THE HITCHER
*****
Directed by Robert Harmon.
Starring Rutger Hauer, C. Thomas Howell, Jennifer Jason Leigh.
Horror, US, 97 minutes, Certificate 18
Released in the UK on Limited 4K UHD/Blu-ray Box Set and Standard Edition 4K and Blu-ray by Second Sight on 30th September
Finally! After years and years of waiting, THE HITCHER finally makes its high-definition debut on UK shores in an absolutely stacked release from Second Sight. Upfront it can be said that it was worth the wait. The supplemental materials alone, consisting mainly of a number of original in-depth featurettes produced by Second Sight themselves as well as remasters of the directors and screenwriters debut short films that forged their own particular talents, make this an essential purchase for longtime fans of this seminal cult movie. And then there is the none too small matter of the 4K remaster scanned from the original camera negative, personally supervised and approved by director Robert Harmon. This is a superlative example of remastering, making the film look as sharp and pristine like never before. To say this is an essential purchase is something of an understatement.
All these special features, as well as the two hardback books; one containing Eric Red’s original screenplay, the other a large number of essays and interviews, are tempting enough on their own before you get to the film itself. Nearly forty years after its big screen debut. THE HITCHER stands out more now in its field more than ever. Often referred to as a slasher, Robert Harmon’s debut film transcends the genre by mixing elements of thriller, action and road movies to become a horror classic in its own unique way. All these years later it feels hard to believe that THE HITCHER was so underappreciated in its own time, at least critically, before finding its loyal audience on home video in the years after. Perhaps it is the unavailability of the film in recent times, 21 years now since the UK DVD at least, that has added to its mystique and its reputation. Even now, after countless rewatches, the film just seems to glitter even brighter with its unflinching and sadistic storyline.
The story, written by Eric Red who would soon go onto pen NEAR DARK, the best vampire road movie ever made before commiting a disturbing and fatal road rage incident himself years later, is simplicity itself. Jim Halsey, a never better C. Thomas Howell, is a young man delivering a car cross country. To stave off boredom and sleep on his odyssey through the deserted highways and valleys he picks up John Ryder, a rain soaked hitchhiker whose odd behaviour becomes more threatening by the mile. Their initial encounter soon evolves into a twisted game of cat and mouse as John pursues Jim, racking up an alarming bodycount that drives Jim to the edge of sanity. No matter who Jim turns to for help, be it the trigger happy police or sympathetic waitress Nash, poignantly played by Jennifer Jason Leigh, Jim’s charitable act/worst decision of his life spirals further into horror and carnage in a style that is both hypnotic and thrilling up until the closing shot.
It is a film that contains multiple examples of career best work. In bringing Red’s script to the screen, Robert Harmon would come nowhere near close to matching the style and intensity he conjured up here, with the aid of Australian cinematographer John Seale, who would go onto capture more vehicular mayhem in MAD MAX: FURY ROAD. Howell’s performance showcases a talent who seemed to stand apart from his peers at the time, many of whom were in the equally celebrated and derided Brat Pack. His slight, by Hollywood standards, frame and sensitive nature, particularly here, perhaps held him back but they more than added to his role here particularly in regards to the films not so subtle and sinister homoerotic overtones that John Ryder, if that ever was his real name, engages his victim in.
This particular theme also helps to elevate the film above the majority of horror films at the time. Released when Freddy Krueger and Jason Vorhees were capturing the hearts of genre fans at the box office, THE HITCHER played an entirely different game altogether, and that can be directly attributed to Rutger Hauer. Just as iconic as Roy Batty in BLADE RUNNER, this titular role captured everything that made Hauer such an electric presence. His quiet manner comes across as far more frightening and intimidating than any other horror villain before or since, just making him even more unearthly and mysterious than any cinematic boogeyman that comes to mind. His motivation, forcing Jim to bring about Ryder’s own death, gives the film an enigmatic driving force to the proceedings that has rarely been seen in any film since then.
The performances and meanings of the film are discussed in great detail over several hours of new and archival in-depth interviews, featurettes and commentaries showcasing a near encyclopaedic trove of behind the scenes gossip, trivia and analysis that offers fresh, and often entertainingly contradictory insights into a film that still effortlessly grabs the attention. Its slick handling of pulse pounding horror and thrilling action beats laced with a seductive nihilism give the film a near philosophical edge while still remaining a relentless thrill ride.
Early on in the film there is a shot of Hauer’s dishevelled figure lying on the road in his crumpled trench coat. As the camera draws in on a low angle closer and closer to him, he slowly rises from the asphalt with the camera remaining tight to the ground and tilting backwards, framing Hauer against a widescreen sky like some demonic giant. It is a simple and ingenious shot that encapsulates everything that was great about Hauer, and in essence THE HITCHER itself. A film that stylishly elevates its story and characters to mythic proportions, standing proud and tall in all its psychopathic glory now more than ever in this phenomenal edition that is downright essential for any collection.
Iain MacLeod
