What if Mad Max was the bad guy?

Rutger Hauer excels in his portrayal of this mysterious, ruthless and sadistic psycho-killing machine that will truly scare you to death, bringing to the extreme the usual stereotype of “do not pick-up any hitch-hikers”. Unfortunately, Mr. Hauer is not present throughout the film, although even when he is not physically present you can actually feel him psychologically, but even if that is the case you really feel his absence as the rest of the cast cannot hold a candle to his performance.

This aspect in the end obviously hurts the story itself, the slight romantic elements thrown in there between C. Thomas Howell and Jennifer Jason Leigh (who play the tormented Jim Halsey and Nash respectively) is totally unnecessary and can be simply perceived as an excuse to advance a bit the story and drama in the third act, and also you feel like many of the scenes with Hauer are a bit too short (especially the first encounter between himself and Thomas Howell, which having built up incredible tension abruptly ends too quickly).

Said that, the actual action and violence surrounding the film is splendid. Its mix between gory and explicit imagery and more subtle and suggestive ones give a great balance to the amount of literal violence that you see on screen, making it more poignant when it is actually visible. That along tremendous car chases and accidents, evoking influences from movies such as the aforementioned Mad Max or Spielberg’s Duel, in these deserted cross-country American roads make the film extremely exciting while keeping its roughness and grittiness completely intact.

On the other hand, one of the other elements that do not help the film either is the score. Sadly, yes, we are in the 80’s and this is completely felt through the overused synthesised styled soundtrack that does not feel at all in line with the mood, atmosphere, and tone of the film.

In conclusion, a rough, tough, and unsettling movie which, although having some flaws, thanks to the tremendous performance from Hauer as this sort of road devil and gripping action scenes we get to spend a quite exciting and entertaining time while watching it.