The original movie on which this independently filmed remake is based was something of an accident. Though it evidently lacked a well-made script or a decent budget and shooting schedule, the nightmarish mood that the 1946 original created propelled it to cult status, and it served as a model for several film movements, including nouvelle vague. The present version is something of an oddity, as it stars the son (Tom Neal, Jr.) of the ill-fated man who had the leading role in the original movie in the exact same role. The story of the remake deviates from the original in only one minor respect, but the magic which made the original movie compelling despite its flaws is reportedly missing in this one. In the story, a hitchhiker (Neal) accepts a ride with a man who keels over dead. Rather than chance being accused of his death, the rider takes over the man's clothes and identification and continues on with his journey after disposing of the body. When he picks up a woman rider, he is appalled to hear her say "What did you do with the body?" She was an earlier rider in the same car and knows him for an imposter. He falls prey to her blackmail scheme until something even more incredible happens, and the shifty hitchhiker seems to have landed in a nightmare world from which there is no escape.
by Clarke Fountain
synopsis
