Anyone interested in mystery thrillers of the past can have a great time seeing how this one plays out.

What's distinctive about The Hitch-Hiker is the sensitivity it has for the trauma involved.

This film noir, directed by Ida Lupino (the first woman to direct a film of the genre), has a story with a promising start that, slowly, loses its intrigue. [Full review in Spanish]

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

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

A perilous and grim film noir entry.

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

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.

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

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

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

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.

This suspenseful film noir is superbly acted and sharply helmed by Ida Lupino, one of the few women directors in Hollywood of the 1950s.

Talman's performance as a sadistic sleaze was powerful.