| | | | The Hitcher
(1986) |
masterful and well directed tale of callous persecution and paranoia. One which reaffirms the old phrase "Trust No One" a good seven years before the likes of agents Mulder and Scully opened the X-Files.
C.Thomas Howell ("The Outsiders", "Soul Man") stars as the innocent, Jim Halsey, who goes against any semblance of logic and decides to pick up hitchhiker Rutger Hauger ("Blade Runner") on a deserted stretch of American highway.
The Hitcher turns out to be a maniacal serial killer, stalking the highways, whose other "work" is briefly seen as C.T continues driving. Soon realising his error of judgement, Howell becomes the new target for this chillingly quiet psychopath.
In a matter of minutes though, our naïve hero has demonstrated a will to live that inspires his adversary, and so begins a battle of wills and a race against time.
The movie has very little dialogue but it's sense of tension and urgency speaks volumes, the increasingly desperate C.T manages to raise the alarm but becomes a suspect when Hauer unexpectedly turns up and annihilates everyone in a small-town police station.
Not so much a game of cat and mouse, as a war between the helpful and the undeserving, a satirical look at the violent dissolution of good will towards your fellow man, this film relies upon the strength of it's story and the audience's empathy with the main character.
The Hitcher also sees a young Jennifer Jason Leigh ('Existenz') in an early role; Jennifer plays an impassive Southern waitress, the only person willing to believe Howell's outrageous predicament. And whilst she has no real significance in the movie, torn between both sides, Jason Leigh makes an unforgettable impact in one of the most extreme homicides in movie history.
Hauer is excellent, his imposing height and blasé grin, easily warrants The Hitcher as his best role since Ridley Scott's "Blade Runner". As for C. Thomas Howell, great performances in this and "Soul Man" still (inexplicably) led him down the path of B-movie obscurity.
Even the director, Robert Harmon hasn't been seen since. It's ironic then, that Jennifer Jason Leigh (the Neve Campbell of her day) went onto become the most famous.
 Don't forget that The Hitcher is now available to order on Widescreen DVD using our special 80s Retro Assistant...
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An excellent film, with some genuinely unexpected moments: the finger in the fires for example, in other words: stop for the hitcher, and you'll go a long way.
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Won the critic's award for best director at the Cognac Festival du Film Policier (1986) 
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Rutger Hauer was obviously a method actor from an early age: whlist in the Dutch navy he feigned madness and was sent to a special home for psychotic patients. It was an expectedly disturbing place, but Hauer held out until he convinced his ranking officers that the military really didn't need him!
Rutger Hauer was the original inspiration behind Lestat in the classic novel 'Interview With The Vampire'
"Good guy or bad guy, hero or anti-hero; doesn't matter to me, what role I play, only the characters have something magical." (Rutger Hauer)
There is a sequel to The Hitcher called Hitcher 2: I've Been Waiting. C. Thomas Howell reprised his role, but Rutger Hauer did not. -Thanks to Nick Napolitano
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Find much more great trivia in the filmmaker's commentary on the Hitcher DVD.
Rediscover your favorites! If you like
The Hitcher or 80's Thriller classics, then be sure to
check out this list: ..... Thief ..... WarGames ..... Christine ..... Against All Odds ..... Blue Velvet ..... 8 Million Ways To Die ..... To Live and Die in L.A. ..... Fear City ..... Pulse ..... No Way Out ..... Blow Out ..... Class of 1984 ..... Contraband ..... Body Double ..... Firestarter .....[More]
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Hitcher director Robert Harmon had wanted to be a director since he was a kid. Over the course of more than he a year, he painstakingly made a very impressive thirty-minute short film called "China Lake" as a kind of portfolio. Ed Feldman, the producer of The Hitcher, saw it and decided he was the right guy to develop it. This seems a highly improbable scenario for a totally untried director, until you actually watch "China Lake". Clearly of big budget motion picture quality, European DVD users are lucky enough to find it on the stunning new Special Edition DVD released Summer 2003.
The Hitcher was co-written by Eric Red, who also performed the same duties on the tonally similar "Near Dark".
Lucky Filmmakers: During the nine weeks filming-schedule Harmon and his crew needed it to rain for one day and exactly on that day it was raining. The same happened when they needed stormy weather. -Thanks to Peter Baldinger
In the car chase scene, a bus hits the car and appears damaged in the next scene but the car is okay. -Thanks to Shawn
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|  |  |  | | The Hitcher
Locations |
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The Hitcher was filmed at locations in California including Death Valley National Park.
The truck stop scene was filmed in the High Desert, Hesperia, CA. at Newtons Outpost.
Roy's Diner in the movie is the real Roy's diner in Amboy, California, near the desert, on the famous route 66. I'll bet most of the driving scenes were filmed up and down this highway. [Thanks to Jeff Caine]
Some scenes were filmed at Twentynine Palms (at the same place Robert Harmon filmed his shortfilm "China Lake") [Thanks to Peter Baldinger]
Can you help? Do you know any of the California filming locations used for The Hitcher? [Please send them in]
|  | | | | ![[16:9 -Widescreen Enhanced]](16_9.gif) | ![[5.1 CH SURROUND]](dd5.gif) | Trailer |
| | | | Trailer, Commentary, Featurette, Notes, OutTakes |
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Comments: Stunning 2 Disc Special Edition! |
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Composed by the legendary Mark Isham.
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Soundtrack Available:
Used On CD
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