Paura nel buio

I love 70s movies and it shocks me that this was released in '89 as if looks and feels like a mid 70's movie. Its not a "horror" but more of a thriller about a young man who preys on woman hitchhikers in his dad's camper. Its cheesy and there's nothing new here but its entertaining if you go in not expecting much.

There's also a small amount of T&A sprinkled in if you're into that.

Tedious tale of a serial killer who picks up hitch-hikers, Daniela (Josie Bisset) is his current pray and Kevin (Jason Saucer) is her boyfriend trying to rescue her.It is written by Umberto Lenzi. The guy who made Cannibal Ferox & Eaten Alive should just stick to people who eat people movie, as this film plays out like a poor man's Toolbox Murders. Heh what am i saying?? Toolbox Murders was a poor man's Toolbox Murders. But I digress, the point is you'd probably do better just waiting for the upcoming remake of The Toolbox Murders by Tobe Hooper.

My Grade: D

Dvd Extras: Umberto Lenzi interview; theatrical trailer; trailers for Black Demons, and My Dear Killer

Eye Candy: Daniela (Josie Bisset) goes nude & a completely random wet T-shirt contest

Deranged mama's boy Joe Balogh prowls the Virginia Beach area in his Winnebago,picking up women whom he thinks might take the place of his dead mother,then killing them when they come up short.He kidnaps a slim blonde(Josie Bissette),because of her resemblance to his dead mother."Hitcher in the Dark" is a cheesy and predictable Umberto Lenzi's thriller that manages to be slightly entertaining.There are some total lapses in logic and there is absolutely no suspense.The climax is incredibly awful and the script is weak.The movie is poorly done in typical Lenzi fashion with lots of false suspense and a total lack of believability in both the performances.However if you are a rabid fan of Italian horror films you can give it a look.4 out of 10.

This movie has some things going for it. It features some really beautiful scenery of the American South. It features some really beautiful scenery of a young, lovely Josie Bisset. And it is not quite Umberto Lenzi's worst movie ever. It has a lot of problems though. First, the dialogue is terrible. (Maybe these ridiculous conversations would sound better if they were badly dubbed and delivered with Italian accents). Second, the acting is wretched. The aforementioned Bisset is even worse than she was on "Melrose Place". The only time her acting is halfway tolerable is the scene where she is being photographed naked and sexually assaulted, and that is only because she has been mercifully drugged unconscious. The killer is played by a Christopher Atkins look-alike who is not only just as bad as Bisset but woefully miscast to boot. A five-foot-tall, effeminate pretty boy wearing Vaurnet sun-glasses and driving around in a RV camper is just NOT scary.

The amazing thing though is director Umberto Lenzi who started out as a great director with classic Italian giallo like "Paranoia" in the late 60's, but seemed to get worse with each film. His infamous cannibal and zombie movies in the early 80's were awful but at least they elicited some reaction. This movie and its Florida-lensed follow-up "Nightmare Beach" don't even do that. At the rate he was going here, if Lenzi's still working at all he's probably making amateur porn videos and forgetting to take off the lens cap. I can certainly understand why Lenzi started using a cinematic pseudonym about this time, but why did he choose the name "Humbert Humphrey" recalling classic literature's most infamous pedophile?(Would that make Josie Bisset "Lolita")? What a strange, strange guy.

This film has to be viewed with this in mind first: it is ridiculous and not meant to be scary.

I like "Hitcher in the Dark" a lot. It's no award winner, but what do you want? It's a low budget, late-80's slasher/thriller with a good dose of comedy and sleaze thrown in for good measure. I doubt Lenzi was even trying to make it scary. The 'killer' is a preppy looking RV driver cruising the Virginia Beach coast on his daddy's dime. He picks up a girl and makes her life hell for a few days, and ends up paying for it in the end. Thrown in between is a cheesy plot, an angry boyfriend, lots of 80's beach people getting drunk and listening to horrible music, and some pretty nice looking chicks.

For the time it came out, it was a little ahead of it's time, too. Pretty much all the new thrillers are 'real life' terror rides like "Hitcher in the Dark." For what it is, "Hitcher in the Dark" is a lot cooler than any teen horror movie of today. And it's funny as hell!!!

5 out of 10, kids.