"Hitcher in the Dark" review

Hitcher in the Dark (1989)
AKA Paura nel buio

Directed by Umberto Lenzi
Writing credits Olga Pehar

Joe Balogh .... Mark Glazer
Josie Bissett .... Daniela Foster
Jason Saucier .... Kevin

A psycho and his Winnebago. So a nut travels up and down the Virginia Beach coastline looking for hitchhikers. Seems lonely boy has a fixation on his mother. Don't they all? He wants to mold the hitchhikers into his hot, saintly mother's image. Lurid mind games follow.

This movie could have been good. The problem is the acting. Since most of the movie is spent having the psycho converse with his prey, it is imperative that the psycho be believable and, if at all possible, scary. He is none of that. In fact, he's awful. One of the worst acting performances ever. Since the camera is on him through most of the flick, he starts to wear you down with his lazy psycho routine. The hitchhiker he picks up, (Josie Bissett), was good. All of the other actors stunk. The music was also horrible. Late 80's synthesizer cheese.

On the plus side, the movie did have an authentic, grimy feel to it. The filmmakers knew the right deranged words to put in the psycho's mouth. He just couldn't deliver them convincingly. There are some good exploitation scenes in his camper. Here's the psycho party mix: A girl, chloroform and an instant camera. It makes for a happy psycho. I did enjoy the completely unnecessary wet T-shirt contest as well.

"Hitcher in the Dark" may just be sordid enough to warrant a viewing. I can't say that I loved every second of it but it does have its seedy moments.

SCORE: 1.5 out of 4 psychotic Winnebagos