Review of The Hitcher (1986) by James R — 26 Feb 2011

The Hitcher was a real surprise for me. I was expecting the same king of slasher âformulaâ? that I've been running into for every scarymovie. I was expecting terrible dialogue, bad acting, gratuitous nudity, stupid teenagers, etc. Fortunately, The Hitcher was a change from the usual. There was no âfinal girl,â? the main character was very believable and I actually thought the story was pretty good.

The main reason I really liked the film was because Rutger Hauer. Hauer is perfect as the Hitcher a man who kills friendly people who pick him up. He is over the top and just an all out nut job. One thing I was surprised about in this film was that there wasnâ(TM)t anything too gory. The goriest scene was probably the scene in the police station where the dog was licking/biting the dead police officer.

I felt like the relationship that Jim has with the girl who helps him could have been developed a bit more. You get no real motive of why she helps him so easily other than the fact that she believes him. Her death has a huge impact on Jim, which leads him on a rampage near the end to make sure the killer meets his own doom.

Overall, a pretty good film. Cheesy at some times, but definitely very watchable and creepy. Give it a rent if you can find it!!