We here are all basically a site for film, but our love for horror films is so evident and vocal, that we’re mostly sent horror films to review from directors—we didn’t plan it, but we’re happy for that fact. And nine times out of ten, the directors that send us their horror films are immensely talented. The talent behind “The Wanderer” is evident by the opening scenes of a young girl walking along the road, with the grainy direction never breaking from her.
“The Wanderer” is a short horror yarn that follows the formula of the story of “The Hitchhiker,” but adds a bit of a twist when its two characters, driving home from their best friend’s funeral, pick up a young girl standing at the side of the road. The rest is their experience with the hitchhiker as she seems to know a bit too much about each of them, and is to be more than she seems.
Poche’s direction is the defining trait for “The Wanderer” as his grainy and somewhat stark photography makes “The Wanderer” an eerie tale in the realm of the supernatural genre building up from the beginning and leading to a very morbid pay off. Sadly though, “The Wanderer” is another routine horror yarn that never tries to be original. The film basically consists of the same formulas of “The Hitchhiker” which, while working in favor of it in terms of direction, works against it because it’s something we’ve seen before.
We know the girl is dead, it’s pretty obvious from the very beginning, but when Poche reveals the surprise plot twist in the big climax, it’s not surprising, because the writing makes it all too evident what has happened, and why. This expected twist could have been tolerated had the weak acting not brought down what effect or resonance the story would have had on the audience, thus the film fails to provide us with a memorable jaunt. Poche’s film may not be perfect in terms of originality, or suspense, but for what it promises, it delivers. “The Wanderer” is a pretty eerie little horror story about the wrath of karma and revenge.