The Hitch-Hiker

Ida Lupino was one of only two women to develop a significant filmmaking career in classical Hollywood. Here, she co-writes and directs what is arguably the first woman-directed horror film. The Hitch-Hiker is often classified as film noir, but it has striking horror elements. Essentially a three-hander road movie, two men pick up a hitchhiker in the desert, who turns out to be a serial killer, sadistic and shrewd. The killer’s determination to outrun the police offers almost unbearable tension, while his enjoyment at psychologically torturing his companions creates a perpetual undercurrent of dread and anxiety. With a different score, no-one would consider this as anything but smart, stripped-back, and suspenseful horror.