Directed by Robert Harmon, written by Eric Red and starring Blade Runner actor Rutger Hauer, Red Dawn star C. Thomas Howell and saw Jennifer Jason Leigh team up with Hauer again after their success in the 16th century film Flesh+Blood.
Howell does a good job as the young Jim Halsey driving cross-country through the Texas highway to deliver a car to Chicago, along the way he passes a man stranded in the middle of the desert. Tired and lonely from driving past nothing for hours on end, Jim picks up the man, thinking it will bring him some conversation and entertainment to keep him awake and focused on the trip. However he couldn’t have been more wrong, as the hitchhiker enters the car he says nothing and fends off Jim’s questions with blank expressions or one-word random answers, and giving no response to Jim’s questions on which way he’s heading until he finally answers ‘Disneyland’, the only piece of honest information he gave up was his name, John Ryder. When they approaches a seemingly deserted car on the side of the road John pushes Jim’s leg down onto the accelerator so he cannot have a closer look at the vehicle, when asked why he did it he does not reply, only asking Jim if it scared him, prompting Jim to ask Ryder to get out, which he replies in a controlling tone ‘I’m gonna sit here and you’re gonna drive’. John then claims that the abandoned car was his and that he had run out of gas so needed to fill up and get to the gas station, so Jim starts the car again, once moving again John says that he does not need gas. This statement unnerves Jim and prompts him to ask John his motives, to which he responds with crazy laughter which Jim joins in with until asking what is so funny and then we really find out what John is capable of telling Jim that is wha the last guy said, the owner of the abandoned car, the guy who picked him up before Jim. Then John tells Jim he was still in the car as he could not have walked very far due to him cutting off his legs, arms and head, and that he was going to do the same to Jim while brandishing a knife. They approach some roadwork-men which John makes sure they pass without any interruption, pushing his knife against Jim’s leg, once through John tortures Jim by asking him if he knows what it is like to have an eyeball punctured and how much blood there would be before Jim asks him what he wants of him. This prompts John to mutter the films most important line, ‘I want you to stop me!’ and then asks him to speak the words ‘I want to die’, Jim is reluctant and then manages to push John out of the car, and escape the maniac.
However this is just the beginning of the film as Ryder continues hitching rides and picking of the drivers one by one in a chase to find and kill Jim, whilst Jim trying to stop John’s killing spree, along the way Jim must battle with escaping the claws of John, protecting fellow civilians and also avoiding being arrested by the local police who believe that he is responsible for the deaths of the motorists. Jim also befriends a small town waitress named Nash and must protect her from the maniac once he discovers that she now means something Jim.
Rutger Hauer gives a spectacular performance as the maniac wanderer John Ryder with deathly cold looks and a voice so calm and controlling that it will make you feel that you yourself are his next victim. C. Thomas Howell’s performance as Jim Halsey is great yet you can find the character getting quite annoying at times with the constant moaning, however this can also be seen as a positive as it makes it slightly more realistic as the film shows us that not everyone is a ‘action hero’ but over time Halsey gets more courageous as he battles to take on Ryder and save others from his claws. Jennifer Jason Leigh also gives a good performance as Nash the unlucky waitress brought into this game of cat and mouse.
The film is a great psychological experience and has you wondering all the way through the motives of John Ryder and just how far he will go to catch Jim, the chase scenes are undoubtedly great especially for a 1980’s film, twists along the way make this film even more gripping along the way. The Hitcher is definitely worth a viewing for any thriller movie fans, a film that would sorely be missed in any collection.
Run Time – 97 minutes
Film Rating – 15/20
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