It’s Wednesday! Which means it’s time for another edition of Late to the Party, the article series in which our iHorror writers pass our much delayed reactions to classic horror movies on to you, the reader. We have opinions! This week, I watched the 1986 Rutger Hauer-led classic, The Hitcher.
The Hitcher was remade in 2007 starring Sean Bean, because all classics must suffer a modern remake (I guess). But really, as much as I love Sean Bean and his inability to survive basically every movie he’s in, I can’t deny the appeal of Rutger Hauer (Blade Runner, Hobo With a Shotgun). The man is hypnotically terrifying and he controls the scene every moment he’s on screen.
In the opening scene – and our introduction to Hauer’s character, John Ryder – he hitches a ride from young Jim (C. Thomas Howell, The Outsiders) in the pouring rain. As they drive off to begin their adventure, John’s unnerving nature and sinister intentions unfold.
As an aside: while I understand that this is a completely different film, a part of me was really hoping it would incorporate the “tears in the rain” monologue from Blade Runner, because it seemed perfectly fitting.
The Hitcher wastes no time in getting to the action – we’re running right out the gate with an increasingly threatening (yet nuanced) performance from Hauer, and young Jim quickly learns the error of his philanthropic ways. Shit gets real at an efficient 8 minutes in.
The film burns with a sun-scorched intensity. John’s obsession with Jim sizzles with every passing scene. I appreciate the fact that this mad focus is entirely out-of-the-blue; he completely dedicates his time to tracking down and killing The One Who Got Away.
Of course, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention young Jennifer Jason Leigh (who actually looks a lot like young Jessica Lange). Her character, Nash, is unfortunately swept up in the sordid love affair cat-and-mouse obsession.
One particularly climactic scene places her in an incredibly dangerous position, in which the ineffective police officers are of absolutely no help whatsoever – – honestly, who sends the stalking victim in to do hostage negotiations?? These cops are trigger-happy and terrible.
On a technical note, I was highly impressed with John Seale’s cinematography in The Hitcher. There’s a fantastic 360-degree long take during an early interrogation scene that was a wonderful surprise, and the ending long-shot is actually stunning.
If you watch the film (and you should), I implore you to consciously pay attention to how the scenes are framed and shot. Oscar winning cinematographer John Seale has a seriously impressive resume (which includes Mad Max: Fury Road) – the man knows what he’s doing and it elevates the film in a marvelous way.
For such an intense film, there’s actually very little on-screen gore. Most of the violence is off-screen, so we just see the aftermath with Jim’s reactions – which actually might be more brutal. Your imagination is an intensely creative thing, and the pure horror and raw emotion that we get from Howell’s performance is enough to fill in the horrible blanks.
Jim provides us with the very first line in the film: “My mother told me never to do this”. It’s a line that’s initially flippant and charming, but by the end of it all we’re left with a poignant moral to this whole incredible story. He should have listened to his mother.
For more Late to the Party reviews, check out the archives!
