Review of The Hitcher II: I've Been Waiting

Still severely traumatized by his near fatal run-in with deranged roving serial killer John Ryder, Jim Halsey (ably reprised by C. Thomas Howell) decides to surmount his demons by returning back to the lonely stretch of West Texas backroads where the initial agonizing ordeal occurred. Jim's gutsy and loving girlfriend Maggie (an engagingly feisty Kari Wuhrer) tags along for moral support. The pair encounter another shrewd psychotic hitchhiker named Jack (essayed with marvelously maniacal relish by Jake Busey), who naturally proceeds to put Jim and Maggie through absolute nerve-shredding bloody hell. This belated straight-to-video follow-up turns out to be a surprisingly solid, suspenseful and satisfying sequel: It's directed with style and gusto to burn by Louis Morneau (who previously scored with the superlative "Retroactive"), acted with comparable aplomb by the entire cast, with sumptuously adept, gliding, sinuous cinematography by George Mooradian, a bracingly swift rat-a-tat-tat pace that never drags for a second, a shivery, pile-driving score by Joe Kraemer, a considerable amount of gut-ripping tension, a sharply sardonic sense of humor, and a hair-raising lump-in-your-throat shoot-the-fireworks bravura action finale. A surefire winner that almost matches the sterling quality of the simply astonishing original, this honey's a whole lot better than expected and definitely worth checking out.