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Shopperworld - The Hitcher [1986]
![The Hitcher [1986]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41699ZNXXCL._SL160_.jpg)
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List Price: £5.99
Our Price: £0.70
Availability: N/A
Manufacturer: 4 Front Video
Starring: Rutger Hauer, C. Thomas Howell, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Jeffrey DeMunn, John M. Jackson
Directed By: Robert Harmon
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Average Customer Rating:  
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Audience Rating: Suitable for 18 years and over
Binding: VHS Tape
EAN: 5014783805122
Format: Dolby
Label: 4 Front Video
Manufacturer: 4 Front Video
Number Of Discs: 1
Number Of Items: 1
Publisher: 4 Front Video
Release Date: 2002-09-09
Running Time: 93
Studio: 4 Front Video
Theatrical Release Date: 1986-02-21
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Editorial Reviews:
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Made in 1984, The Hitcher is an update--in spirit at least--of Steven Spielberg's first feature film, 1971's Duel. Here C Thomas Howell plays a guy taking a drive-away car from Chicago to San Diego. On a whim, in the rain, and against his better judgment, he picks up a hitchhiker (Rutger Hauer). The hitcher quickly admits to being a murdering psychopath and once Howell finally gets him out of his car, he is pursued with all the vengeance of the ancient furies. We're never sure if the hitcher is a figment of his imagination, making Howell a schizophrenic killer, or if he's real and Howell is the random victim of a wandering madman, which is how his potential new girlfriend (Jennifer Jason Leigh) thinks of him. Either way, The Hitcher is great fun, kinda scary and teetering on the brink of "must see". --Andy Spletzer
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating: 
Summary: it's actually a bit rubbish
Comment: seems there are lots of 5 star reviews for this film and whilst everyone is entitled to their opinion I just don't get it. It's a film from the 80s, not much happens, no one talks very much and then it ends.
A young man is framed by a psychotic hauer for some murders he is pursued by comical, Texas cop stereotypes whilst jumping round all the holes in the plot. That's about it. 'tense, gripping thrill ride'? I've had more excitement driving to work.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Very good B movie
Comment: Rutger Hauer dominates this classy thriller, with a performance that matches his role in Bladerunner. Every twitch he makes is scary and from the start of the film you are left in no doubt that this guy is seriously deranged. Occasionally some of the other actors wern't quite up to the same standard, but in general this is a well acted film.
Forget about plot and any sense that this could really happen. Think more of Halloween and translate Michael Myers as the Hitcher and you'll be closer. Its well photographed with some images that have almost become iconic.
What surprised me about this film was the way characters that you might normally expect to survive (in a Hollywood film) did not in The Hitcher. So credit where credit is due, not only is this a short and punchy thriller, but it does the unexpected on more than one occasion.
The extras on the 2 disc edition make this up to 4 stars for me. The commentaries in particular I found very interesting.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Unmissable
Comment: The Hitcher is one of the best films ever made and ultimately one of most overlooked as well. The premise of the film is very simple: Jim Halsey is driving a car cross country with plans of dropping it off at his destination when he comes across hitchhiker John Ryder, who seems suspicious from the start. It is incredibly tense and atmospheric and centres around a terrifying performance from Rutger Hauer as John Ryder, a mysterious drifter intent on following C. Thomas Howell's Jim Halsey and making his road trip one that he'll never forget. Most of the film's atmosphere radiates from Hauer as he scares both Howell and the audience with a simple glance which could mean anything and everything. Jennifer Jason Leigh makes an early appearance as a waitress dragged along for the ride after Howell stumbles upon the diner she works at. The performances of the three main actors are involving and it is very easy to feel sympathy for Howell, who has done nothing to deserve the torture he receives at the hands of Hauer, who makes for a terrific villain. A hidden gem and a great cult film, The Hitcher is fantastic.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Quic Reviews!
Comment: A definitive Road Movie which features some impressive stunt work, chases and crashes, as well as a storming performance from Rutger Hauer and some shocking moments and twists. One of the best underrated films of the eighties, and yet another which has suffered a remake.
C.Thomas Howell plays a Jim, young man with the job of driving a car for his company through the desert to California. One ominous, rainy night he sees a hitchhiker at the side of the road, and decides to pick him up. 'My mother told me never to do this' he says jokingly, but it soon becomes clear that the hiker, John Ryder is a little strange. He doesn't talk much and soon becomes violent and sadistic. Jim grows increasingly worried and gets rid of the Hitcher when he gets the chance. This gets his heart pumping, and he drives on. However, later he finds that the Hitcher is following him, and that he is a murderer, getting picked up, killing those in the car, and moving on. He is a serial killer of anyone who picks him up. When Jim sees him in the back of car with a family he tries to warn them but they don't realise. Later he finds their car, empty at the side of the road. Jim reports the deaths, but Ryder makes it look as if Jim is the killer, continually framing him. Jim meets a truck stop waitress, Nash who believes he is innocent and joins him on the road, but Ryder, and the cops are on his tail. Just when Jim thinks he is safe, that the cops believe him, Ryder appears and destroys everything again with an uncanny ability to kill and survive. Eventually he catches up with Jim and Nash, and kidnaps her. The cops come too late, and see that Jim was telling the truth all along. He has Nash in a slightly dangerous position and wants Jim to come with him to save her life. Soon the pair are on the road together in one final fight and chase where Jim becomes more and more violent and unhinged.
The ambiguous ending is a source of much discussion, as are many of the unanswered questions of the film. But we're smart kids, we can figure it out. We do not need to know any motive for murder- does it matter when someone is stalking you relentlessly? This adds to the tension of the chase, and the madness to Ryder's character. The reasons do not matter, it is the fact that we will spend time trying to work it out rather than facing the fact that someone is after us and trying to deal with it. You can search for reasons afterwards, if you must. Reasons are given for comfort, so that we have something concrete to hold on to, but we are not meant to feel any comfort here. It is a nightmare which seems to get worse as it continues, and there seems to be no escape, Hitchcockian in the way the falsely accused man is sought and tries to prove his innocence. In the end this does not matter either- all that matters from the start is what happens between Jim and John. Nash is a tragic figure, showing what can happen to the innocent when they get involved with something evil. A killer of Ryder's nature does not care who gets in his way, by the point where he catches Nash, all he cares about is changing and hurting Jim. Does Jim become like Ryder by the end? Is he redeemed or cursed by getting revenge? This is up to us.
Some of the crashes here rank with The Road Warrior as some of the best ever filmed. They are filmed in such a way to heighten the sense of Ryder's madness and seeming immortality, and to show the growing fear and detachment of Jim. The score is also very subtle, and the dialogue, especially between Jim and John is meant to be ambiguous and give rise to questions-Ryder is looking for a reaction and thought from Jim, as the director is from us. Hauer steals the film, giving arguably his best performance, and it remains one of the best performances in a horror movie. Howell has caused annoyance amongst critics and viewers for his performance, but he portrays the fear, naivety and excitement of a teen going out on his own for the first time. His portrayal of being wrongly accused, trying to escape the cops and Ryder, trying to save others, and eventually becoming solely interested in revenge, is perfect and could not be bettered by any other actor. Leigh as Nash is also strong and we feel sympathy for her as she is drawn deeper into the game, and she offers a softer emotional content than the two increasingly frantic men give. Say what you will of her treatment, but this was the only way Ryder could get what he wanted from Jim. A cult classic which deserves much credit and respect.
The DVD has many good features, a documentary and a couple of interesting short films. Well worth 6 quid, which is the price at the moment. A film which belongs in all movie fan's collections, deserving of praise similar to other giants of the decade such as Raging Bull and Blade Runner.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Superbly shady and sinister!
Comment: As horror films go, this one is not a complete gore fest, yet it is memorable simply because it is big on suspense, psychological drama and implied horror.
Sometimes what you can't see is more frightening than what you can, and this film uses that psychological device to maximum effect.
The 'Hitcher' of the title is a sinister and shady Rutger Hauer, who will stop viewers in their tracks with his completely psychotic, but utterly compelling characterisation. He is a calm, controlled psychopath, which is very much more disturbing that a typical horror film ghoul.
The story begins when a young man called Jim (C. Thomas Howell) decides to pick up a hitcher, (Rutger Hauer). Within minutes, Jim quickly discovers that the Hitcher is a raving lunatic who wants to chop him into little pieces. Luckily, he manages to throw the Hitcher out the car, but the Hitcher doesn't give up that easily and continues to plague and stalk Jim, drawing him into a series of desperate and dangerous situations, also framing him for various crimes.
The most disturbing concept in this film is the psychological impact that the Hitcher's behaviour is having upon Jim. Rutger Hauer really does play a star turn as the Hitcher, turning in an eerily convincing and unnerving performance. At times, he is so relentlessly nasty, persistent and downright manic that his performance is more than likely to provoke a nervous smile, as he mocks and ridicules Jim's increasing distress. His murderous antics, however, are never anything less than disturbing.
Along the way, Jim receives the help of a young waitress, played by Jennifer Jason Leigh, who believes in his innocence after the Hitcher frames him for various dastardly deeds. Leigh's character also meets a gruesome end.
The Hitcher's stalking of Jim eventually culminates in a showdown between the two, the outcome of which I won't reveal here.
The entire film plays out beautifully and subtly, and is superbly written and unsettling. The characterisation is superb right across the board, particularly in the case of Rutger Hauer, who is a charismatic and terrifying madman.
This is a fantastic film, not just for horror film enthusiasts, but for anyone who likes a good scare, or a suspenseful plot. It is fast-paced, dramatic, tense and intelligently written, yet reasonably subtle. It must be seen!
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