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Written by Larry Clow
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Wednesday, 17 January 2007 |
HBO Films, 1986
starring: C. Thomas Howell, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Rutger Hauer and Jeffery DeMunn
directed by: Robert Harmon
the plot: Driving across Texas on his way to California, Jim Halsey (Howell) sees a hitchhiker, John Ryder (Hauer), on the side of the road and decides to pick him up. After a few awkward moments, the hitcher reveals his intention: to kill and dismember Jim. The two men struggle and Jim knocks Ryder out of the car. But as Jim continues his journey, he finds nothing but carnage and bloodshed along the road, the results of Ryder’s handiwork. After narrowly escaping another encounter with Ryder, Jim stumbles into a diner and meets Nash (Leigh), a tough tomboy waitress who reluctantly agrees to help him. When the cops show up at the diner, they arrest Jim, believing him to be responsible for Ryder’s crimes. From a jailhouse to another diner to a crowded bus, Jim and Ryder play a game of cat and mouse, with Ryder pushing Jim closer and closer to actually becoming a killer. Jim gets help from a incredulous police captain (DeMunn), but even with the law on his side, Jim learns that it may be impossible to end Ryder’s reign of terror.
why it’s good: Having thoroughly plundered most of the classics of 1970s horror, Michael Bay and his stable of mediocre writers and directors have set their sights on the movies of the 1980s, and “The Hitcher,” being released this weekend, is their first target. It’s a good choice: the original “The Hitcher” is a creepy, atmospheric chase movie that rarely lets up. However, Bay’s track record for his production of horror remakes—the new “Texas Chainsaw Massacre” and “When A Stranger Calls,” for instance—is awful at best and downright offensive at worst. Lucky for you, the 1986 version of the film is readily available on DVD. In the original, C. Thomas Howell and Rutger Hauer are evenly matched as the two leads, and as the bodies pile up throughout the film, their psychological and physical confrontations grow even more intense. Hauer is especially unsettling, and his performance builds on the standard he set in 1982 in “Blade Runner.” Screen writer Eric Red and director Richard Harmon keep the action tightly focused. For all the blood, guts and severed limbs, there is some subtlety—in between the intense action sequences, Red and Harmon give the film a dreamlike quality that toys with the viewer, leading you to question whether Jim is really telling the truth.
why you should own it: HBO’s DVD is lacking in extras, but fans of ’80s horror should own it anyway. When the remake of “The Hitcher” opens up at multiplexes this weekend, keep on driving and pick up the original “The Hitcher” at your local video store.
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