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‘The Hitcher’: 1986 Horror Classic Being Restored for 4K Ultra HD and Blu-ray Release This Year!
Writer Eric Red had teased last year that 1986 classic The Hitcher was finally getting a Blu-ray release, and the release was subsequently confirmed by Second Sight Films. Second Sight, the company behind the recent 4K Ultra HD release of George Romero’s Dawn of the Dead, had unfortunately also revealed, however, that a 4K release would not be possible.
But that bad news has now changed, with Second Sight confirming this week that they’ve managed to track down the original camera negative, meaning a 4K release is now happening!
The UK company announced this morning, “We’ve tracked down the [original camera] negative!! We will be doing a full restoration for a 4K and Blu-ray release later this year!”
Second Sight is a UK company, so the Blu-ray release will likely be locked to Region B. As for the 4K release, those are inherently Region Free, so no worries there. Hallelujah!
Released in 1986, The Hitcher starred the late Rutger Hauer as a murderous hitchhiker and C. Thomas Howell as the young man who makes the mistake of picking him up. The film was written by Eric Red (Near Dark, Bad Moon), and directed by Robert Harmon.
Happy New Year everyone! And to kick of 2022 some very exciting news on THE HITCHER! We’ve tracked down the negative!! 😁 Thanks to Warner’s archive team for allowing us access, we will be doing a full restoration for 4K/Blu-ray release later this year. #TheHitcher pic.twitter.com/k0C9V9BMfp
— Second Sight (@SecondSightFilm) January 4, 2022
After scaring up a strong theatrical run, Oddity director Damian McCarthy’s Hokum heads home to Digital this week.
Settle in for a spooky supernatural chiller as Hokum arrives on all Digital platforms to rent or own beginning June 2, followed by a Blu-ray/4K Ultra HD Combo and DVD release on August 11, 2026.
Adam Scott (“Severance”) stars in Hokum as reclusive novelist Ohm Bauman. When he retreats to a remote Irish inn to scatter his parents’ ashes, the staff’s tales of an ancient witch haunting the honeymoon suite take hold of his mind. Disturbing visions and a shocking disappearance draw Ohm into a nightmarish confrontation with the darkest corners of his past.
Peter Coonan (“The Alienist: Angel of Darkness”), David Wilmot (“Station Eleven”), Florence Ordesh (“Departure”), Michael Patric (“Frontier”), Will O’Connell (“Game of Thrones”), Brendan Conroy (“Bodkin”), and Austin Amelio (“The Walking Dead”) also star.
Get a peek at the upcoming physical media release below, including a few special features.
Spooky Pictures’ Roy Lee (Weapons) & Steven Schneider (Insidious) produce alongside Image Nation’s Derek Dauchy (Late Night with the Devil), Tailored Film’s Ruth Treacy, Julianne Forde, & Mairtín de Barra, and Cweature Features’ Ken Kao & Josh Rosenbaum.
I wrote in my review for Bloody Disgusting, “A quaint Irish hotel with a deeply haunted history awaits an American writer in McCarthy’s third outing, continuing his streak for folkloric tales of supernatural karma and spine-tingling terror with a dark sense of humor.”
What’s next from Damian McCarthy? He’s currently writing a haunted house movie, but recent comments suggest he may be moving into other genres beyond that upcoming project.
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