The Hitch-hiker

The Hitch-hiker Reviews

Matt Brunson
Film Frenzy

September 28, 2019

Lupino's atmospheric direction and powerhouse performances make this worth catching.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4

Matthew Lucas
From the Front Row

August 7, 2019

A lean, mean, nasty piece of work that deserves to be rediscovered.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4

TV Guide

March 5, 2018

A perilous and grim film noir entry.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5

Top Critic

J. R. Jones
Chicago Reader

March 5, 2018

This hell-for-leather 1953 noir demonstrates Ida Lupino's facility with actors and flawless pacing.

Full Review

David Parkinson
Radio Times

March 5, 2018

Lupino draws a performance of crackling malevolence from William Talman, as the serial killer physically and mentally scarred by his abusive childhood. Equally authentic is the impotent terror of weekend fishermen Edmond O'Brien and Frank Lovejoy.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5

Christopher Long
Movie Metropolis

November 5, 2013

If they gave awards for holding a gun in every single scene of a film from start to finish, (William) Talman would have won.

Full Review | Original Score: 7/10

Mike D'Angelo
The Dissolve

October 22, 2013

There's no estrogen whatsoever in The Hitch-Hiker, as spare and muscular a picture as the 1950s ever produced.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5

Top Critic

A.H. Weiler
New York Times

October 31, 2006

Both Edmond O'Brien and Frank Lovejoy are experts as stalwart men gripped in a situation they never made.

Full Review

Top Critic

Geoff Andrew
Time Out

June 24, 2006

Taut, tough, and entirely without macho-glorification, it's a gem, with first-class performances from its three protagonists, deftly characterised without resort to clich.

Full Review