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ASIN : 6301934229
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Editorial Reviews
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Steven Spielberg's first feature film, 1971's Duel, is set on a desert highway. It stars Dennis Weaver as a driver being pursued by a menacing truck, which is following him with all the vengeance of the ancient furies. In this spiritual update from 1984, C. Thomas Howell plays a guy taking a drive-away car from Chicago to San Diego. On a whim, in the rain, and against his better judgment, he picks up a hitchhiker (Rutger Hauer). The hitcher quickly admits to being a murdering psychopath, and once Howell finally gets him out of his car, he is pursued with all the vengeance of the ancient furies. We're never sure if the hitcher is a figment of his imagination, making Howell a schizophrenic killer, or if he's real and Howell is the random victim of a wandering madman, which is how his potential new girlfriend (Jennifer Jason Leigh) thinks of him. Either way, The Hitcher is great fun, kinda scary, and teetering on the brink of "must see." --Andy Spletzer
Customer Reviews
classic horror suspense that stands up well over 20 years later (4.2/5) (2007-08-30)  i thought this was a very good movie.it had action and suspense.it wasvery intense in some scenes.i also thought Rutger Hauer was veryconvincing as a psycho,while C.Thomas Howell is good as thehero.Jennifer Jason Leigh is also good in a supporting role.there isalso a very inventive and nail biting scene that i won't give awayhere.another thing i really liked was the fact that many things areimplied,but not shown,adding another dimension to the movie.this moviecertainly had me on the edge of my seat a lot.to me,The Hitcher(1986)isa classic,and still stands up well today.it's low budget,buteffective.i give this movie 4.2/5
Where should I begin?! (2004-06-12)  Ok, one of my favourite movies ever, this is. I know it seems strange now, it isn't an epic with outstanding performances and great set pieces and all that, it's just a plain old, fun 80s horror road movie, but I just love it all the same. Rutger Hauer is imensely scary as a (not so freaky killer like Jason or Michael, nor a gruesome killer) but a sharp, haunting character with an icy personality. C Thomas Howell is very good as a young teenager. He starts off in the film to be a bit geeky, but once he meets Hauer he starts to get a little freaky himself. They are basically the two main characters in this. The film -- as you probably know -- is about C Thomas Howell delivering a drive-away car (let me just say I don't like the review from Digibiong! because he says there is a mistake on the license plate of the car, but it's a drive-away car so it doesn't matter) and he has to deliver it to San Dieago, on the way he picks up a stranger on the road, he seems like a nice guy, but he turns out to be quite psychotic. Howell is able to push the stranger out of the car and carry on down the road, but the hitcher isn't done yet, he starts to play a deadly game with Howell, like getting the police onto him, framing him, killing people in front of his eyes and all stuff like that. The film doesn't drag at the start, it starts off straight away with Howell picking the stranger up and it gets darker and darker every time. The gore in this film isn't that bad, we do HEAR a woman get pulled apart, but we don't SEE it. We never really do see a lot of deaths happen in the film, but I think that's what makes the film scary. It can be very atmospheric at times, but a lot of the scary parts happen in the day-time. When we come to the conclusion it gets a little dissapointing since it doesn't go on for long and I was expecting a great confrontation. So, that's "the hitcher", one of my favourite movies. Road movies are my favourite genre of movies and here are a couple more good ones: BreakdownConvoyDuelHitcher 2: I've been waiting
Absolutely MAGNIFICENT one of the greats of the 80s (2004-05-07) Like many, I saw this totally haunting film late night on HBO by myself as a child. The opening scene is quite simply perfectly executed, and one of the most frightening and realistic scenes ever put to film. The atmosphere in this film is so wonderful, and the writing first rate. The leads are utterly convincing -- real props to Howell who has a difficult role. I am in love with the Southwest, and in a odd way this film is a great meditation on the wilderness down here too -- kind of like Thelma & Louise. What American films should be like.
More Than Just A Ride! (2004-04-27) One of the scariest movies I have ever seen, The Hitcher is relentless in its intensity. Jim Halsey (C. Howell) picks up a hitchhiker (R. Hauer) on his way to San Diego who soon admits he killed his last ride. Hauer says, "You know that driver from that last car? I cut off his legs". It doesn't take more than that before Jim is able to trick and force the 'hitcher' out of his car. Thinking that it's over, Jim soon sees the hitcher riding in another family's car, knowing he will kill them all. Reporting him to the police is of no use and even after they capture him, he pulls a shocking twist on everyone. Jim befriends a lonely waitress (J. J. Leigh) who believes his story, but soon she ends up in the middle (literally) between them (the most revolting scene in the film). It's a suspenseful, non-stop, killer maniac fright ride. It becomes clear the hitcher is out to frame Jim for multiple murders or kill him. The ending is just as frightening as the rest, but I guarantee you won't leave this film feeling good - just shaken up. Not for the squeamish, but maybe a good date movie.
Great latter-day "road" picture, genuinely terrifying. (2004-03-15) Seeing this on HBO this morning with the negative experience of "Vanishing Point" still fresh in my mind reminded me that yes, there are some great road movies that take place in the American Southwest which do not leave the viewers questioning the significance of the film...and prefer merely to scare the hell out of them instead. The plot is staggeringly effective in its simplicity; a college kid (C. Thomas Howell) contracts to deliver a car from Chicago to San Diego. In the desert during a storm he picks up a hitch hiker (Rutger Hauer) who doesn't bother with the pretense of winning his mobile host's faith and trust; he immediately slips into maximum creep-out mode and the kid knows he's in serious trouble within minutes as the hitcher makes it known under no uncertain terms that he has indeed killed someone in a particularly brutal fashion...and with a seeming trace of resignation and inevitability he plans to do the same to the kid. What follows is a fortuitous escape and a series of subsequent encounters between Howell and Hauer, with entanglements involving the police, Jennifer Jason Leigh (thankfully before she picked up that horrible New England upper class accent she seemed to use in a number of her '90's roles), and more murder victims. The encounters succeed in building a sense of escalating tension that is never satisfactorily resolved until the film's ending, which does seem somewhat contrived (minus one star for that). However, the performances of all the actors are excruciatingly believable, especially Hauer, who is genuinely disturbing. He's not some sort of supernatural teen slasher a la Jason or Freddy Krueger or (to a lesser extent) Michael Myers, classic horror movie icons all; Hauer is simply someone...ANYONE...that could cross your path without any warning or fanfare...and could make your personal terrorization his sole purpose in life. That is what makes this movie truly scary; while watching it you will clearly understand the implication that yes, this too could happen to you. "Riders on the storm", indeed.
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