As he pulls over in the middle of nowhere in the rain to pick up the shadowy figure, young Jim Halsey (C. Thomas Howell) tells him “My mom told me never to do this.” Jim should have listened to his mother. What he doesn’t know but is that the shadowy figure is John Ryder (Rutger Hauer), a serial killer who is about to take Jim on the ride of his life.

Working from a particularly vicious screenplay by Eric Red, director Robert Harmon has created a suspense-filled cat and mouse chase that gets more violent as it proceeds. Red’s screenplay doesn’t concern itself with background or motivation. It simply focuses on the matter at hand, a battle between a somewhat naive young man against a killing machine intent on ending his life one way or another.

At first Ryder just plans to dispatch Jim, but when the kid outwits him, it becomes personal. The more Jim tries to escape his nightmare the more intense it becomes. Instead of killing Jim, Ryder kills everyone he comes into contact with, framing him for the murders. Now Jim has to evade both Ryder and the law, and does so with the help of small town waitress Nash (Jennifer Jason Leigh). Tired and confused, Jim tries to slow down for a few moments to gather his thoughts, but Ryder makes that impossible when he kidnaps Nash and uses her as bait to get him out in the open.

There is no redeeming social commentary here, just one brutal encounter after another, with some extremely twisted black humor to boot. The filmmakers don’t want us t identify with either character, and to that effect, make little attempt to clue us in on their personal lives. The film is merely an exercise in suspense, and to that degree, more than accomplishes the task. You grimace every time Jim enters a new situation because you know what is going to follow.

The resolution is expected and welcome. “The Hitcher” may turn some people off (a police dog licks the blood oozing out of his master’s throat), but I found it invigorating in a primal sort of way. I wouldn’t recommend it to everyone, but those with a taste for action and suspense served in an unapologetic form, “The Hitcher” is worth catching a ride with.

COMPLETE CHECK-UP

VISION: [ ] 20/20 [ ] Good [ X ] Cataracts [ ] Blind

Simply awful. The night scenes are so bad they drain any goodwill the handsome daytime scenes generate. Since the film relies heavily on its dark and menacing look, that means most of the action takes place in dark car interiors, inside darkly lit hotel rooms, or at night. That’s when the digital transfer turns to mud, creating a brown, grainy effect. A handful for the daylight scenes look fine, with good colors and attractive flesh tones. However, the night shots look like amateur night at the digital transfer house. The film is delivered in its original 2.35:1 widescreen ratio, and the negative shows some wear and tear. Depth of field and attention to detail is moot. Image quality is extremely variable, but try freeze framing one of the night shots and the image is so dirty you almost can’t tell what you’re looking at.

HEARING: [ X ] Excellent [ ] Minor Hearing Loss [ ] Needs Hearing Aid [ ] Deaf

Impressive 5.1 Dolby Digital Surround remastered soundtrack, with strong basses and effective yet faux stereo and surround effects. The sound is clean, while the rear speakers get a lot of attention from ambient noise and thundering musical cues. There’s also a Dolby Digital soundtrack on board, but it’s not nearly as impressive.

ORAL: [ X ] Excellent [ ] Good [ ] Poor

Closed captions in English for the hard of hearing, subtitles in French and Spanish.

COORDINATION: [ ] Excellent [ X ] Good [ ] Clumsy [ ] Weak

Effective animated menus, plus handsome scene access menus. The DVD also includes the original theatrical trailer, plus cast & crew bios.

PROGNOSIS: [ ] Excellent [ ] Fit [ ] Will Live [ X ] Resuscitate [ ] Terminal

I liked this vicious little exercise in terror when it first came out, but the DVD doesn’t do the film any favors.

VITALS: $24.98/Rated R/98 Minutes/Color/13 Chapter Stops/Snapcase/#93756

ATTENDING RESIDENT: John Larsen

PATIENT: THE HITCHER

BIRTH DATE: 1984

HMO: HBO Home Video

This entry was posted on Friday, November 26th, 1999 at 4:36 pm and is filed under Film Review. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.