THE HITCHER
A film review by Shane R. Burridge
Copyright 1995 Shane R. Burridge
(1986) 90m.
Hitch-hikers have always been good material for horror stories, but this effort is classier than most. That's not to say it is entirely without its B-movie elements. Story is at once simple and complex. Jim Halsey (C. Thomas Howell) picks up a hitch-hiker (Rutger Hauer) on a Texas road in the middle of nowhere. Within the next quarter-hour of screen time, this hitcher has pulled a knife on him, forced him off the road, narrowly missed running him down, and almost blown him up. This is familiar territory for most psycho-killer stalk-and-slash fare, and audiences usually don't give the killer's motives a second thought. He's a psycho, ergo he's crazy and kills people. Enough said. But THE HITCHER goes beyond this convenient movie mindset and after a while it becomes clear that Hauer is not trying to kill Howell (though he comes awfully close) as much as scare the hell out of him. It's almost as if he is a psycho 'playing the part' of a movie psycho, and Howell is his audience. In the creepy opening sequence, in which Hauer evades all of Howell's questions, we are given only one indication of the stranger's intent. "Stop me," he tells Howell. From that point on Howell is plunged into a waking nightmare, realizing that the hitcher is on a killing rampage, and one that he has unwillingly become a part of.
It's the hitcher's motives that provide the puzzle in this film. One possible explanation for his behavior is that he has totally divorced himself from his conscience, and by externalizing it in the form of Howell (who he may suspect is too weak to stop him), has passed on all responsibilities for his actions so that he can commit his violent acts with abandon. As he realizes that Howell is too soft a touch, he toughens up his campaign. Which turns out to be bad news for anyone Howell comes into contact with. But a more intriguing idea behind Hauer's motives is that he is a latter-day Flying Dutchman, doomed to wander the hellish desert roads from one end to the other. When investigated by the police he is found to have no past record, driver's license, or any means of identification whatsoever. He has seemingly come from nowhere. The name he gives Howell upon their first meeting is the obviously pseudonymous "John Ryder". Has he found a way to end his curse--or worse, pass it on--by goading Howell to end his life? (When he places coins on Howell's eyes, he is suggesting that he is damned). Significantly, during their final confrontation, Hauer drops a chain to the ground and smiles: he is free at last.
The film has moments that are alternately nail-biting and exciting. Top-notch cinematographer John Seale makes this one worth seeing on a long screen, if only for the wonderfully-framed shot of two police cars spinning end over end along the road. Focused script and direction by Eric Red and Robert Harmon respectively. And Hauer makes a great villain--we can't really hate him even though the things he does are horrifying. Also with: Jennifer Jason Leigh (who'd already been at odds with the villainous Hauer the previous year in FLESH + BLOOD).
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