The Hitcher by Paul Bullock

Nothing strikes fear into the heart of filmgoers quite like the words 'produced by Michael Bay'. Having already wrecked The Texas Chain Saw Massacre by setting in motion 2003's glossy, Jessica Biel-starring remake, the Transformers director has now set his sights on stalker flick The Hitcher. However, far from suffering from the massacre that was inflicted upon Tobe Hooper's 1974 classic, The Hitcher 07 is an enjoyable if undemanding Friday night chiller.

What it's not, however, is a worthy successor to the original. Directed by virtual one-film-wonder Robert Harmon, the 1986 film remains a unique classic of the genre. Ostensibly a run-of-the-mill slasher, it starred the solitary figure of C Thomas Howell as a young man relentless pursued across the American desert by the never-more maniacal Rutger Hauer (who's role here goes to Sean Bean). This 2007 reboot retains this simple premise, but makes one major change by having our male hero (Zachary Knighton) pair up with a girlfriend figure in the shape of Sophia Bush.

A small change though it may be, this decision, made by new writers Jake Wade Wall and Eric Bernt, renders the film a very simple modern slasher flick in which our attractive and scantily clad heroes must avoid the perils of the hitcher while pouting and preening a lot. Director Dave Myers, possibly by choice but more likely out of ineptitude, plays along with this idea, sacrificing the original's lyrical nightmarish quality for a flat and at times flat-out boring stalk-and-slash formula, that comes complete with the modern genre's usual trappings of pop-music filled soundtracks and grimy pseudo-realistic cinematography.

Thankfully, Myers rarely slips into the other big problem of many a modern horror film: cheap shocks. Rather than attempting to scare the audience every five minutes just to check if they're still awake as the risible and bafflingly popular 28 Weeks Later did, Myers takes his time to build tension. He takes advantage of the empty roads and vast expanses of the American wasteland to create an effective and unsettlingly oppressive atmosphere which, at its best, evokes that of Wes Craven's The Hills Have Eyes.

Bush makes an impressive move from TV's One Tree Hill to the big screen with a commanding final girl performance (although, true to the genre, the camera is far too obsessed with her body for the audience to take her entirely seriously), while Knighton and Bean offer reliably good support. You won't remember a second once you've left the cinema, but while it lasts, The Hitcher 2007 is an entertaining thrill ride that provides the dumb but fun thrills that will hopefully be found in Bay's forthcoming Transformers.