 Thanks for checking out this movie review video. This is for the 1986 film The Hitcher and When I was watching this it was on HBO Max So if it's still there you should be able to get it now This is kind of a bit of a classic especially when it comes to the performance of Rucker Hauer Who is the biggest name in this film obviously unless you're a big see Thomas Howell fan, you know the outsiders and The outsiders or also Jennifer Jason Lee who was in like fast times at Ridgemont High The hateful eight what else was she in all sorts of stuff Existence that was another favorite of mine the machinist annihilation white boy Rick She was in many many things, but anyway So this film was directed by Robert Harmon who did the film's eyes of an angel nowhere to run and they Those were the just a few of his written by Eric Redd who wrote Near dark this is a film I hear about a lot. I have not yet seen it It's been on my list for some time to see people rave about near dark So I will be seeing it. So just know that the guy who wrote near dark wrote The Hitcher He also wrote the remake of The Hitcher which was done in 2007 and I believe produced by Michael Bay I did not see it partially because well big part because I don't like Michael Bay He also wrote body parts as well as bad moon, which I know there's a big fandom for bad moon out there So just letting you know It had a five point eight million dollar budget and it ended up making seven point nine million So it wasn't huge. It didn't make a lot of money, but it was successful. It didn't lose money. So that's good Redd originally wrote the script for it when he was taking a road trip He was moving to I forget where he's moving from but he was moving to Austin, Texas And while he was on this trip He was listening to the song Riders on the Storm by the doors and it's just started going over in his head the concept of this you know hitchhiker and the deaths on the path of These kind of desolate roads and he just kept thinking about it because he had all this time to drive So once he got to Austin and you know got himself settled He got a job as a taxi driver and while he was doing his taxi driving He in his free time was writing the script for the hitcher So he went out and he sent him out to a bunch of studios to see if he could get someone to Become interested in the script But a lot passed because he had a lot of really violent and gory stuff in it that didn't end up making it in this final Version of the film so I kind of wish that they had that someone had signed on with them the Goryer and more violent version of the script and then maybe they cut it down after the fact so maybe we could have gotten like a really good directors cut maybe but Alas that did not happen because a lot of the studios were very reticent to say yes to it in the first place and Two of the main reasons being there were two scenes in particular that they really wanted to stay away from one was The scene in the diner where he's eating the french fries where Jim the character of Jim's eating the french fries And not really paying attention and then he picks up the severed finger Initially that was actually supposed to be an eyeball in his burger, which obviously would be a lot more gross And I wish that was the case in there That would have been a much better one because it was also more It would also be more believable that he would actually like bite into a burger without seeing the eyeball Especially if it's like kind of in the middle As opposed to the finger and the fries a little less believable. He would just pick it up the other scene being It's alluded to in the actual film itself But it was actually shown and focused on in the script And that is the tearing of Nash the woman played by Jennifer Jason Lee When she she gets torn in half now in the film It just kind of fades of black and you're just left to assume that that's what happened to her But in the script it actually is shown so those were the two scenes that really made studios want to pass on it But finally there was a studio that said yes And they had to you know Hash out how to take the violence and gore down which a lot of it got taken out Unfortunately, they wanted to cut it down even further and they wanted to actually even go away from even alluding to Nash getting ripped in half, but Harmon and red were so Persistent that that portion had to be in it was very important to the story So they compromised on just kind of fading the black at that point Harmon actually viewed the film as a hitch cocky and thriller Which if you think about it, you can kind of see that and him kind of saying that is one of the things that really endeared red to him to take it out to take that and be the director for it Sam Elliott and Michael Ironside were actually considered for the character of John Rider. We know being Rucker Hauer I think Rucker Hauer did an awesome job with that role. The only other roles I like love love love Rucker Hauer for obviously is role in Blade Runner and also Hobo with a shotgun. Oh, yeah I mean he's good in everything but like when you think of awesome iconic Rucker Hauer performances You think of the hitcher hobo with a shotgun and Blade Runner at least I do So the beginning of this does the important job of establishing just how desolate of a terrain is being traveled by Jim And this continues throughout it Which keeps the tension at a very high level because it means more danger and the audience just assumes that because you can't go around and get help from anyone and That becomes even more so later in the film when even when he gets to a part where he can Potentially find some people My cat's being weird when he can potentially find some people to potentially help out He becomes even further isolated by the fact that he gets framed for killings by Rider and then he's basically Even though there are people around he's definitely alone because he can't make himself known He can't just show up because he's suspected of being the killer instead of Rider So it it even though he has people around him He's even more alone than the opening shot of the scene of the film And this is why they say by the way never pick up a hitchhiker I'm sure that a lot of people who did pick up hitchhikers after seeing this movie back then in the 80s were like Nope not doing that anymore because yeah, it'll do that for you much like when jaws made people think about yeah I don't want to go in the water anymore because there could be a shark in there. It's kind of similar Right rider immediately suspicious as hell And it's an interesting choice to kind of play him as suspicious immediately and not really care about hiding who he is He's so outward about like just not being nice and not even trying to like Woo Jim into like a feeling of false Comfort he's immediately just like I mean I'm gonna kill you basically and It's such a weird character choice, but it ends up really working for what the rest of the script and the rest of story ends up being So I like that about him. He's just cold. He's crazy. He just doesn't care He's just an evil dude who wants to do sadistic things to as many people as possible Jim may as well my thought when they got stopped stopped at the construction area And he you know kind of wanted to make a run for it But and ended up not doing it at that point my thought at that point was Why wouldn't you try and get away right then? Because there are more people around you could potentially be helped out and also rider had already told him He was planning to kill him So it's kind of a thing where like you're gonna die later You're gonna die now like at least take this opportunity where there are people around and you could potentially get away Like yeah, you might get stabbed. Yeah, you might get killed, but you're gonna get killed anyway So from a real-life standpoint, I think he would have tried to get away at that point But you know you also never know what you would do in that actual situation This is someone as an audience member watching a movie saying this is what I would do. It's not real life. So It's a chilling moment when Jim sees rider in the car with the family after he you know Boots him out of the car and at that point he kind of has to make this decision of do I just Keep going keep my head down and ignore the fact that this family is probably gonna be murdered in cold blood and Just be happy with the fact that I'm now safe I got out of my dangerous situation But no, obviously he makes the choice of my conscience will not allow that I need to try and save this family even though if he even gets him to pull over and Get him out of the car. I would assume in that in that situation Jim would also pull over He's putting himself back in danger and then obviously that's what happens is he reinserts himself into the situation with rider And that's what creates this whole cat and mouse thing I think to keep going and I think it's also this thing that drives it where You know Jim was the one that got away from rider and he's just not gonna let that go and that's why He toys with him even more and then I think there's also this level that develops of He also kind of respects Jim For putting up more of a fight for creating this chase scenario because it seems that he's usually more used to Just getting what he wants with murdering people and not having to really work for it a whole lot So I think it did that when he meets Jim it kind of changes this situation for him and he's more exhilarated He's like oh, it's more like a game. It's an actual chase And that I think in the end is what ends up being that connection between the two that that sheriff Was talking about in the car at the end of the film like that's the connection of you know He he told he just kept toying with him because he loved the fact that the chase was still happening And there was that level of respect that Jim was garnering from rider for being like that And I just think that's really interesting Imagine being the person driving that flaming car after the gas station blows up When Jim's in the car and driving away how many flames were on that car? I don't think I would touch that but then again you got to get out of there So it's one of those moments Nash's comment about the police taking forever to respond when they're in the diner Let's the audience know that even if help is coming it's gonna take a while So most likely there's enough time for rider to get in there and potentially kill So they do a good job dropping things like that in the film to kind of keep the tension high And and that's one of the great things about this film is the tension remains high Throughout pretty much. I don't know many moments where it actually like stops because even when there's down moments in the film The audience is still thinking he's still out there And the fact that he just keeps popping up rider just keeps popping up You always have that in your mind and you're always thinking he's just gonna pop up again And it could be at any moment even if there's not much going on in the film. So well done keeping the tension up The circumstances of Jim looking suspicious are actually believable believable within the context of the story So that's some really nice writing. It's hard to pull stuff like that off And when people see it be like, oh, well, that's actually believable within the story. So good job read for that The killer is so good and people encountered are so unaware that it seems that there's basically no stopping the killer That's just another one of those things that ratchets the tension up and just makes it like this is an impossible scenario for Jim Jim had a hard time finding people to help him before But being on the run as a suspected killer means he can't even ask for help at that point It's something I talked about then It's an interesting one because it kind of dangles the carrot of here is hope when he finds actual people and then it's just dashed that fast when automatically he's seen as or immediately he's seen as a potential Suspected killer and then the actions he takes after that Don't necessarily help with that situation, but he's kind of forced into it I mean, he really is forced into it because he becomes a sitting duck and other people become sitting ducks because at that point He's the only one who's aware that there's that killer out there So he really feels a sense of responsibility that he has to take care of it And that's why in the very end of the film he takes care of it even though that means holding the sheriff at gunpoint Because he knows otherwise You know either he's gonna be killed because he'll be a sitting duck somewhere because writer won't stop coming Or other people are gonna be killed, but most likely both of those scenarios. So The moment when Jim thinks about killing himself. I get it It seems like a really helpless moment when he's out in the desert And he just like holds the barrel the gun to like his chin Like that's a moment with a lot of gravity because as an audience member you can feel it you can feel like Yeah, I understand this if he takes his life at this point because everything was so hopeless at that point And it remains feeling like that almost throughout the film until the very end and that's one of the great things about the film A great scene is when writer ends up sitting down in Roy's cafe with Jim and The realization that happens at that point that the gun that he had had no bullets in it And then it's an interesting twist too because then the fact that writer gives him the bullets then So it's the continuation of that game Once the helicopter shows up in this It's kind of like how much further can this go because it just seems like keeps Seeming like it's just like one up at one up at one up at one up it and when the helicopter happens You're just like, okay, it's so big now like they've gone so big with this whole chase Can't even go further and I mean it does and that's one of the interesting things about the story and the way the script is written Is that it keeps stepping things up stepping things up stepping things up and it doesn't feel crazy It doesn't feel outlandish for what? You know what the story was that was set up The part of Jim giving writer his hand and then spitting on him is A really odd moment and I don't really know what the purpose of that was that's something I think should have been taken out of the film. It's just really odd That's when Ryder's being interrogated and Jim says he wants to go in and talk to him and he goes in and he like hands him His hand and Ryder takes it with both his hands and just like holds in his like looking at him and then he spits in his face I Just don't get what that was for you don't need that at all You're like you really don't need that moment, but put it put in the comments if you have a theory on that I'd love to hear it. It just seems to me like it shouldn't be there Like it didn't do anything for the film. It's just weird But maybe that was a point of it is just to be weird the payoff of Jim shooting Ryder in the end is Very much heightened by the fact that he was challenged multiple times to shoot Ryder Throughout the film and it was by Ryder, you know Ryder kept being like, you know try and shoot me You can't shoot me first It's because he can't shoot him because there are no bullets because he does eventually try to and realizes There are no bullets and then second it's because He knows he can't shoot him at that point because it's when he's in the truck and he's got his foot on the brake And if he shoots him then he lets go of it and then Nash gets pulled in half So it's these two moments of he just can't shoot him So then it's that that big release in the very end when he finally has the ability to legitimately Shoot him and take him out Neutralize that threat not just for himself, but for everyone on those roads So the con the concept of this film has actually been kind of used in different ways since I mean Jeepers Creepers Not a lot, but to a degree Jeepers Creepers a little bit is used it and then that film joy ride So but my favorite that I think is kind of inspired by it is a Larry Cohen film that he did for the Masters of Horror I think it was the first season. Yeah, I think it was the first season I think it was called pick me up and it's basically a lot like the hitcher But it's two serial killers involved in it if you haven't seen it check that out that Larry Cohen film pick me up. It's really good really recommend it the plays This plays off fears of isolation that are coupled with the fear of being accused of something you didn't do and Just being unable to convince people that it wasn't you and that you're actually trying to go after the perpetrator So it plays on those fears It also makes the point that sometimes there are just people out there who are just sadistic and just devoid of actual reason There's a lot. There are a few moments in this film where there's kind of these questions asked of why is he doing this? What is going on? What's the point and in the end like there really isn't a point? You know, I put the theory out there that maybe it's more just he keeps it going on because he likes the thrill of the chase Like it's a game to him, but in the end like there's nowhere a why for him to kill people He's just a bad sadistic person and that's a scary thing to think about and Yeah, and then just my final thought in the connection was the in addition to the whole thing about you know Rider having potentially some respect for Jim and that's why he lets him live so long plus he wants to chase maybe he sees a little bit of himself in Jim and that little bit of fight that he sees in him and his personality that Maybe he lets him live a little bit because he sees a little bit of himself And that's why he kind of hesitates and actually killing him But I think that's a little bit weaker of a theory than what I already said so but anyway good film obviously put your comments down here about what you think about the hitcher and Now I'm gonna give it the rating so out of five stars with half stars in play I'm gonna give it a very solid four star rating. This is a good film. It's not perfect But it's a it's quite a good film and it holds up over time too. So Yeah, put your comments down there. Let's talk about it But do me a quick favor hit that subscribe button because that is your way to repay me for this review or any review Or any video you've ever liked on my channel Literally takes you a second and it's totally painless But it means a lot for my channel and my channel growth and just you know my motivation to keep doing these things So I'd appreciate that but also if you're gonna hit that Subscribe button or you already have make sure you also hit the notification bell because that way it'll alert you whenever I put Up a new review or do a live stream or anything like that, but regardless of all that Thank you for checking this video out and until next time keep it brutal