GASKINS: THE HITCHHIKER KILLER by Matt Boiselle
Directed by Chris Helton, written by JL Goddard & starring Taylor Stiles, Warren Levi Haney & Shena Verrett
There’s something about those grimy, backwoods true-crime stories that makes for some seriously unsettling horror, and GASKINS: THE HITCHHIKER KILLER dives headfirst into the story of Donald “Pee Wee” Gaskins, one of South Carolina’s most notorious serial killers. Directed by Chris Helton and written by JL Goddard, the film follows Gaskins from the 1960s through the 1980s as his criminal world starts to unravel and the consequences of his past finally begin catching up with him, and I’ll admit, I went into this one expecting something pretty brutal—and it definitely delivers some of that.
What I liked most about GASKINS: THE HITCHHIKER KILLER is the atmosphere. There’s a grimy, uncomfortable quality to the movie that fits the subject matter, and it doesn’t try to make Gaskins into some kind of glamorous antihero. You’re watching a deeply disturbing story unfold, and there’s a real sense of dread hanging over the whole thing. Taylor Stiles gives the movie a strong central performance, and Warren Levi Haney and Shena Verrett help round out the cast. There are some genuinely nasty moments here, but the movie doesn’t rely entirely on gore to get under your skin. A lot of the uneasiness comes from knowing that you’re watching a story inspired by a very real and very disturbing chapter of American true crime. That said, this isn’t going to completely reinvent the serial-killer movie.
There are definitely moments where the pacing drags a little, and some of the material feels like familiar territory if you’ve watched your share of true-crime-inspired horror. But there’s enough here to keep things moving, and the story of Gaskins himself is disturbing enough that the movie has some built-in weight behind it. What really works is that feeling of watching everything slowly close in around him. The title might give you an idea of where things are headed, but seeing his past begin catching up with him provides a pretty satisfying narrative arc. It’s not perfect, but I found myself getting more invested as it went along. If you’re into true crime, serial-killer movies, gritty independent horror or those stories that make you want to immediately start digging into the real-life case afterward, GASKINS: THE HITCHHIKER KILLER is definitely worth a look. It’s dark, nasty and uncomfortable in places—and considering the subject matter, that’s probably exactly what it should be.