The Hitcher ½«
R, 98m. 1986
Cast & Credits: C. Thomas Howell (Jim Halsey), Rutger Hauer (John Ryder), Jennifer Jason Leigh (Nash). Screenplay by Eric Nash. Directed by Robert Holman.
R, 98m. 1986
Cast & Credits: C. Thomas Howell (Jim Halsey), Rutger Hauer (John Ryder), Jennifer Jason Leigh (Nash). Screenplay by Eric Nash. Directed by Robert Holman.
The Hitcher is equivalent to those shocking on-the-spot eyewitness accounts people often hear about on the news in which a mentally disturbed or distraught individual went on a killing spree.
Most of the time, society never learns why the person committed such atrocious acts until after it’s happened. There have been very few incidents where we never learn the reason; no matter how sick and twisted it might be. If there is a time detectives had trouble uncovering the facts surrounding the tragic cases, it is a rarity.
Much like this film; one of the most depressingly, unpleasant, sadistic experiences I have ever had watching a movie that I can only hope would never happen again.
In The Hitcher, the police have a real hard time interrogating John Ryder (Rutger Hauer); a mysterious hitchhiker who has murdered several people on a lonely country highway rarely frequented by drivers.
When a detective asks Ryder where he is from, the psychotic killer replies, “Disneyland.”
The bloody rampage begins on a stormy night when Jim Halsey (C. Thomas Howell) picks the hitchhiker up who is stranded alongside the road. The individual in a black heavy raincoat seems to come out of nowhere.
The key to keeping me from awarding this film NO STARS has to do with the how one early scene is handled. The scene is the only haunting and probably the most cleverly, calculated shot done in the whole movie and happens the moment Ryder steps inside Halsey’s truck. As the camera closes up on his face as he steps in, streaks of lightning flash the minute Ryder looks up at Halsey with those cold, piercing blue eyes of his that speak pure evil though he never says a word. The scene gave me chills and was the only time I would ever feel that uneasy watching this film.
Ryder doesn’t have much of an identity. No one knows where he is from, has no family, friends and from the looks of it, is nothing but a recluse and a loner.
Of course, Halsey tries to make small talk with the guy asking him several questions; never quite getting much in the form of answers. That is until he asks Ryder if the stalled car he noticed several miles back was his.
Taking out a sharp, long knife, Ryder whispers to Halsey’s ear and tells him he murdered the driver of the vehicle then cut off the man’s arms, legs, and head.
The frightened Halsey manages to kick the psycho out of the truck in hopes of being rid of him. If this were the end of the movie, it would have lasted about ten or fifteen minutes; enough to make me happy. What follows instead, is a long, boring deadly game of cat-and-mouse as Ryder stalks his prey from service stations to hotels murdering cops, blowing up police helicopters, killing a vacationing family, tying up a young woman (Jennifer Jason Leigh) to two trucks and tearing her apart limb-from-limb, and framing Halsey for all this.
Eventually the police figure out who is responsible for the carnage. I was hoping once the psychopath was caught that I would finally have all my questions answered about who this guy was. Why is Ryder murdering innocent people? Why is he chasing Halsey? Where is he from? Does he have a family? Did he even have a job? What is his reason for falling off the deep end? Does he want to commit suicide? If he does, why doesn’t he just do it?
These questions were never answered. All the police can figure out is there is “some kind of relationship” going on between the two characters so they decide to send Ryder to a mental institution. This is not the end though. There is still the predictable confrontation between the hero and the villain and I don’t think I need to tell you who wins.
I expected The Hitcher to be a supernatural thriller. Instead the film is just senseless (and I hesitate to say this) entertainment with a script that seems to have been written and directed by someone who’s watched one too many slasher movies. It is the kind of obscure title one would find at the video store that constantly rents out all the time because the customers can’t find anything better to watch.
I seriously doubt anyone who’s seen The Hitcher can honestly say they liked it. If they did, I doubt they can offer a good enough explanation as to why.
If the movie proves anything it is that one should never pick up hitchhikers who walk alongside the road, especially if it is someone as insane as John Ryder.
©6/19/87
Most of the time, society never learns why the person committed such atrocious acts until after it’s happened. There have been very few incidents where we never learn the reason; no matter how sick and twisted it might be. If there is a time detectives had trouble uncovering the facts surrounding the tragic cases, it is a rarity.
Much like this film; one of the most depressingly, unpleasant, sadistic experiences I have ever had watching a movie that I can only hope would never happen again.
In The Hitcher, the police have a real hard time interrogating John Ryder (Rutger Hauer); a mysterious hitchhiker who has murdered several people on a lonely country highway rarely frequented by drivers.
When a detective asks Ryder where he is from, the psychotic killer replies, “Disneyland.”
The bloody rampage begins on a stormy night when Jim Halsey (C. Thomas Howell) picks the hitchhiker up who is stranded alongside the road. The individual in a black heavy raincoat seems to come out of nowhere.
The key to keeping me from awarding this film NO STARS has to do with the how one early scene is handled. The scene is the only haunting and probably the most cleverly, calculated shot done in the whole movie and happens the moment Ryder steps inside Halsey’s truck. As the camera closes up on his face as he steps in, streaks of lightning flash the minute Ryder looks up at Halsey with those cold, piercing blue eyes of his that speak pure evil though he never says a word. The scene gave me chills and was the only time I would ever feel that uneasy watching this film.
Ryder doesn’t have much of an identity. No one knows where he is from, has no family, friends and from the looks of it, is nothing but a recluse and a loner.
Of course, Halsey tries to make small talk with the guy asking him several questions; never quite getting much in the form of answers. That is until he asks Ryder if the stalled car he noticed several miles back was his.
Taking out a sharp, long knife, Ryder whispers to Halsey’s ear and tells him he murdered the driver of the vehicle then cut off the man’s arms, legs, and head.
The frightened Halsey manages to kick the psycho out of the truck in hopes of being rid of him. If this were the end of the movie, it would have lasted about ten or fifteen minutes; enough to make me happy. What follows instead, is a long, boring deadly game of cat-and-mouse as Ryder stalks his prey from service stations to hotels murdering cops, blowing up police helicopters, killing a vacationing family, tying up a young woman (Jennifer Jason Leigh) to two trucks and tearing her apart limb-from-limb, and framing Halsey for all this.
Eventually the police figure out who is responsible for the carnage. I was hoping once the psychopath was caught that I would finally have all my questions answered about who this guy was. Why is Ryder murdering innocent people? Why is he chasing Halsey? Where is he from? Does he have a family? Did he even have a job? What is his reason for falling off the deep end? Does he want to commit suicide? If he does, why doesn’t he just do it?
These questions were never answered. All the police can figure out is there is “some kind of relationship” going on between the two characters so they decide to send Ryder to a mental institution. This is not the end though. There is still the predictable confrontation between the hero and the villain and I don’t think I need to tell you who wins.
I expected The Hitcher to be a supernatural thriller. Instead the film is just senseless (and I hesitate to say this) entertainment with a script that seems to have been written and directed by someone who’s watched one too many slasher movies. It is the kind of obscure title one would find at the video store that constantly rents out all the time because the customers can’t find anything better to watch.
I seriously doubt anyone who’s seen The Hitcher can honestly say they liked it. If they did, I doubt they can offer a good enough explanation as to why.
If the movie proves anything it is that one should never pick up hitchhikers who walk alongside the road, especially if it is someone as insane as John Ryder.
©6/19/87
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