The Hitcher (1986)

The Age of Commercialism

Perfect cast and a good story

A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

The acting in this movie is really good.

Thrillers are one of my favorite genres, which may be the reason that it's so hard for me to find a quality output from the genre. Or maybe, the issue is that the thriller genre is one that is often poorly executed. The Hitcher, the 1986 film by Robert Harmon, befalls no common falls from the thriller genre. The Hitcher is wrought with tension all throughout beginning with the first moments of the film. The story centers around a man who escapes a hitchhiking killer, only to be stalked as prey while trying to finish his cross-country trek. Starring C. Thomas Howell and Rutger Hauer, The Hitcher is an under-appreciated classic to come out of the thriller genre.Jim Halsey is transporting a car to another state for some extra money. Struggling to stay awake, he decides to keep his mind occupied by picking up a hitchhiker. Despite the realization that this is something his mother has always told him not to do, Jim picks the man on the side of the road up regardless. After a few minutes of being in the car together, Jim begins to feel uneasy. After some forced conversation and the unease growing, the hitchhiker, who identified himself as John Ryder (Rutger Hauer) demands that Jim says he wants to die. Refusing to do so, Ryder discloses that he has killed at least one person, the owner of a vehicle that the pair passed on the side of the road. Fearing for his life as Ryder reveals a weapon, Jim begins to devise a plot to get Ryder out of the car. After a struggle, Jim forces Ryder out of the car, and just when he thinks his life is safe and he is home free, Ryder frames Jim for a series of murders he commits. Beaten at each stop he makes by Ryder, Jim soon finds his only hope will come from a waitress at a truck stop, the only person left who believes he is not responsible for the crimes he's being set up for.I can't tell you how much I adore a film that is able to get right into the action, and The Hitcher is definitely a film that accomplishes this feat. The atmospheric tone is established from the beginning. Robert Harmon does a fantastic job of utilizing the desert landscape to his advantage, establishing the isolation Jim feels from the outset of the film. Rutger Hauer plays John Ryder in such a way that he is one of the best screen villains I've ever seen. Ryder is played as a suicidal maniac who doesn't care who he kills because he has nothing to lose. Ryder seems to go after people with no motive at all, further driving curiosity as to why he is killing in the first place. A taught thriller with a compelling story and brilliant acting, The Hitcher is not to be missed for fans of the genre.

First,let me say this. C.Thomas Howell's acting was horrible. In a movie there is supposed to be a character you care about. Real quick I discovered that I didn't care if he lived or died. I didn't care about Nash either. Secondly,it seems like everyone in this movie,with the exception of John Ryder is stupid. The kid can't manage to find the right words to tell the cops what's going on? He mumbles a sentence here and there to try to explain the situation but that's about it. The police just stand there while the girl is tied to the truck. No one even tries to sneak over and untie her before she is torn in half. Oh and NOBODY has any ability shoot and hit their target,except of course,the bad guy.Over all,I think it was a terrible movie. I watched it alone. I wish I would have watched it with someone else,though. Not because I was scared,but because it would have been fun to laugh at it and make fun of it.

This unstoppable psycho on the loose film has strong links to two other classic thrillers which came before it: Rutger Hauer, as the indestructible maniac on the loose, has some of Schwarzenegger's menace as THE TERMINATOR; and the chase through the deserts is a lot like DUEL, except with Hauer replacing the mysterious truck. THE HITCHER has a great pace which just doesn't let up until the very end of the film, and all the time you can feel events building towards a showdown as more and more violence erupts on to the screen.Written by Eric Red (BODY PARTS), the plot is both intelligent and intriguing, so you just sit back and marvel at the way Hauer manages to implicate Howell more and more in the various crimes he commits, the most memorable moment being the shooting of the two policemen (just after Howell says he will give himself up), for which of course Howell gets the blame. The feeling of helplessness against this psycho is done well, and Howell is believable as the boy caught up in all the violence. He's no Bruce Willis hero type, but just an everyday person who screams and sweats a lot and barely manages to survive against Hauer's relentless onslaught of knifings, shootings, massacres, and brutality.It is Hauer's performance which sticks in the mind however, and it is a career-best role. Hauer is perfectly cast as the maniac, a sadistic psychopath who coldly kills with no remorse; his is a superb, text-book example of what a true psychopath is like, with the bulging eyes, maniacally grinning face, and heartless jokes. Hauer does his job so well that you almost begin to wish that he does win out against Howell's snivelling, wimpish hero at the end, as he has a lot of charisma in this film.The pair are joined by an accomplished supporting cast, including a young turn from Jennifer Jason Leigh, who brings a touch of warmth to the story. The sheriff from THE BLOB also turns up as, yes, you guessed it, a sheriff, and Armin Shimerman, best known to sci-fi fans for his role in STAR TREK, has a tiny role as an interrogator. There are lots and lots of cool action scenes to move things along, with cars bouncing, rolling and exploding, lots of shooting, and scenes of carnage where the blood does flow quite thickly (the moment where Howell discovers a dog, licking the blood from a corpse, is truly horrific).There are many moments to savour in the film and which stay in the memory long after viewing. The bit where Hauer nonchalantly shoots a helicopter out of the sky to even the odds; when Howell finds a severed finger in his burger and chips; the abandoned car, with blood dripping out of the door (a sudden moment of subtlety here which is far more gut-churning than more visceral images would have been); the bloody carnage in a police station; and the set-piece at the end. These moments of inspired originality are what help to propel THE HITCHER into classic status. And it'll certainly make you think twice the next time to see someone thumbing a lift along the highway...

This movie... It had a sort of legendary, mystical quality before I watched it. Heard it was pretty good many years ago, always liked Haur a lot, had bits of the trailer imprinted in my memory from 30 years ago, but just never got to see it. So glad I watched it today of all days... it was just one of those days (my normally sweet fat lazy cat bit my 6 year old daughter and drew a tiny bit of blood because she disturbed him by trying to put a blanket on him to keep him warm... Stupid flipping cat... Water spray bottle x 100 revenge/punishment) and now I can sleep better having purged some aggravation from my heart. More from the movie than the water bottle (all he had to do was stay in the kitchen instead of coming near me to beg for a fourth meal after attacking my kid). To the review, I just loved it. Rutger gave his best performance I think. The word menacing doesn't do it justice. I won't spoil it, but do this if you can. Avoid plot summaries, reviews, or spoilers of any kind. When you watch the movie, try to figure it out. Ask yourself what is happening for certain and what parts are a hallucination or the supernatural. I think this movie has several layers to it that come together nicely if you pay close attention to detail. Great performances all around truth be told... A few people launched careers off this movie if I am not mistaken.