Review of The Hitcher (1986) by Daniel M — 15 Oct 2009

As low-budget horror films go, The Hitcher is up with the best, both in its ambition and in the quality of the finished product. It differs from many other mainstream 1980s horror films in its general lack of gore or shocking special effects. Instead, The Hitcher is built on creating the same sense of paranoid tension which made Alien and The Shining such riveting and inventive classics. While it cannot hold a candle to them on its own terms, when compared to similar low-budget fare it comes out very well.

Like all the best horror films, The Hitcher does not just throw everything at the screen in the vain hope that the audience will be scared. At the core of the film is a debate about the ambiguous and corrupting nature of violence. Much like Wes Cravenâ??s Last House on the Left, its message seems to be that violence begets violence, and that once you become involved with violence, you will lose yourself to it.

This is evident in the relationship between the two central characters. C. Thomas Howell starts off as a young, easy-going, law-abiding citizen. But the second that Rutger Hauer gets in the car, he starts to change into someone every bit as impulsive and spontaneous as his passenger. From the first time he flings Hauer out of the car, he is wrestling with himself; he knows what he has to do to defeat him, but he still wants to be a law-abiding citizen and get on with his life. Think about how many times he pulls a gun on someone in the film, but yet he never has the intention of killing anyone.

That is, until the final scene. After wrestling with himself for the whole film, alternating between a felon and a victim, Howell runs Hauer over with the police truck, and then shoots him three times in the chest. In that moment the transformation becomes complete. Even if Howell is not a psychopath, even if he never intended bad things to happen, the fact remains that he is now a murderer. At the start of the film, we see a faceless Hauer lighting up a cigarette; at the end, Howell leans against a car and lights a cigarette against the sunset. Itâ??s a cruel victory for Hauer, reminiscent of the far-more famous scene from Se7en in which Brad Pitt gives in to wrath and shoots Kevin Spacey.

The sense of tension created in The Hitcher is surprisingly impressive. Just as Ridley Scott did in Alien, director Robert Harmon understands that true fear comes from withholding the villainous presence, so the audience creates the paranoia for themselves. The badlands setting, with its empty roads, arid plains and sporadic patches of civilisation, keep the audience on their toes. The opening encounter with Hauer is so scary and unexpected that throughout the film one is terrified that he could jump out at any moment and slaughter our heroes. Whenever Hauer does appear, for instance in the motel room, he flings the audience off their seats with sheer fright. If you love his performance in Blade Runner, youâ??ll love him in this.

Certain elements of The Hitcher prevent it from being a masterpiece. Some of the acting is quite noticeably wooden; Howell walks like a cowboy constantly about to draw, and Jennifer Jason Leigh is a little two-dimensional at times. The film is around fifteen minutes too long, with a couple of chase sequences feeling superfluous and not adding to the tension. And some of the effects shots look really fake. There is, for example, a scene in which a helicopter chases our heroes, before being shot down by a single bullet from an ordinary handgun. Two cars then crash into each other and flip over and over with no explanation. Itâ??s like being in a Roger Corman film, only not quite as good.

For all these niggling faults, The Hitcher remains more than just your average, disposable shocker. Itâ??s a horror film which takes a compelling idea and presents it in a refreshing way. Despite being too long, it does not really overstay its welcome or pull its punches at the end, creating a result which is both terrifying and memorable. Above all, the film creates impeccable tension by its willingness to withhold its villain and focus on the paranoia of the protagonists. Itâ??s not up there with Alien, but itâ??s certainly to be admired.