give a lift to a serial killer who forces them to drive across the border at gunpoint in this compact thriller directed by Ida Lupino. A former film noir star, Lupino brings several interesting directing touches to the film such as the initial obscuring of the hitchhiker's face until he produces his gun, but it is William Talman's unhinged performance as the hitcher that really makes the film. He has a creepy calmness to him as he holds the two men hostage like something that he has done millions of times before, and his face more than his gun oozes menace. Edmond O'Brien and Frank Lovejoy are, on the other hand, dull as his two victims; the film momentarily brings up something about them lying to their wives about their trip, but the most part, their function in the script is simply to (unsuccessfully) attempt to escape and evade again and again. The film grows a tad repetitive as it goes on, and with constant cutaways to the US and Mexican police investigating the matter, it never really maintains any tension that it builds. The film is also a less thrilling experience since we constantly know that the police are on top of things and have a plan of what to do, and the despair of the fishing buddies never really resonates since the movie provides a strong sense that everything will work out. Still, the film is certainly worth a look for Talman's performance. His big screen career was curiously short, spending most of his years in television; one can only wonder what may have been had 'The Hitch-Hiker' been more widely seen in its day.

Theo Robertson I'm reminded of an early episode of TALES OF THE UNEXPECTED where each episode was introduced by Roald Dahl where he recounted a time when he gave a lift to a couple of young men with long hair . One of them pulled out a knife held it to Dahl's throat and told him to get out the car . Dahl complied and the men drove off in his car . He explained after that incident he never stopped to give lifts to young men with long hair and that it inspired him to write his 1977 short story The Hitch Hiker . You have to wonder how much embellishment there is to the story because if Dahl had seen this relatively unknown movie it'd be a warning to anyone picking up hitch hikers This has a simple premise of a raving psycho hitching a life from a couple of hard working regular guys and deciding to kill them when their usefulness is over . That's it , not deep psychological character exploration is meant and the characters and performances are decidedly one note , the psycho played by William Talman is a violent psychopath because the story needs a villain and Roy and Gilbert played be respectively Edmund O'Brien and Frank Lovejoy are likable guys because the film needs a victim THE HITCH HIKER is a melodramatic thriller . You can guarantee at every dramatic moment there will be a blast of very menacing music . It's a relatively low budget film and yet none of these things are in any way a criticism . What it does it does very well . There's not a lot of ambition but this is not needed or wanted in a very tight screenplay . There's a small element of having seen it all before but it's a fairly enjoyable crime thriller that deserves to be better known