Penny Deerborn (Rachel Miner) doesn't like cars. I mean she really doesn't like cars. Through a series of flashbacks in the movies, we find that she was in a horrible wreck when she was younger that killed both of her parents (at least, they appear to be her parents). So her psychiatrist, Orianna Volkes (Mimi Rogers) is helping her through the process of conquering her fears.
Orianna has written at least one book on the subject (we see it several times as events of the night unfold), and she is helping young Penny to come full circle. To conquer her fears by confronting them. So they are taking a ride into the mountains. It appears that the mountains might be the place where the wreck happened, but that may or may not be important. What is important is that Penny simply doesn't like being in cars. She gets sick just riding along with the door shut.
In fact, she is so sick that they have to stop at a gas station, and it is there that Penny takes the opportunity to do a little self-medicating with some pills she has brought along to help. That eases her pain for a little while, and so she is doing well - until they hit a pothole, which jars her out of her nearly comatose state. Even then, she is doing better, and that is when Orianna realizes something is up and asks for the pills.
But it's when Orianna is distracted that she takes her eyes off of the road and hits a man standing partially in the road, and that's when the fun begins. Fun is something of an operative term, you understand.
The man is wearing a heavy winter coat that shields his face from us, and Orianna says that he talks in a whisper. That may be because he's really cold. You'll recall that they are in - or headed toward - the mountains. And because she just hit him with her car, she suggests that they give him a lift up the mountain a short ways.
She also offers him an apple that's in the back, but he declines, instead unwrapping what appears to be a shish-kabob. And that's about the only complaint that I have about the movie - the shots that take place at night (which make up a good part of the movie) are often so dark that it's hard to see what is in the shot. I'm not watching on a small set, either. We're talking 42 inches of widescreen here. So there should be plenty of real estate. But it's hard to see what's happening.
In any case, their new passenger isn't very talkative, but he does offer them a bite of the shish-kabob, and they politely decline. Perhaps they should have accepted. When they arrive at the destination, it appears that the camp is closed, but that's where he wants to go, so the drop him - what appears to be a couple of miles off the main road.
On their way back down, they hit a bump, and soon realize that they have a tire that's going flat. Partially aided by a skewer stuck in it. Either their passenger was miffed at them not taking the gift he offered or he was eating it so he could stick the skewer into the tire. Whatever the case, it's going flat, and they are still up on the mountain somewhere, so they better get back to the main road and fast.
Naturally, they don't make it. So some ways away from the drop-off point, but still quite a distance from the main road, the tire is completely shredded and utterly useless on the mountain road. Orianna decides to walk to see if she can get a cell phone signal, and leaves Penny in the car. Though it's pitch black, the readout on the car radio is about 6:30. My first inclination would have been 6:30am, but later events make me believe it was pm.
Specifically, Penny takes a short nap, and shortly after seven, she wakes and Orianna isn't back yet. Now she's getting worried. Since it isn't light, and they're in California (or we assume so, because of the plates), I'm imagining it would be light if it was morning, so it must be nighttime. Naturally, Penny starts walking. As she does, she finds a small cabin and a pay phone. But she is startled when she finds the cord cut, and then she stumbles to knock her head on a rock.
When she comes to, she finds herself back in the car, and Orianna is sitting next to her. But he video camera from the back is in her lap. She presses play, and she sees a horrifying site - she watches Orianna being stalked, and then murdered. And she realizes that Orianna is next to her, but she's not alive. Then she realizes that the car is stuck in between two large trees, and she can't get out. Even if she rolls down the windows there is not enough room to escape. It's going to be a long night.
The events of the night unfold, and it seems that the hitchhiker is interested in tormenting her. She can't break the windows, and when she tries to slide out the window feet-first, he actually rips one of her toes off, and then sings "this little piggy". Very cruel indeed.
Suddenly, a light pierces the darkness, and a man appears. He'd like to help, and he heard her blowing the horn while he and his girlfriend were nearby, but he tells her that she's so wedged in, he doesn't think that there is anything that he can do. He'll go get help and then come right back. Penny is so torn up by then that she convinces him to stay, and she's managed to find the keys to the car - they were wedged in Orianna's mouth, so they try and start the car and back up. But as the man pushes, he gets a spike in the foot and is dragged under the car. Looks like the hitchhiker hasn't left her alone after all.
As morning nears, an arm comes through the trunk, and Penny bites it, then fights her way past to get out the trunk, and lock him in the car. Then she takes off for the highway (how she knows which way it is, I'm not sure, but still, she seems to head in the right direction), and she passes out right at the edge of the road. Unfortunately, her tormentor has made it out, and followed her, and they are fighting in the road, as a truck comes by and runs into him. The driver of the truck gets out and helps Penny into the truck, then gets out to help the hitchhiker. It looks like things have come full circle, as the fingers of the hitchhiker start to move and the screen fades to black...
The Bottom Line: The suspense is actually quite good. There are a few leaps to make, but altogether not bad. It would also be better if the movie would get up and move a bit faster from time to time, but that's not always possible either. Still well worth a viewing, and quite a surprise from somewhere that it wasn't really expected.
Rated R for violence/terror, some sexuality and language.
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