An exploitation Oscar and Felix casts Eric Roberts as Adrian, a dirty piece of human driftwood hitchhiking the lonesome desert highway where, in random stopovers, people are being massacred by a phantom calling himself THE HATCHET MAN. Also, a local bank was robbed of a million bucks and uptight traveling salesman Jack, played by a subdued Lance Henriksen, reluctantly gives Adrian rides throughout the scorched purgatory. Jack, a dreary victim of Adrian's cocky pontifications of sex, violence and drugs, has a constant expression of a guy who has yet to drink his morning cup of coffee; while Adrian seems like he just bench-pressed a piano while chain-smoking cigarettes on crystal meth.Their best moments are hanging out at a dirty spoon diner or joining up with a free-spirited hippie couple living out of a van. Thus the mystery unravels and two important questions surface: When will the Hatchet Man, who seems to be Adrian, strike again? And will Jack, carrying around his metallic briefcase with not-so-mysterious contents inside, be an eventual victim?With a David Lynch vibe sans the distracting weirdness, THE NATURE OF THE BEAST... where the spooky desert becomes an ominous character in itself... is an entertaining vehicle for two actors usually cast in the predator role: that aspect alone makes the film's conclusion both pleasantly surprising and utterly predictable.

I've seen enough movies to know this genre, and this movie reminded me a lot of the movie "Switchback" with Danny Glover. Its the same old crazy hitchhiker type theme, but with some differences added.Lance and Eric are both amazing actors, and you have to give them props for their work here too. They are believable in their roles, and keep character the entire movie. Their scenes together were tensed and uncomfortable but that was exactly how it should have gone. I applaud them both. The movie was a bit on the slower side, because of its mystery nature, and really its more about situational tension than anything else. Still, I kept watching so I was interested enough to see what happens and the actors were a big part of that.I agree with the guy above me in that the ending was a bit on the disappointing side. The twists still got me good actually, and I was OK with them, but I agree they were forced and probably should have been smoothed over better by redoing the last 15 minutes or so. Its one of those movies where they just sorta end and you like "What!"So as I said, worth watching, but because of a little forced direction could have been better.

Antsy, dumpy, high-strung, secretive and deeply repressed traveling salesman Jack (Lance Henrikson) runs afoul of mean, scuzzy, foul-mouthed, overbearing and antagonistic ex-con junkie drifter Adrian (Eric Roberts) while trekking across the dusty, lonely, remote and forbidding California desert. Meanwhile, a savage killer called "the Hatchet Man" commits gruesome dismemberment murders and one million dollars has been recently stolen from a Las Vegas, Nevada casino. Is it Jack or Adrian who's behind one or possibly both of these heinous crimes? Writer/director Victor Salva, who also gave us the creepy psycho item "Clownhouse" and both socko sicko "Jeepers Creepers" monsterfests, here deftly crafts a tense, edgy, nerve-jangling and fiercely confrontational peril-on-the-open-backroads psychological mystery thriller. Salva relates the eerily spellbinding narrative at a leisurely pace, wisely allowing the precisely etched characters and spooky, discomfiting atmosphere to carry the day with casual, effortless assurance. Salva's sharp, astute, neatly tricky and in-your-face abrasive script offers a starkly chilling and incisive meditation on the darker side of human nature, chiefly addressing man's shocking capacity for extreme evil, the misery of basic everyday existence, and how almost everyone has a dirty little skeleton in their closet that they wish to hide from the world.The always terrific Lance Henrikson portrays Jack with his customary top-drawer terse, tightly coiled spring intensity. The equally excellent Eric Roberts lands himself a sleazy, juicy, spiky part and deliciously sinks his teeth into it with lip-licking glee. Late, great villainous character actor Brion James has a welcome change-of-pace good guy role as a gregarious sheriff. Levie Isaacks' slick, crisply evocative cinematography vividly captures a harrowing sense of isolation and vulnerability. Bennett Salvay's brooding, shuddery score further enhances the quietly unsettling suspense. Grim, despairing and uncompromisingly upsetting, "The Nature of the Beast" rates highly as one of the true unjustly neglected skin-crawling sleepers from the 90's.

Although underrated, "The Nature of The Beast" is a very good thriller. Its tense and bleak atmosphere keeps you in a nail-biting state throughout the film, with its best part being its end, when a brilliant plot twist really brings everything upside down.The story begins with Jack (Henriksen), a typical, middle-class executive on a business travel, who bumps onto a murder scene; the policemen in charge advise him to be careful on his way, as there is a serial killer in the area hitch-hiking for his next victim. Keeping this advice in mind, he avoids somebody he encounters who asks for a lift; unfortunately, he is not so lucky, as he soon finds the guy in a diner some kilometers ahead. The guy loses no time to introduce himself as Andrian (Roberts), and he soon becomes a thorn on Jack's side, who in turn realizes that it will be very difficult to get away from this menace...Featuring two great performances, the movie is virtually a two-man show: Both Roberts and Henriksen are really great in their roles, and it would not be an exaggeration to say that the film's value is based on them. The other characters have short appearances which simply supplement the duo.A film worth having a look. 7/10.