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This is a rare film nowadays, and something of a hidden gem. Yes, it is that Eric Red who wrote and directed this picture. Many of his trademarks are here - an innocent boy who gets abducted by a bunch of brutal yet somehow attractive murderous outsiders; a dark, noirish feel throughout the film; and of course, it's a road movie. The film opens with a devastating scene that still has the power to disturb and becomes a roller coaster ride into the nightmarish world of two hit men who kidnap a child witness to a mob murder. Roy Schieder is excellent as the the ice-cold Cohen. But what really elevates this film into myth is the war of wills between Cohen, Tate and the little boy who does his best to drive a wedge between them. If you ever get a chance to watch this undiscovered masterpiece, don't miss it!

Call me a nostalgia buff, but for me this is one of the most seminal science fiction films of the period, along with (and strangely enough also featuring Charlton Heston) Soylent Green and Planet of the Apes. The pessimistic storyline can be attributed to writer Richard Matheson. Based upon 'I Am Legend' (earlier filmed with Vincent Price) the novels tells the story of the last man on the planet besieged by vampires. Here, the vampires have been updated to mutants, a product of biological warfare. A cracking musical score and uncompromising visuals set this film apart from the crowd. Heston commands the screen as the uncompromising remainder of the 'old order'. The mutants are clearly a metaphor for rising urban violence. And the sense of a city killed by plague is eerily brought to life by the straightforward direction. This film is bursting with atmosphere and like other Heston films, transcends the genre to become almost symbolic. In short, it's a real classic from the 1970s that is all too often overlooked.

This classic film noir thriller borrows a lot from urban legend and movie-going history but still manages to stir up a lot of surprises and shocks along the way. Rutger Hauer is in masterful form as the psychotic hitch-hiker of the title. Creepy and convincing, he makes the unimaginably evil hitcher frighteningly realistic. We can only guess at his motivations as he pursues hapless C Thomas Howell across the American highway. Eric Red wrote this before going on to the equally frightening horror road-movies, 'Near Dark' and 'Cohen and Tate'. Like Spielberg's 'Dual' the tension comes from not knowing what the evil pursuing us truly is. A real , road-movie from hell'.