The Hitcher (Special Edition) (Wide Screen) > Reviews > The Hitcher

Author's product rating:   

Did you enjoy it?	Loved it
Story	Outstanding
Characters / Performances	Outstanding
Special Effects	Outstanding
How does it compare to similar films?	Not applicable

Advantages:	A suspenseful film with some great extras
Disadvantages:	None

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

Driving a car for someone 2000 miles across America, from Chicago to San Diego, Jim Halsey is falling asleep at the wheel, so when he sees a hitchhiker on the side of the road he decides to go against his mother's advice and pick him up.

The hitchhiker says his name is John Ryder but he refuses to give any other information, including where he is heading. Ryder forces Jim to speed past an abandoned vehicle at the side of the road, and this sparks Jim to be suspicious of his passenger. As a result he stops the car and asks him to leave the vehicle. Ryder refuses to do so and forces Jim to carry on driving. Ryder explains that he killed the driver of the abandoned car and tells Jim that he is going to do the same to him and holds a knife to his throat. Jim manages to succeed in forcing Ryder from his car and drives away, thinking he has escaped from danger. However his connection with the mad hitcher has only just begun...

Whereas other movies take this kind of urban legend starting point and turn it into a bland horror movie, THE HITCHER instead becomes a much more interesting film. There are no subplots to distract from the central narrative and this forces the viewer to focus on the terrifying main thrust of the story. The film uses a series of wide-open desert locations to parallel the isolation Jim feels during his horrifying experiences.

C. Thomas Howell (the C. stands for 'Christopher') plays Jim, starting out with a sense of despair and gradually moving towards a more hard-bitten personality as his situation develops. Rutger Hauer plays Ryder, and gives a career defining performance. This role allied with his character of Roy Batty in BLADE RUNNER defined Hauer as an enigmatic character with a hint of craziness and he never seems to have been able to shake this typecasting - indeed he seems to revel in it in the amount of B-movies he has made playing similar characters.

In comparison to modern horror movies THE HITCHER is a joy to behold. There is a real feeling of despair and paranoia in the film and when watching I found myself on the edge of my seat on numerous occasions. The film inspired both a sequel in 2003 (known as THE HITCHER II: I'VE BEEN WAITING) for which Howell returned but Hauer didn't, and a remake in 2007, with Sean Bean taking on the role of the psychotic John Ryder.

The original version of THE HITCHER is available in a 2-disc Special Edition DVD set. The director Robert Harmon and writer Eric Red provide a commentary which is not particularly interesting as there are a great deal of pauses - when I watch a commentary I like it to have lots of information and detail and feel that I am wasting my time when the commentators are simply sitting there watching the movie and not saying anything.

In addition to the commentary there is a feature-length documentary with all the major players contributing. This is a lot more informative than the commentary and if you were to choose one over the other I would recommend the documentary is more worthwhile of your time. Also included are some interesting short films, including CHINA LAKE, which was Harmon's first film, and THE ROOM, directed by Rutger Hauer. Although not as interesting as THE HITCHER it is nice to see these films included as DVD extras as otherwise they would be unlikely to see the light of day.
Other extra features are also included, including script pages and trailers.

THE HITCHER 2-disc Special Edition is a set I would highly recommend, both because the film is excellent, and because of the inclusion of so many worthwhile extras.