The Hitcher
Year: 1986
Director: Robert Harmon
Written by: Eric Red
Threat: Psychopath
Weapon of Choice: Semi
IMDb page: 
The HitcherYear: 1986 Director: Robert Harmon Written by: Eric Red Threat: Psychopath Weapon of Choice: Semi IMDb page: |
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Other movies in this series:
The Hitcher II: I've Been Waiting
Rish's Reviews
The Hitcher holds the distinction of being the first R rated movie I saw in the
theatre. My uncle took me to see Back to the Future again (back in the days
when movies played for months and months), and afterward, we snuck in to see The
Hitcher too. Come to think of it, it was the first movie I snuck into as well.
C. Thomas Howell plays a kid driving a car from Chicago to California who takes pity
on a hitchhiker caught in the rain and picks him up. The hitchhiker, played by Rutger
Hauer, turns out to be exactly the reason everybody's mother warned them not to pick
up hitchhikers.
I really like this movie. It's very simple, very straightforward, and it works rather well.
In fact, after having bought the film (twice), I waited until tyranist and I could see it
together before watching the DVD. Don't know what he thought, but I had a good
time revisiting it.
Jennifer Jason Leigh was (and is) an extremely talented actress, and C. Thomas Howell
. . . well, he was in E.T., so there must be something good about him.
Actually, I even like his performance in the flick.
But the real star is good old Rutger Hauer as the sadistic and unstoppable John Ryder.
What is his problem? Why does he do it? What does he want? Why won't he go
away?
Part of what works about the film is that we never know. Ryder is evil for evil's sake
only, but he seems to have some kind of cruel, clever motive behind his twisted actions.
And although he seems cut from the same omni-powerful cloth as The Terminator, the
situation seems quite plausable and fairly believable, which only adds to its scariness.
Best Scare: Love the french fry scene.
I'd Recommend It To: Fans of Eighties Cat & Mouse pictures.
Posted: December 27, 2005
The tyranist's thoughts
I've never been a big fan of Cat & Mouse pictures, but I do find the best examples
of them terrifying. This one is certainly one of the best even though it is in one of my least
favourite of the sub-sub-genres: the car chase movie. Granted, it isn't all car chases, but
most of it is.
What this does have going for it is Rutger Hauer. Rarely in this particular corner of the horror
map do the filmmakers dare reveal the face of their antagonist. Mostly because the unknown
guy in the big truck or car chasing you down is much scarier than most faces they could show
you. Hauer is the exception though.
I didn't have the advantage of an uncle that would sneak me into movies as a lad the way
Rish did, but I did manage to see Blade Runner at a pretty tender age and somewhere
between that and Ladyhawke Rutger Hauer became one of my favourite actors. He
has not had a great career, unfortunately, but the '80s were his prime and this movie was a
fantastic example of his particular talents.
The fact that I've driven enough lonely, desolate roads in my part of the world and have had lots
of time to wonder about the other people on those roads and what they might be up to, only
makes this partcular movie that much more real to me.
Ah, but I'm babbling. My expectations for this were pretty low even though Rish had talked
it up for years. I enjoyed it far more than I expected to, but I can't give it the ringing endorsement
Rish does. Instead, I'll just say that it is well worth seeing for Rutger Hauer fans regardless of
what you think of this genre.
Posted: December 27, 2005
Total Skulls: 14
| Sequel | ||
| Sequel setup | ||
| Rips off earlier film | ||
| Horror film showing on TV/in theater in movie | ||
| Future celebrity appears | ||
| Former celebrity appears | ||
| Bad title | ||
| Bad premise | ||
| Bad acting | ||
| Bad dialogue | ||
| Bad execution | ||
| MTV Editing | ||
| OTS | ||
| Girl unnecessarily gets naked | ||
| Wanton sex | ||
| Death associated with sex | ||
| Unfulfilled promise of nudity | ||
| Characters forget about threat |  |
|
| Secluded location | |
|
| Power is cut | ||
| Phone lines are cut | |
|
| Someone investigates a strange noise | |
|
| Someone runs up stairs instead of going out front door | ||
| Camera is the killer | ||
| Victims cower in front of a window/door | ||
| Victim locks self in with killer | ||
| Victim running from killer inexplicably falls | ||
| Toilet stall scene | ||
| Shower/bath scene | |
|
| Car stalls or won't start | |
|
| Cat jumps out | ||
| Fake scare | ||
| Laughable scare | ||
| Stupid discovery of corpse | |
|
| Dream sequence | ||
| Hallucination/Vision | ||
| No one believes only witness | |
|
| Crazy, drunk, old man knows the truth | ||
| Warning goes unheeded | ||
| Music detracts from scene | ||
| Death in first five minutes | ||
| x years before/later | ||
| Flashback sequence | ||
| Dark and stormy night | |
|
| Killer doesn't stay dead | |
|
| Killer wears a mask | ||
| Killer is in closet | ||
| Killer is in car with victim | |
|
| Villain is more sympathetic than heroes | ||
| Unscary villain/monster | ||
| Beheading | ||
| Blood fountain | ||
| Blood spatters - camera, wall, etc. | ||
| Poor death effect | ||
| Excessive gore | ||
| No one dies at all | ||
| Virgin survives | ||
| Geek/Nerd survives | ||
| Little kid lamely survives | ||
| Dog/Pet miraculously survives | ||
| Unresolved subplots | ||
| "It was all a dream" ending | ||
| Unbelievably happy ending | ||
| Unbelievably crappy ending | ||
| What the hell? |