Rate It
|
||||||||||||||||
Rating Averages
My Friends |
Not rated. () |
|
|
|---|---|---|---|
All Flixster |
(10292) |
4007 |
20531 |
Female |
(4570) |
1779 |
9116 |
Male |
(5722) |
2228 |
11415 |
More Like This
If you liked this, then you'll also probably like...
Got another recommendation for someone who liked this movie? Add it to the list!
Got an opinion? Use the buttons to vote on all the suggestions people have added.
If lots of people vote, the best suggestions will rise to the top.
| The Hitcher (83%) |
|
|
|---|---|---|
| Borderland (0%) |
|
|
| Death Proof (Grindhouse Presents) (50%) |
|
|
| Breakdown (80%) |
|
|
| Perfect Blue (0%) |
|
|
Plot: A young man who escaped the clutches of a murderous hitch-hiker is subsequently stalked, framed for the hitcher's crimes, and has his life made into hell by the same man he escaped.
Skin art by
creepfreak. Unskin this page.
Meet Other Fans
ONLINE NOW
Recent Reviews
-
MCT:October 3, 2008Campy. I probably would've been tense and scared back when this movie came out but today, it just doesn't hold up.
-
MCT:September 23, 2008C. Thomas Howell picks up a hitchhiker who happens to be a mass murderer who is just beginning his murderspree.
Rutger Hauer plays the villian in this horror thriller which plays out more like a nightmare then anything realistic since Hauer's villian just seems to show up out of nowhere.
Great thrill ride from start to finish. -
MCT:September 22, 2008
Some parts was great....some parts was less great. but overall it was good. It could have been better
-
MCT:September 8, 2008cat spends the day chasing a mouse. When he finally corners the mouse, he takes sadistic delight in batting it around, playing with it before it goes in for the kill. The cat wishes to savor the look of fear on its prey, instead of merely indulging the reward it's worked so hard to catch. This is the predator/prey relationship evidenced in "The Hitcher," one of the most relentlessly intense and mean-spirited horror films ever made.
Since the setting is the desert, I suppose it would make more sense to call John Ryder (played by Rutger Hauer) a vicious coyote, who is picked up one rainy night by a stray lamb named Jim Halsey (C. Thomas Howell). Ryder, who's apparently been murdering people all over the desert, is looking to do the same with Halsey, who cheats death only to be tormented for the rest of the film by this savage predator. The coyote craves a challenge--in fact, he seems to live for it.
Nothing else needs to be said. "The Hitcher" relies so heavily on a plot that weaves in and out of 'the expected' that any further description would spoil the fun. The two leads are excellent--Rutger Hauer has created one of the great villains of modern cinema, and C. Thomas Howell is a sympathetic and believable victim driven to madness. While the film isn't necessarily deep, the high-energy cast, moody desert settings and twisty script fuel this effort for 98 intense minutes -
MCT:August 16, 2008
A terrific horror film about a young man who escapes a murderous hitch-hiker, only to be stalked and tortured by the same man he had escaped. Very frightening and intense. Better than the remake.
-
MCT:July 27, 2008
Rutger Hauer is at the backbone of this rather unconventional thriller; unconventional for its day, that is. Hauer's performance uncovers an unsettling bed of insanity and derangement surrounded by a spine-chilling aura that counteracts the films main criticisms of possessing a villain with little reason or motive behind his barbaric actions. The performance establishes that neither is always necessary, and there are some people who do impossible things for impossible reasons.
The plot unfolds in the first scene, when young Jim Halsey picks up the eponymous Hauer on a road journey to California, despite initial apprehension. As soon as we see this nameless figure the atmosphere moves to one of intense foreboding, and the director takes no time in unravelling the awkward situation. Halsey is perturbed, uneasy and so is the audience, thanks to perfect timing from Hauer as he starts his sadistic, torturous games. Jim manages to shake off the hitcher through pure luck, but the maniacal man can't let the boy escape that easily.
If Hauer is the backbone, then Jim and the Hitcher's intense relationship is at the core of the film. Because the villain has no real past, motive or desires it becomes strangely impossible to empathise with his actions, but his interest in an innocent - and somewhat mystified - Jim means the audience easily sympathise and support the 'hero'. The script seems to have borrowed something from Steven Spielberg's 'Duel' in character relations, where we are never given information to unearth why the plot of the film occurs. One character chases, the other runs.
'The Hitcher' has a taut and chilling atmosphere from start to finish, laden with suspense and some rather horrifying, if distasteful shocks that we accept while watching, but after some deconstruction don't quite add up with reality.
What elevates the picture is the director halting the action to dive into some strange and unworldly mentalities, capturing emotion at the height of its internal peak; from Hauer's devious enjoyment of his self-sacrificing actions, or Jennifer Jason Leigh's confusion over a seemingly good-natured boy and the repulsive crimes he is being accused of. Watching Jim's despair as he struggles to understand why this is happening makes for an affecting moment rarely seen in the horror genre.
Generally, 'The Hitcher' is handled carefully; gore is minimal, although the slightly preposterous and unnecessarily gross finale does veer in the wrong direction. That the Hitcher has no motive doesn't make the film sick; it merely observes the sickness and horror many would rather ignore. It's an involving and unnerving thriller right to its last moment. -
MCT:July 19, 2008Good thrilling film but donno whats the reason this guy tortures them... not so good and also not so bad... its ok... and can see one time...
-
MCT:July 16, 2008
Starts off really well and does remain entertaining but it does get a bit ridiculous during the second half of the movie.
Rutger Hauer is excellent in it, love the way he just appears out of nowhere and lays waste to everyone then fucks off with no explanation. -
MCT:July 16, 2008
i love this movie its better than the new one the new one sucks and its about
A young man who escaped the clutches of a murderous hitch-hiker is subsequently stalked, framed for the hitcher's crimes, and has his life made into hell by the same man he escaped.
and i though c. thomas howell was great in this moive and i also thought Rutger Hauer did great as playing the hitcher and its pretty messed up when that girl dies and also
i luv this moive
iand i think dat c. thomas howell
did great in and he looks sooo cute in this moive
also and i like this moive
but the new 1 sucks! the old one is better cuz the
new one with sophia bush sucks
cuz when they make remakes of gd old horror moive the ended up sucking
amd the old horror moives are the best:]
What a great film great storyline its close to real life. If you dont like it you either dont like suspense films or you cant read a good film and know what is happening.
and its was kinda funny then not lol
and even i Loved this film, was one of my favorites.
The strange ending leaves its mark.
because the ending was kinda weird well great horror moive=]... -
MCT:July 14, 2008
This version is so much better than the newer one. It scares on a more psychological level than the 2007 version, which instead chose to be more physically involved with its characters--a move that I think did not pay off.
-
MCT:July 13, 2008
I won't watch the new movie because I loved the first so much and I don't think it can be bettered. Rutger Hauer was a very underated actor and he should have become a star.
-
I absolutly hate this movie
it is one of the gayest movies in the world!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! -
MCT:July 8, 2008
very good movie, i am taking a half off because some of the scenes could have been better directed, and i really wanted to see how the hitcher got out of the police bus. Other than that, this movie rocks, so does the re-make, and they are both on the list of my fav horror movies.
-
MCT:July 4, 2008
The newer one is better. Both John Rider's look alike. The both look scary too. This is the original one, i needed to see it. Really great but the newer one changed a lot of it. like this one the dude lived at the end but in the new one the chicks lives at the end.
-
MCT:June 27, 2008Stupidly I saw the remake first, so I knew what was coming. Weirdly I got the giggles at the beginning, I just found Rutgers performance funny, and the kid annoyed me.
-
MCT:June 7, 2008"The Hitcher" begins and ends with the same sound: a match being struck, flaring into flame. At the beginning of the film, the sound is made by the villain, a hitchhiker who is a mass murderer. At the end of the film, the sound is made by the hero, a young man whose life has been spared so that he can become the special victim of the hitchhiker...
This is not a film to be praised for it's special effects, i.e, there aren't any ;/...nor is it to be praised for it's brilliant script...because the truth is, there wasn't that much that was even said...
So why in the world would I give this movie 4 stars, I must be bordering on total idiot right...!?
Possibly... ;?
The appeal to this film for me stemed entirely from the performances...Rutger Hauer was brilliant...his charcter makes so light of tormenting this young boy, it's what makes this movie so particularly sick...the killer doesn't have a viewpoint, a grudge, or indeed even a motive...it's like he just picked up and decided one day to try his hand at stalking and murdering people...and turns out he happened to be really good at it...he simply and cruelly hurts and kills people...with a sweet sly smile and an effortless charm...man I love it!
I found myself actually frightened for young Jim Halsey (C. Thomas Howell) and the ending was no acception, the movie seems to be telling us, by the use of the sounds and in several other ways, that the killer and the hero have developed some kind of deep bond through their shared experiences... -
MCT:May 28, 2008
All around awesome. Never watch the remake unless you plan on ruining your night. And you should probably stay away from the the sequel too. Yikes.
-
MCT:May 24, 2008
wow i have just seen this movie 4 the 1st time n think this is a cult 1980's movie..this has a good cast of characters throughout this movie..i think the director of this Action & Adventure, Mystery & Suspense, Drama, Horror movie had done a good job of directing this movie because you never know what 2 expect throughout this movie,,jennifer jason leigh is beautiful n sexxi as always..this movie is just a cult 1980's movie..i think the man who played the hitcher plays him really well throughout this movie..this is a cult 1980's movie that i really enjoyed...
-
MCT:May 21, 2008
I love The Hitcher the obvious 80sness of it all works so well. It has a feel of Mad Max but from the point of view of a much more vunerable lead charcter. Rutgar Hauer is perfectly cast in the title role as a sadistic unknown killer. Some great action all be it far fetched at times but sit back and takeit all in i defy you to not enjoy it.
-
MCT:May 1, 2008
One of the best horror movies with such a psychological creepy element. No one can replace Rutger Hauer as the villian because he was just too remarkable in this movie.
-
MCT:April 24, 2008
Didn't work for me. It was easy to guess about half of the things that would happen. Hauer was great but overall not a very thrilling movie despite its promising start.
-
MCT:April 12, 2008
ha ha, i laughed, and stuff, and other emotions revealed from my emotional self/heart or organ inside of me
-
MCT:April 7, 2008
A classic psycho/horror/road movie with Rutger Hauer in top form as a sinister hitch-hiker who enjoys slaughtering anyone foolish enough to stop and give him a lift.
-
MCT:March 22, 2008
Awesome thriller. This was an excellent movie. I picked it up on a whim at FYE and I was really happy I did. This will keep you on the edge of your seat. It's one hell of a creative story. Don't see the remake - see this, the original!
My Friends Said...
The Hitcher Recent Reviews
Register or sign-in to see your friends' reviews !
Comments
-
MissHorrorChillerGurlFromHellposted 130 days ago -
Loved this film, was one of my favorites.
The strange ending leaves its mark.posted 290 days ago -
What a great film great storyline its close to real life. If you dont like it you either dont like suspense films or you cant read a good film and know what is happening.
posted 425 days ago -
