Music video director Dave Meyers’ debut film is an updated version of the 1986 shocker of the same name, featuring Sean Bean (The Lord Of The Rings trilogy) in the title role of a chillingly sadistic hitchhiker. Twenty-something couple Grace (a mini-skirted Sophia Bush from One Tree Hill) and Jim (Zachary Knighton) embark on a road trip across the American Southwest to meet up with Grace’s friends on vacation. Things get off to a bad start when they almost run over a hitchhiker in the middle of a rainstorm, and then leave him to fend for himself. When they later run into the man who calls himself John Ryder (Bean), at a gas station, their consciences get the best of them, and they agree to give him a ride to the next town. The couple’s passenger quickly turns on his hosts, and although they manage to escape, he follows them and makes their lives a living hell. Soon, Grace and Jim find themselves framed for John Ryder’s vicious crimes, and they are on the run from both the authorities and the Hitcher, of whose existence no one but they are aware. As their flight gets increasingly desperate and the Hitcher’s methods of torture more brutal, Grace and Jim struggle desperately to discern what the man wants, and why he has chosen them. The film benefits from its beautiful, desolate desert setting, as it highlights the solitude and desperation of the couple’s situation. Despite a few problems of plausibility and the frequent foolishness of the protagonists—of which horror fans are well-accustomed—The Hitcher delivers fright in all the right places, as well as beautiful women and plenty of gore.

Coming off the success of 2006’s Rocky Balboa, action star Sylvester Stallone revisits yet another of his iconic characters from the 1980s, John Rambo. Now living like a hermit and wrangling rattlesnakes in Thailand, Rambo is drawn back into the action by a group of do-gooder missionaries who want the taciturn, possibly psychotic, Vietnam vet to ferry them upriver into Burma. Though he initially proves reluctant—”Burma’s a warzone”—Sarah, played by Julie Benz, convinces Rambo of their noble intentions. Doesn’t he want to relieve suffering and stop ethnic cleansing? But when the group of idealists gets captured by the Burmese army, it’s up to Rambo and a team of multinational mercenaries to save the day. What follows is an exhilarating, hypnotic explosion of violence as Rambo fights genocide with genocide, turning men into hamburger meat with high-powered machine guns, well-placed bombs, razor-sharp machetes, and, the most deadly weapon of all, his bare hands. Rather than trying to update the character, Rambo succeeds largely by returning to the Reagan-era values that made its hero so great in the first place: his pathological obsession with laying waste to emphatically evil characters in increasingly grotesque ways. Indeed, the film’s action sequences recall the opening of Saving Private Ryan, as bodies turn to reddish slush, entrails pour forth with abandon, and limbs are severed with bewildering frequency. Stallone (who also wrote and directed) perfectly embodies his role, a muscular, mumbling killing machine that recalls, in all the best of ways, Karloff’s Frankenstein monster. While some may take issue with Rambo's brutal onscreen violence, the film has an undeniably cathartic impact that has less to do with realistic storytelling, and more to do with the power of myth.

The Eye adapts the influential 2002 Hong Kong ghost tale by the Pang brothers into a star vehicle for Jessica Alba. While it remains faithful to the original story, this version ups the number of jolts for thrill-seeking Western audiences. Writing/directing team David Moreau and Xavier Palud, creators of the popular 2006 French thriller Them, make their U.S. debut with a screenplay by Sebastian Gutierrez (Snakes On A Plane), putting a few new twists on a cult favorite. Concert violinist Sydney Wells (Alba) has been blind since she was five, when an accident involving firecrackers damaged her corneas. Now in her mid-20s, she has just undergone a transplant, a risky procedure that is not always successful. When the bandages come off, her sight slowly returns, and everything she sees is a new experience. A happy occasion becomes terrifying, though, when she begins to see horrifying visions of the dead. Fearing that she’s losing her sanity, she enlists the help of Dr. Paul Faulkner (Alessandro Nivola), who uncovers the identity of the donor of her new corneas and travels with her to Mexico to unravel the mystery of her horrific visions. Spare and effective, The Eye retains the two most startling sequences from the original film—a truly chilling floating dead man in an elevator and an elaborate, explosive set piece at the conclusion. Moreau, Palud, and Gutierrez jazz the story up in other spots, with quick scares, sharp music cues, and twitchy apparitions reminiscent of those in Jacob’s Ladder, but the essence remains the same. Alba is fine as damsel in distress Sydney, and the always-enjoyable Parker Posey is uncharacteristically low-key as her airline hostess sister. With no gore or anything else objectionable, the film may also be good choice for younger viewers who enjoy a good scare.