The Hitcher

Year Released: 1986
Main Stars: Rutger Hauer, C. Thomas Howell, Jennifer Jason Leigh
Review Date: August 2016
Last watched: June 2016
Number Watches: 1
Format Watched: DVD

Some horrors are clichés and obvious with very little except sudden shocks to look forward to. This one is a page-turner and although suffers from age and low budget, it manages to be menacing thanks to the locations, camera work and Rutger’s performance.

So you think you’ve seen the Hitcher? Yeah, I did too. Some point in the past I think I’ve watched it with friends but not sure how much and there was no lasting effect. This time I saw everything and was caught up in the way it was done, the energy on screen and the dark humour amongst the obvious unstoppable monster. There’s no great gore so don’t be thinking it’s an FX horror, but there’s a lurk in there and an OTT unstoppability to keep you on track.

As I said, Rutger is so straight forward a bad guy that I really can’t imagine anyone else. He’s maybe not given enough credit in the world of bad guys since he’s not superhuman evil but it’s the simple, smiley way he gets to you that matters. Christopher isn’t special but definitely gives it his all and Jennifer shines for the brief time she’s on screen. There’s no one in the supporting cast who can’t act so I didn’t feel they distracted from the anticipation. It’s not a great script or monumental idea but I had to keep watching so that’s a win in my book.

Honestly think you’ll like this if you’re into drama, horror, film techniques or great charisma used well on screen.

DVD 2 Disc Special Extras: couple of short movies made by key crew and a ‘making of’ which is actually quite good. Old film so didn’t expect much else.

Watchability (once, twice, etc.)
Twice.
Keep DVD?
No.
Watch if on TV?
Yes.
Hug, Snog, Marry, Avoid?
Snog.